A line of eight Taiwanese students stand nervously in front of the Lambton-Kent Secondary School Board.
Despite being in Canada for more than two weeks, this is yet another experience they've yet to go through.
The international students are giving a presentation on their time in Chatham-Kent, specifically at Chatham-Kent Secondary School. They're part of a larger group of 19 Taiwanese students that have also been spread out at Blenheim District High School, John McGregor Secondary School, and Lambton-Kent Composite School.
International Education Administrator Kirsten Ramsay says a lot of preparation made the transition easier.
"They had such a wonderful orientation, and there was a lot of communication between here and Taiwan," she says. "We've been able to send school and family profiles, and we got profiles on the students."
Despite tentatively approaching the podium, the teens made trustees and administration laugh as they discussed their challenges in gym class, living in Canadian-style homes, and waiting and riding on the bus for the first time.
One of the students, Jamie Chen, notices the Canadian classes are a lot less structured.
"They raise their hands very frequently, but in Taiwan usually teachers just do lectures," says Chen.
Another temporary CKSS student, Victor Chang, notes the commute to school is a lot different in CK than in busy New Taipai City.
"In Taiwan I take three minutes to walk to school. But here I need to get my home dad to drive, or have to walk 20 minutes. It's also very cold in the morning," he says.
The students will head back on November 14.
The board hopes to continue this relationship with the New Taipei City School Board, a board that houses 500,000 students.
Going forward, Ramsay is looking to see Chatham-Kent students also travel to Taiwan for a similar experience. The board also wants to consider a teacher exchange, in which LKDSB instructors can travel overseas to teach English.
