My year in Canada

Education is one of the main priorities for the Canadian government.

At the age of four, children can attend kindergarten, by choice. Afterwards, school becomes mandatory as of grade 1, going up to grade 12. At that point, children have the choice of whether or not to continue onto higher education.

During my stay in Canada, I was an eleventh grade student and I was referred to as a Junior (whereas twelfth-graders are Seniors).

As you might know, the Canadian school system works much differently from the Italian. To start with, every student gets the chance to pick any subjects available at school, apart from a few compulsory classes such as English or Canadian History. Unlike in Italy, in Canada there are only written tests… not having to speak out loud in front of the class was such a relief! However, I noticed that students had some issues with oral production… they didn’t have consolidated communication skills in oral presentation at all.

What I most liked about the school in Canada was the fact that we were often asked to carry out practical activities in the school’s science laboratories, to better understand what we were studying...I once dissected a pig! In such a way, I had the opportunity to deepen my knowledge of the body’s internal organs and to add this information to my long-term memory...what an experience!

To sum up, I really enjoyed experiencing a different school system and hence getting to understand what aspects of the Italian school should be changed. However, if I had to choose between the two school systems, I would probably prefer the Italian, since it provides students with better education and communication skills.

Last year, I spent seven months abroad in Nova Scotia, Canada. It had always been my dream to step out of my comfort zone and get to know other people’s traditions and culture. I had the possibility to choose where to spend this amazing experience, and I thought that Canada would suit me best…

My year abroad allowed me to live one of the best experiences of my life. First of all, my English skills have definitely improved: as a matter of fact, now I’m much more fluent at speaking and a lot better at understanding. Another positive aspect of Canada are the landscapes: once I went on a trip around the Cabot Trail, in the island of Cape Breton, and the views were breathtaking! It’s definitely one of the most wonderful countries I’ve ever been to.

However, my experience was also really tough. I had a hard time making new friends and getting on well with my host family. I continually had the feeling I wasn’t very welcome. Before leaving Italy, I was told that you usually start to have a better relationship with your host parents after Christmas, but it actually got increasingly worse! Furthermore, I wish they would have taken me to do some sightseeing around Nova Scotia, but they prefered travelling on their own...they wouldn’t even take me to the supermarket!

To sum up, my year abroad had both advantages and drawbacks. Even though it was a hard experience, I would definitely do it again. Me having to face problems without my parents’ help, share the house with strangers and adapt to a completely different way of living made me grow up and become more responsible. My advice to anyone who is interested in living this adventure would be: ‘Take the risk!’.

Applying for a scholarship and choosing an agency were the first steps at the beginning of my experience. Thanks to my good grades, I won the scholarship, which was a substantial help since the cost of a year abroad is very high. Then, after an extensive search for the agency which would best suit me, I finally chose Wep. The Wep online site looked very interesting and the lay-out was good; it helped me realise what had simply been an idea up to then.

Wep offered numerous destinations, going from the most popular to the least. In addition, it was possible to get an estimate of the total cost.

Wep offers two plans: Exchange and Flex. Exchange is much less expensive; it allows you to choose the general geographical area, but you can end up living in any city in the area you’ve chosen. Flex, instead, is more expensive, but you get to choose the school district. In my opinion, this choice mostly depends on how much the person is willing to adapt to any environment.

During my stay in Canada, Wep was available 24/7. If I ever needed their help, they would always try to find a solution to solve my problem. This aspect reassured both my parents and me: we knew we could always rely on them. For this reason, I can absolutely recommend Wep to anyone who wants to spend a year abroad.

One of the aspects I was concerned with the most before leaving was the people with whom I was going to spend almost an entire year: my host family. Even though I was aware of the fact that every host family is checked-up on before being able to host, my main concern was to end up living in an uncomfortable situation, with unkind and unwelcoming people.

Thankfully, after a few months after my arrival, I realized I didn’t have much to worry about. I didn’t have the best of relationships with my host family, but I didn’t complain since I had heard of worse situations.

My host parents were polite and respectful, although I noticed that they didn’t feel like doing anything with me. I once asked if they could take me skiing, so that we could spend a day together, but the answer was no. I was very disappointed at first, because I felt like I didn’t belong at all, but then I realized that the Canadian conception of “family” is way more different than ours and I had to accept that.

In conclusion, my advice to whoever decides to do this adventure is to adapt to the different environment. Having to live with people you don’t know and might not like can be very hard, but it’s part of the challenge itself. Always remember you’re being hosted by people whose main objective is getting to know you and your culture, therefore, feel free to share your costumes and tradition, but don’t forget to respect theirs!

The reason why I chose Canada among my top three destinations wasn’t only related to the breathtaking landscapes. I knew for a fact that Canada differed in many respects from Italy.

1) Food: Since I am Italian and I am used to eating delicious dishes, dealing with different kinds of food was a struggle. I was willing to try anything new at first, but after a few months, I started missing my Mediterranean diet which was much healthier. I could find what Canadians define “Italian food” almost everywhere, though it wasn’t even closely similar to real Italian cuisine. Fresh fruit and vegetables were very expensive, therefore people would rather buy canned vegetables and junk food. The Canadian diet is very unhealthy and calorific, so it is very easy to put weight on ....I had gained four extra kilos by the end of my year abroad!

2) People: Canada is known to be a cosmopolitan country, therefore people living there are used to welcoming new people. Furthermore, Canadians coexist with the original inhabitants of the country, the so-called Natives. However, contrary to what one might think, their concept of welcoming is very different from ours. Although they are very polite and respectful, they can be cold and aloof. Moreover, many teenagers in Canada do home-schooling during the first years of school and so they are often quite socially-awkward. Due to this, making friends is very challenging!

3) Weather: The Canadian weather cannot be compared to the Italian in any way! In winter, the quantity of snow is astonishing and the temperature can reach several degrees below zero. Summer is not that cold, as a matter of fact, temperatures can reach from 30 to 35 degrees. My favourite season in Canada was Autumn, since the weather was quite mild and I was surrounded by millions of colored leaves.

When you spend ten months in a English-speaking country, your English inevitably improves. You find yourself surrounded by people whose native language is English, and the only way to communicate and make friends is speaking a language which is not yours. As hard as it might sound, it is actually how you manage to improve your linguistic skills.

Before leaving for Canada, my English level was already good, since I had recently got my B2 certificate. Therefore, I had an advantage and I didn’t have many problems speaking or understanding. However, it was sometimes difficult to be understood, considering that my accent was very Italian at first.

I would say that during my stay in Canada, I improved my fluency and enriched my vocabulary. If I hadn’t had good grammatical skills, I don’t think that speaking English everyday would have helped me with that a lot, since Canadians mostly use slang words when speaking, and do not speak “proper” English!

I am often asked if having a basic level of English is a problem: my answer is no. It will clearly be harder at first, but, as I mentioned before, an improvement is guaranteed and most people will manage to speak good English eventually.

After my return to Italy, I immediately started taking private English lessons, in order to get a C1 certificate. I’m really looking forward to getting it, so that I can show myself how big an achievment I have attained!