Yumi Yamaguchi is a long way from home – 8,562 kilometres, to be exact.
The 17-year-old student from Kariya, Japan arrived in Flin Flon on Aug. 20 as part of the Rotary Youth Exchange Program, and right away she noticed a glaring difference between Flin Flon and her own country.
“Everything is bigger than [in] Japan,” said Yamaguchi.
“I feel the road is very wide, and everyone has trucks – that’s awesome. I was really surprised. In Japan, [we have] very small cars. Houses are bigger, too. Japan doesn’t have much land, so we build apartments.”
Yamaguchi, who is studying Grade 12 at Hapnot Collegiate, picked up an interest in foreign countries and cultures from her older sister, who spent time travelling in Europe, Australia and Asia. When an aunt who is a Rotarian mentioned the club offered students the opportunity to study abroad, Yamaguchi jumped at the chance.
The Rotary Youth Exchange is offered through Rotary International and aims to make global citizens out of students ages 15 to 19 through learning a new language and culture, developing leadership skills and creating connections with other students from across the globe. Yamaguchi is well on her way to achieving these goals. While her command of the English language is a product of her schooling in Japan – she’s been studying it for the last four years – her decision to come to Canada to learn about its culture was conscious, thoughtful and well-researched.
“I decided on Canada … because I wrote about LGBTQ for an essay in Japanese school,” she explained.
“For the essay, I was searching about LGBTQ and why this country accepts LGBTQ people.”
Yamaguchi was impressed with what she perceived to be Canada’s accepting nature, and was curious about the amount of people from different walks of life in the country.
“Canada has lots of immigrants, and in Europe, that was a problem, but in Canada, that’s a good thing. You can accept it, and it became a good thing,” said Yamaguchi.
The exchange gives Yamaguchi the opportunity to spend a year in Flin Flon. She will live with three host families over the duration of her stay. She speaks regularly at Rotary meetings on her experiences, and has the opportunity to mingle with other exchange students in the district at events and on trips. She hopes to eventually share her knowledge of the Japanese tea ceremony with the community and her fellow exchange students.
It was Yamaguchi’s love of the outdoors — she is an avid downhill skiier — and desire to explore rural Canada that saw her placed in Flin Flon rather than a larger centre, and she couldn’t be happier about it.
“I saw bears after the big fires. I saw the northern lights two or three times, too – that’s amazing. That was my dream,” she said.
While there are many things for Yamaguchi to look forward to over the next ten months, she has one particular goal in mind.
“I want to try ice fishing.”
