Exchange student ‘too busy to be homesick’

Halfway through his year living in Rainy River District, Cesar Mourman is not showing any signs of being homesick.
“I was happy to go to discover a new country, a new family,” said Mourman, who arrived at the La Vallee home of his hosts, the Firths, back on Aug. 18.
“I don’t want to go back,” he smiled.
Mourman, who is attending the Sturgeon Creek Alternative Program, has been involved in a number of activities since arriving here, including youth groups, church, and taking care of the Firths’ chickens.
“I like the school very much. I have very good friends there,” said Mourman, who will be here until July 5. “I’ve never been on a farm . . . I’m not going to do that all my life.”
Mourman said he gets calls from his parents in France every few days–just to keep track.
“My parents phoned last week, they want to know what I do here,” he noted. “When I tell them it’s minus-30, they say, ‘What? How do you do that?’”
But Mourman added he’s not fazed by the cold temperatures or snow, which were part of the reason he is here.
“It’s a nice country, very nice with a lot of snow. I just picked Canada because I love snow and in my country there is little snow,” said Mourman, who even has ventured out to ski down in Minnesota.
“It’s good but I prefer snowboarding. I just always fall on my bum,” he said. “I like it. It’s cold but I always like the cold weather because in my city [La Rochelle], it’s always raining.”
The Firths have had five exchange students before Mourman but describe him as the most quiet and easiest to get along with. He is quiet by nature but also arrived with a very limited command of English–a vocabulary which has since grown remarkably.
When he arrived, the Firths’ oldest son, Kaleb, had to use his classroom French to communicate with Mourman. But within months, he had picked up enough English to carry on a conversation.
Although visiting Canada and spending a year with a new family is a change for the 19-year-old, travelling is not new for Mourman. His adoptive parents have taken him to visit his birthplace, Sri Lanka, as well as several other destinations.
“We love that travel, we keep all the money to travel,” he remarked. “I think it’s a good idea because you meet a lot of people and you learn a lot. It’s very interesting.”
As with most of the exchange students visiting the district, there are some aspects of the area Mourman would like to bring back home to France, including some Canadian-bought clothing, a Bible, skates . . . .
“And Jell-O. They don’t have that [and] I really like it,” he added.