International students in Montreal experience snowshoeing for 1st time

International students from Montreal schools got their first taste of snowshoeing on Mount Royal Sunday.

The students from China, Spain and Vietnam – among others – hit the trails surrounding Beaver Lake in Montreal to get a real sense of winter.

“I like it. It’s very beautiful and it’s so different from Spain,” said Maria Cortes, a Grade 10 student at Beaconsfield High School who is from Andalusia, Spain.

Sixteen international students – all from Lester B. Pearson School Board (LBPSB) schools – braved the winter conditions while marching through the snow.

“I’m an international student and there’s many activities for us,” said Daniel, a Grade 5 student from China who goes to school at Beacon Hill Elementary. “And I learn English and French with other international students.”

Organizers say the program is aimed at helping the students integrate and adapt while promoting the beauty of Montreal and Quebec.

“We just wanted to introduce our international students to some of the cultural and lifestyle activities that Montrealers typically take part in in the winter,” said Shalini Dowlani with the LBPSB’s international department. “So we like to do events every season and of course what better day could we have picked than today for an activity outside, an outdoor winter activity.

“We’d like them to create exciting and fun memories so when they go back to their family and families back home they have beautiful stories that they can share with their family and friends back home.”

The students felt the snowshoeing was a special experience, calling it “weird” yet “fun.”

Many of them are in Montreal for just a single school year. In October, the same group of students took part in pumpkin carving. In the spring, they’ll visit a sugar shack.

“It’s great for their personal growth and they really, if you were to ask an international student what they’ve learned from their experience abroad, 90 per cent of the time they will tell you that they are so happy and grateful that they had that experience because they’ve got a sense of independence,” said Dowlani. “It’s been such a different experience from what they’re used to back home.”

“I like it because I think there are many students from different cities,” added Maria. “The people are very kind and I don’t know, it’s good to be here.”