More than 8,000 kilometres from home, a Rotary exchange student has spent the past six months experiencing Flin Flon culture.
Taiga Motuoka, of Tokai-Shi, Aichi, Japan, has been taking in all things Flin Flon, including ice fishing, snowmobiling and Bomber games.
“Canadian life is so different,” said Motuoka.
Motuoka, 17, has faced a few challenges since arriving in Canada, including language barriers, dietary options and weather conditions.
Current host mother Tina Tait says Motuoka is always saying how cold he is.
“It’s too cold for me,” he laughed.
The snow accumulation in Flin Flon is far from the norm for Motuoka. He says his community might get a little bit of snow, but it doesn’t stay long.
Outdoor life
Like a true Flin Flonner, Motuoka has spent his winter days doing outdoor activities, his favourites being snowmobiling and ice fishing.
Aside from the weather, Motuoka says his second biggest adjustment has been Canadian cuisine.
His favourite meal has been poutine, though it comes in a close tie with Tait’s homemade soup.
“He said once that he likes the Bomber games partly for the poutine and partly for the hockey,” said Tait. “I said, ‘Me too.’”
A Grade 11 student, Motuoka has been enrolled at Hapnot Collegiate since September, taking English, physics and art classes, and, at the Grade 12 level, math.
Throughout his half-year in Flin Flon, the teen has found area residents have lived up to the slogan of “Friendly Manitoba.”
“Canadian people are friendlier than Japanese,” he said. “Sometimes Japanese people make a barrier between people. [They are] very shy.”
Shy is by no means a word to describe Motuoka.
Though he doesn’t have any siblings of his own, it didn’t take him long to adjust to living with two other children in the Tait household.
“It’s so good. It’s more fun,” said Motuoka.
Motuoka also has two roles in this week’s Hapnot Collegiate theatre production of Sympathy Jones: The New Secret Agent Musical.
The performances tonight and tomorrow will mark Motuoka’s first time on stage as well as singing in public.
“I’m so nervous now, but I’m excited also,” he said.
Participating
Motuoka will spend the rest of the school year participating in events and activities both at Hapnot and in the broader community.
He will travel back to Japan in July. He will take Grade 11 courses next school year before entering his final year of high school.
Though he doesn’t have any career ideas in mind just yet, Motuoka hopes to attend university in Japan and study math.
Motuoka was a bit of a world traveler before his first trip to Canada. He and his parents travelled often and visited Hawaii and Las Vegas, among other destinations.
He hopes to visit France as he met a new friend while participating in the Rotary exchange orientation.
“I thought French people are more friendly. They like the Japanese culture,” he said.
One thing still left on Motuoka’s wish list while in Canada is to go to the Samurai Japanese Restaurant in Saskatoon.
“I’ve never seen Japanese restaurant in Canada,” he said.
Host Family Needed
As a Rotary exchange student, Taiga Motuoka spent the first part of his stay in the Flin Flon area with the Williamson family and now lives with the Tait family in Creighton.
He will stay with the Taits for the next month but will move on to the next host family for the remainder of his stay, until July.
The Rotary Club is actively looking for families interested in hosting Motuoka. Anyone interested in being a host family is asked to contact Rotarian Tim Spencer.
