This year’s Rotary Youth Exchange student has arrived in Flin Flon, eager to learn the ways of the north.
Noor Belis is the incoming student - she arrived in Flin Flon for this school year in late August. For the next nine months, Belis will get to experience the best of what the north has to offer, learning a new culture and attending classes at Hapnot Collegiate.
Belis is originally from Belgium, hailing from a community called Sinaai, about halfway between the larger centres of Ghent and Antwerp in the northern, Dutch-speaking part of the country. Sinaai and Flin Flon are similarly sized communities - about 6,000 people call Sinaai home - but in some ways, the similarities end there.
“We ride bikes a lot - it’s very flat,” she said.
Belis is the latest of a long line of foreign-born students to come to Flin Flon through the program. The Rotary Youth Exchange, which started back in 1929, sponsors about 9,000 exchange students around the world each year, sending each for around a school year’s length stay somewhere new. Recent Hapnot grad Bobby Smith is the school’s outgoing student - he’s currently in Brazil on a term of his own. Exchange students typically take part in Rotary events and meet other students on their own exchange terms during their stays.
So far, Belis has been struck by how social Flin Flonners have been, especially compared to back home - not a problem for her, considering her English is fluent. Classes are much more relaxed than her education back home, she said - and adding in extracurricular activities like school sports and courses like foods are also new experiences.
“My first impression is that everybody here is so friendly and open. I’ve been introduced to a lot of people and everybody is interested and enthusiastic to meet me - that’s been nice,” she said.
“There is really a community here, more than I have in my village at home. Everybody kind of knows everybody but you just say ‘Hi’ and then you don’t really talk. Here, everybody stops and talks - I really love it.”
Part of Belis' northern experience includes blueberry picking, paddling and travelling - Belis and other Rotary exchange students will be going on a trip to Churchill later this school year to see the province’s polar bear capital.
“I’m pretty open to a lot of things. I just went into my exchange wanting to see what was possible - I’m going to say yes to everything and see whatever happens,” she said.
“I thought, when coming to Canada, that I wanted to see some nature - I really love nature, especially through all the activities we’ve been doing, kayaking, canoeing. I really love it. Seeing the wildlife is amazing too because you don’t have really impressive wildlife in Belgium.”
Another change is how people get around. In Belgium, most transport is done on foot or by bike - with many portions flat in elevation with many towns close together, bikes, buses or trains are used for intercity transport. That’s not something that can be done in the north, with vast distances of brush between most communities.
Students are also taught how to drive young in Flin Flon - something Belis hasn’t had to learn yet in her native land.
“I feel like some students here, they drive already, they have their licence. In Belgium, it’s not really needed. I don’t have my licence yet and I’m older than some people here, because it’s not needed - there are bikes, there are trains, buses and everything is really close to each other in Belgium, everything is very densely populated,” she said.
“There’s a city at eight kilometres away and another one at seven - in between there are more villages. You really don’t have as much nature as you do here.”
Going on an exchange can be daunting for many students. Belis said taking the plunge and going on her term this year was a good decision.
“It's not as scary as I thought it was going to be. People just are very welcoming and very open,” she said.
“I’d just like to say to people, if you’re thinking about it - do it. Just try.”
