Annual Welcome Week picnic helps international students feel at home
Back to school can be nerve-racking enough for many students, never mind when the new school year means moving alone to a new country.
But the nearly 70 international post-secondary students who attended the Welcome Week Campfire Picnic on Friday evening beside Lock 22 just north of Trent University have found a way of creating community, connection, and friendship among those who, like them, have recently started the journey of studying in Peterborough or have been through the experience themselves.
The picnic, organized through a collaboration between International Coffee House Peterborough (ITCH), Trent International, Fleming International, and the New Canadian Centre, included a tour and explanation of the lock by Parks Canada Staff, as well as food, games and a live band.
Cynthia Hucks and her husband John have been organizing events to help those who are new to Peterborough learn more about Canada and create meaningful connections within the community through events such as this since 2006 when ITCH began.
Cynthia explained the concept had already begun when she enrolled in a master’s program in adult education with a focus on cultural diversity and language learning at St. Francis Xavier University.
By the time she enrolled in the master’s program, she and John had completed teaching English as a second language programs at Trent and were working as instructors and co-ordinators for the university’s host family program, Cynthia explained.
What was to become formally known as ITCH became her research project focusing on nine participants from Trent University.
“So, it’s a research project and it’s just continued since,” Cynthia said.
As she spoke, she gestured toward the spirited competition involving hockey sticks, tennis balls, and buckets that unfolded at the prompting of John and community volunteer Dave Moon, who earlier had given the students a broad overview of the cultural significance of hockey in Canadian society.
Cynthia watched as the youth competed in stick handling the tennis ball toward the bucket set about 20 yards away and then returned it to their teammate waiting at the starting line. Up and down the patch of grass beside the river, this tack repeated as the group’s excitement grew.
On the sidelines, volunteers Zhihui Li and Shuming Huo told of how their experience with similar events presented by ITCH had helped them feel at home in Peterborough.
The couple moved here last year from China with their son so that Zhihui could pursue a master’s degree at Trent University in the Applied Modelling and Quantitative Methods program.
“When we first came here last year, we knew nobody, just our family,” she said. “They gathered us together and led us to feel like we are at home.”
After a year of living in Peterborough, the two volunteer to welcome other newcomers and their families.
The beneficiaries of this include a group of students from India who have chosen to study Supply Chain Management at Fleming College this year.
Harisankara Menon, Meghana Potuganti, Aniket Gandhat, and Arshdeep Kaur all told the Examiner they arrived in Peterborough within the past month and events such as the picnic provided them with a sense of connection, friendship, and a community of people who understand their experiences.
Gandhat explained that for him this picnic in particular would be memorable because it was the first time he had ever had a hot dog — a comment which prompted laughs and qualified agreement from his friends.
Potuganti, meanwhile, explained she was excited to experience snow for the first time as well as watching the leaves change colour as autumn arrives.
“The fall colours are just exhilarating,” she said.
ITCH has many more events planned in the coming months including a Making Friends In Canada Event on Oct. 25, a Cultural Exchange Evening on Nov. 25, and a Christmas Party on Nov. 29. All of these events are set to take place at Sadleir House (751 George St. N.) and are open to anyone new to Canada, not just international post-secondary students.
More information about upcoming events and collaborations can be found on the ITCH website: ITCHpeterborough.com.