HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2002-07-31, Page 6By Kay
Lapp
Coll
526-7264
• 24 men's • 16 women's
Entry fee: $200. men's team
$180 women's team
On site camping available!
Contacts:
Tyler Stewart at 523-9448 or
Mike McDonald at 523-4351
(kr
Blyth Lions Annual
Slowpiteh Tournament
August 8, 9, 10, 11, 2002
Lube, Oil &
Filter Change
INCLUDES...
• New filter, installed • Up to 5L 10W30 motor oil
• Chassis lube (if applicable)
• Comprehensive 55 pt. check over with report card
346 Huron Rd, Goderich
5249381 • 1-800-338-1134
PAGre.:144CCIfirtZEN, WEDNEStike,- -JULY -•31, 2002.
Family hosts student from French Guiana
Visiting from afar
Kittie MacGregor of Hullett welcomed Stefanie Amaranthe
of French Guiana and Burca Erarslan of Turkey (not
pictured) into her home as part of the Lions student
exchange program. (Janice Becker photo)
By Janice Becker
Citizen staff
For a young woman from French
Guiana in South America, visiting
Canada through a Lions Club
exchange program was more than
just a month-long adventure away
from home.
For Stefanie Amaranthe, 18, the
trip north was an opportunity to
practise and improve her English-
speaking abilities as she continues
her university career geared to
becoming an English teacher.
Amaranthe began her adventure
on her flight to Canada after
On Saturday, July 20 the 30th
anniversary of Nancy and Walter
Denys was held by their family at a
restaurant in Stratford.
It was a surprise and Walter kept
on combining wheat. One of the
group finally went and brought them
to the restaurant where everyone
was waiting. Needless to say they
were surprised when they arrived
and saw the packed dining room
where relatives and friends waited.
Unable to attend were Cheryl
Lapp who was ill and Christine
Lapp who was working. Fortunately
Catherine Lapp was able to attend.
The Walkerburn Club picnic was
held at the Maitland Park, Auburn
on Sunday. The group had to bring
tables and chairs.
It was very nice that former
difficulties with the airplane resulted
in a missed Connection, an extended
stay in Miami, then Montreal before
finally making it to Toronto.
It was also a trying time for host
family Kittie and Don MacGregor of
Hullett as they waited for Amaranthe
to arrive while they sent their own
daughter Liz, off on an exchange.
They soon realized she was not
arriving on the expected flight, nor
two others coming in from Montreal.
Eventually, after a trip home for
the MacGregors to wait through the
night, and a 5 a.m. call from
Amaranthe saying she was on her
way, the meeting finally happened.
members were present — old friends
are true friends.
A good dinner was enjoyed by
everyone plus the social time that
went with it. However, the
weatherman decided to open up the
clouds for a little shower. The group
had no way of knowing how much
rain was to fall so decided to pack up
and go home.
A former well-known Auburnite
of years ago, Mrs. Margaret Kai of
Wingham took two old friends Lois
Haines and Kay Lapp to her home
for dinner on Sunday, July 28. They
had a lovely visit with her husband
Donald.
Margaret inherited her dear
mother Mrs. Jim Jackson's love of
flowers and gardening. So the
visitors were able to enjoy the
beautiful plants and flower beds
outside the lovely home which looks
out onto the Maitland River.
Keith and Helen Lapp have
returned home after visiting
relatives in British Columbia and in
Colorado.
Bradley Lapp has stayed with
cousins in Abbotsford, British
Columbia and will be returning
home for upcoming weddings in
August.
For Amaranthe, the first major
adjustment was a cultural one.
Coming from a country sitting on the
edge of the Amazon jungle, she was—
used to ateas of little population
though she lived in Remire, a
community of 50,000 near the
capital city of Cayenne. However,
she was not accustomed to living on
a farm, with the great open spaces of
Huron County.
French Guiana is a region of
France and unlike other regions in
the French West Indies, is not
developed for tourism.
"My country is much less
developed as we like to keep the
tropical environment," she said.
Coming from a French-speaking
country, she did find considerable
differences between her native
tongue and that used in Montreal.
"They had words I had never heard,
and phrased things differently."
Amaranthe had been told by
family members who had visited
Canada that the people were very
friendly and she found this to be
true.
"They were very friendly, even in
the shops. They asked me how I was
doing and I thought that was funny,"
she smiled.
Amaranthe said she fit in very well
with the MacGregor family and was
never bored because "we were
always out."
Shopping was one of her favourite
excursions as there are no shopping
malls at home. She also found the
abundance of fast food
establishments quite different.
"There are a few McDonalds at
home, but they are not busy. We
prefer Chinese food."
Of her eating habits, MacGregor
said Amaranthe was very flexible,
willing to try anything and even
cooking a few meals for her host
family.
Other treks around Ontario for the
18 exchange students in the area
included a visit to Niagara Falls
where Amaranthe ran into some
other visitors from the French West. _
Indies and spent a little time
speaking Creole to them. A stop at
SkyDorne for a Blue Jays game was
interesting as most of the students
were from Europe or South America
and knew very little of the game.
An overnight stay at the guide dog
training school in Oakville allowed
the visitors to see some of the other
projects supported by Lions clubs
across the province.
One of the highlights of the
exchange is the week-long camp
held for all the students so they have
an opportunity to meet and spend
some time together.
This year the camp was held at a
private location, Grant Chisholm's
retreat south of Kingsbridge, so the
students- were more free to enjoy
themselves.
Unaccustomed to Canadian
temperatures, Amaranthe thought a
swim in Lake Huron in July was a
"polar swim".
French Guiana is just north of the
equator and even with temperatures
at this time of year similar to those
Huron County has experienced,
there is no cold weather (by
Canadian standards), to cool the
water.
The camp for the students is
named the Charlie Shaw
International Youth Camp, in honour
of the Blyth resident who was
instrumental in bringing the program
to the area in 1974. District A-9
extends south to Mitchell, west
along Lake Huron, north to the
Bruce Peninsula and east as far as
Orangeville and Rosemount.
Of her involvement in the
program, Amaranthe said
participants should love their own
country to truly appreciate visiting
another. "I am very proud to be from
my small country," she said.
Amaranthe will return to
university in the fall, then continue
her education in France.
The MacGregors also had a
student from Turkey staying with
them for most of July, but she
became homesick and left early.
"It was a greater culture shock for
Burca (Erarslan), said MacGregor,
because she came from a city of 12
million."
MacGregor also believes the
availability of international calling
and internet may have contributed to
Erarslan's difficulty in making the
adjustment.
"It was too easy to call home.
Though Burca's cell phone would
not work in here (Huron County),
she would be calling home whenever
we went to London or Kitchener and-
her family: would call her," said
MacGregor.
However, in spite of her difficulty
in adjusting Erarslan and Amaranthe
got along well and it was nice for the
girls to have a "sister" with which to
share - the experience, said
MacGregor.
Students from Finland, Germany,
Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Poland
and North Ireland were also part of
his year's exchange.
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- News Canada