Student exchange a real family affair

This past white Christmas was particularly special for 16-year-old Thalita Ribeiro.
Back home in Brazil, Ribeiro saw snow every Christmas–but only on cards and decorated paper.
“It really snowed on Christmas day. I felt like I was on a Christmas card,” she said after spending her first Christmas in Canada. “The weather, I love it.”
Entering the last two weeks of her exchange here, Ribeiro has settled down comfortably with her host family–the Ken Masons of Emo Township–and her adopted community.
Ribeiro appears very comfortable in the rural setting here despite the difference between the local lifestyle and that of her home town in Brazil, with its a population of 500,000.
She has been introduced to new foods, including perogies and pizza pops, while introducing the Masons to her own rice dishes.
Ribeiro also is the second member of her family to live at the Masons’ farm. Her brother, Daniel, also stayed there on an exchange in 1997-98.
“Daniel liked the snow, too,” recalled Peggy Mason. “And when his parents came, he said, ‘Can you pray for me, I want it to snow when they come.’”
Ribeiro admitted she was nervous when she left her family in Brazil but was determined to follow in her brother’s footsteps with the learning experience.
“I was pretty scared but I wanted to learn English and about your culture,” she remarked.
She remains in close touch with her family. Her brother accompanied her on the trip up and she talks to her parents almost every day by telephone.
But Ribeiro also has thrown herself into life in Rainy River District. She joined the drama club and Emo community choir, and attends Fort Frances High School, where she finds the work is much easier than at her school in Brazil.
“It’s way harder there but I can’t choose my classes,” said Ribeiro, who could not take courses like communications, shop, or manufacturing in Brazil.
She has mastered English slang and become a part of the Mason family, including a sibling rivalry with 19-year-old Ryan.
“She’s all right I guess,” he said with a laugh.
The families’ exchange will have gone full circle when Ryan Mason learns to pronounce the name of Ribeiro’s home town–São Jose Do Rio Preto. He plans to head there to spend six months with her family.
Ribeiro said when she gets back, she will suggest her friends also go on an exchange. “I think they should come here because it’s really cool,” she noted.
“I just want to say thanks to the whole community. They were really nice to me–all the teachers and friends and my host family,” she stressed.
“They were really nice to me, not Ryan, though,” she added with a grin.
But before Ribeiro takes off, she wants to get in one more winter activity. “To go skiing next week,” she enthused.