Message to the international students

Dear Global Exchange Students

You are worn out from lack of sleep after an absolute nightmare journey to one of the prettiest most isolated paradise in the world. While the big bird with loud jet engines is yet to come in sight of land, you are completing your entry form to indicate whether you are bringing into the country any food or other rubbish which might be banned from entering the country.

At the same time you are filled with expectation and feel as excited as a child on Christmas morning wondering what may be in store for you when you arrive in this new and exciting country.

Your mind is filled with questions such as -will I be able to fit into the new environment, to master the language and what will my host family and the community lifestyle be like?

Being a foreign exchange student in new and unfamiliar surroundings can be thrilling and brings a lot of new challenges.

Some people will wonder whether you are a refugee and are curious about where you have come from, what are your customs and what you have experienced. You will find some of the local expressions are quite different to those you have been used to. For example greetings such as "High five" will leave you wondering what they are talking about. Some children will ask questions such as "If you are from Africa, do you speak Afrikaans? Do you hunt for your food? Do you live in huts? Do you have the Ebola virus? Do you have KFC and McDonalds? Would you be offended if someone called you by the “N-word”? You see there are stupid people everywhere in the world. However the local people are very accepting of who you are whether you are boring, screwed up or ridiculous.

Your normal day will begin when you wake up each morning – dress, then have breakfast which may consist of porridge with milk or yoghurt and fruit - prepare a packed school lunch in a bag containing cookies, muesli bars, banana and a sandwich ( not a ‘sand witch’ as I believed it to be when I first heard the word).

On your way to school you will be fascinated by the housing styles which are many and varied the gardens and lawns which surround most homes and the never ending streams of traffic driving in every direction. Once you have walked through the school gates you are suddenly in a totally different environment and your day commences in earnest.

Will I fit into the new environment?

To me, getting used to the community was as if I were trying to fit through an extremely narrow door. I was experiencing a lot of new things all at once. I remember my first New Zealand morning tea- I was in the school yard and we were offered barbecued sausage wrapped in a slice of bread and smothered in tomato sauce – well, I had never eaten anything quite like that before and it really wasn't to my taste - in fact I felt as if I wanted to vomit but I still said thank you and that it was delicious.

Since that time I have learned to love barbecued sausages and all the other new and interesting food that I have been served.

I have never forgotten my first visit to a mall, when we were going to see a movie and I needed to go to the restroom. However, I ended up at a door which I presumed the sign was indicating the men's bathroom, but it was a lift and that was my first time in a lift so I pressed the wrong buttons and while it was moving up and down I felt as if I was in an earthquake and almost wet my pants.

To be honest adapting to a new environment can be fun but also can be quite frightening.

Will I be able to master the language?

It begins when I sat my ESOL test and was asked if I knew the past tense of the verb to know and I ended up writing “I knowed”. Also the moments I myself will never forget start from when I texted to my friends, “the death of my ant was sorrowful, I am walking barefooted on a hot bitch on a sunny day”. Well I couldn't differentiate either an ant from an aunt nor the bitch from the beach. I have had multiple times trouble with speaking this bewildering language. It was like getting blood out of stone. I remember expressing excuses as to why I speak this way, “it takes a couple of ears ‘years’ to get used to this accent because I speak Kinyarwanda I compare its syllables to Maori language”. My last memory was visiting an Ethiopian Henderson hair store. When I asked where the combs were this middle aged African lady misunderstood my question and said come where? Any English words I spoke she would mimic and correct me in her Indian English accent. We had trouble understanding each other and I really felt as if my English wasn’t getting any better.

Learning a new language can be a frustrating and rewarding experience when you’ve become more fluent. As wise men David Webb and Eric Van Lu stated “Learning languages is like learning history from the inside out. It encompasses the battles of ethnicity, religion, compromise, politics and so much can be learned from language because it’s been shaped by history”.

Locals won't care if you speak broken English, especially if you brighten up and smile, show your enthusiasm and you will be amazed at how accepting people are. Once you have become proficient you will find many new opportunities that will present themselves.

What will my host family be like?

It has been a year and six months since I've arrived in New Zealand and my host mother said "You need a challenge to take your mind off your studies and learn more about your new home. Let's get you to travel to the North and South Islands to explore some of the scenic places in New Zealand”. I wasn’t expecting the opportunity to travel so far so soon. In my homeland of Rwanda I had never been further than fifty kilometres from my home and now I was being given the chance to fly all over New Zealand.

It seems that pigs don't fly, but In New Zealand it’s possible for Rwanda kiwis to fly.

On my holiday I stopped in the capital, Wellington. It was a very friendly place for a city with lots of politicians. The hospitality will remain in my mind, from the morning teas, the McDonald's we bought our burgers from, and most importantly the staff at our tour group. Simon, our tour leader, was always explaining where we were, what we were seeing and the history. His stories were entertaining for the group of international students, even describing the birds we saw from the cable car.

Your host families here will treat you as their own children and include you in all their family activities and do their best to ensure that you have little time to feel homesick.

What are the similarities you would find between New Zealand custom and your upbringing overseas?

Along with other international students we were given the opportunity to represent our culture and the chance to learn others’ cultures. For me I felt privileged to be part of my school Kapa Haka cultural group as I was born and raised in Rwanda where my traditions are similar to Maori, specifically in the areas of food, language and dance. I was interested to learn haka, songs and some Te Reo Maori. In Rwanda we have a cultural dance of warriors called Intore dancing to the beats and sounds of Impundu drums, and I was interested to compare Intore with Maori haka.

I felt at home staying on the marae with other students, because I have seen that the Maori people possess good humour and always express generosity to others, including visitors from Rwanda. I have made good friends, including Kahukura who teaches me Te Reo Maori, and Niua who teaches me how to play rugby! I felt blessed to sleep on a marae, a place of significant cultural importance.

As I've published “I have had no family since I was a baby and grew up in an orphanage, which had a similar community lifestyle to that I experienced with the Kapa Haka group in the past seven weeks accompanied by the day of poly fest at ASB show ground. We shared together and every parent took care of us. On the marae we slept in the same room on mattresses lined against the walls, ate together in the dining room, helped with chores and spent time together learning all about Maori traditions. This was ultimately a whanau!

I sincerely honour and acknowledge everyone in the Kapa Haka group, our rangatira, the parents and the staff for their support, and for welcoming me to learn more about their culture in their land.

Universe is like university verse a book and unlike untraveled places means unread pages to lead to graduation. I give all my encouragement to you, global exchange students. Your will to leave your comfort zones will unleash your potential to learn new things and take advantage of the many new experiences that will present themselves.

Farewell and best of luck on your visit to these beautiful iconic islands so diverse in customs and languages with more sheep than people and 35 percent of the world’s dairy products.

Kia Ora
Sincerely yours,
Olivier Niyitegeka @Mount Albert Grammar.