Hi, I’m Min, a 2019-2020 exchange student who went to Canada. I was actually the only person to apply to go to Canada that year. Though this made me feel a little bit lonely because I had to travel alone, I decided to focus on the positives like how this trip was good practice travelling abroad independently. I stayed in Winnipeg, a small town in the state of Matinoba. Winnipeg is also known as Winterpeg since the winters get super cold, and the temperature outside can drop all the way to -40 degrees.
There were altogether four exchange students staying with my host family – one from Taiwan, one from China, one from Germany and me from Thailand. Being from different countries made the time we spent living together all the more interesting. I grew closest to the German student, since we attended the same school and were around the same age. I could always ask this student for advice and we hang out together all the time. This student liked to take selfies, so I have a lot of selfies of the two of us. I was really happy living with them all.
Coming on this exchange program has shown me the difference in culture, society and so many other things, whether it’s school, friends, studies or just life in general. My school had 20 or so exchange students, I think, each of us from different a country, making the community pretty diverse. In the beginning, I was a little shocked at how different daily life was in Canada, compared to what I was used to. Luckily I didn’t take me too long to adjust. Just talking to my friends helped me understand that despite the different lifestyles we were accustomed to, we all got along fine because we’d learned to accept our differences. I personally think it’s great. Even though we didn’t come from the same place, it didn’t mean we couldn’t get along. We still bonded within such a short span of time. And, to me, the time I spent with them is invaluable.
EduDee would like to thank Min Wichayada Chamnansil, a 2019-2020 student of ours from Srinakharinwirot University Prasarnmit Demonstration School (Secondary), for sharing such a great exchange story with us.
