HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2011-08-11, Page 13THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, AUGUST 11, 2011. PAGE 13. Lions Exchange students welcomed to Blyth
Exchanged
Several Lions Youth Exchange students gathered at the Blyth Lions Park to rehash their
memories of youth camp with their youth councillor, host camper and Brussels resident Darby
Alcorn, second from left. Shown are, from left, Emma Gauthieri from Italy, Alcorn, Michael
Schroecker from Austria, Anniina Raisanen from Finland and Maia Senderov from Israel.
(Denny Scott photo)
Local families, through the Lions
Youth Exchange, welcomed four
exchange students locally from
Austria, Israel, Italy and Finland.
Maia Senderov from Israel and
Anniina Raisanen from Finland
stayed with Kittie and Don
MacGregor from the Londesborough
area, Emma Gauthieri from Israel
stayed with Don and Catherine Allen
in Londesborough and Michael
Schroecker stayed with multiple
families in the Blyth area, staying
finally with John and Mary Lou
Stewart before bidding farewell to
Canada.
The students arrived on July 2 and
stayed until the end of the month and
spent a good portion of that time
travelling as part of the Charlie
Shaw Youth Camp, named after
Blyth resident and Lion Charlie
Shaw.
Brussels resident and former
exchange student Darby Alcorn was
one of host camper/youth
councillors for the camp.
“We act as a go between for the
councillors, who are mostly older
people, and the campers,” she said.
“And we let the exchange students
know what Canadian teens are like.”
Alcorn said that, to be a host
camper or youth councillor you need
to have first been an exchange
student.
Stories from the camp flowed
from all four students who said they
enjoyed singing songs from their
home countries and seeing 21
students from South Korea perform
martial arts, sing, dance and put on a
fashion show.“It was great meeting people from
18 different countries,” Anniina said.
Exchange students from all over
the world were at the camp, and it
gave the youth the opportunity to
talk to each other, compare
experiences and make friends.
The group visited Canadian
landmarks, both those well known,
and some that might not be.
“We went to Niagara Falls, the CN
Tower and had a bus tour of
Toronto,” Maia said.
“We also went on a tour of the
guide dog school in Oakville,”
Michael said, referring to a school
funded by the Lions Foundation of
Canada that trains guide dogs for the
disabled.
Other locations the group talked
about included an outdoor education
centre, Sauble Beach, the
Bruce Peninsula Grotto and the
Battlefield House Museum in Stoney
Creek.
The students found out about the
exchange through different
methods – some through families
and friends, others through
Facebook, however they were all
excited for the experiences they had
here in Canada.
While things like temperature are
different, the youths most noticed
the driving time between locations
being different from their home
countries.
“The distances and time we spend
in the car is very long,” Michael
said.
“Usually we spend our travel time
in traffic,” Maia said. “There isn’t
much traffic here, but we spent a lot
of time on the road.”
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