AC international students try an Ontario fall tradition: apple picking
Jessica Gunawan, an international student in computer programming, figures she’s been to more than 30 events put on by the International Education Centre. She ranked a recent orchard adventure near the top, pointing to the beautiful weather and a well-organized day.
Gunawan said the events are a good way to make friends from other programs. After more than 30 of them, she’s still signing up.
A big yellow bus took the students on a 40 minute trip to Mountain Orchards on Oct. 3. At the orchard, a tractor pulled everyone out to the apple trees. Each student filled a bag with white-fleshed, tart apples, and many were happily surprised by how good they tasted.
Apple picking can seem routine to someone who has done it every fall since childhood. For someone experiencing it for the first time, it’s new and exciting.
Away from the trees, students could jump into the hay or get lost in a corn maze about 2.4 metres tall. The orchard sold barbecue, doughnuts and pies and the farm market had just about everything made from apples, including cider.
Mountain Orchards has been part of fall activities in eastern Ontario for decades. The farm has grown apples since 1932, when the first trees were grafted from the original McIntosh trees in Dundela, about 30 kilometres away, according to the orchard’s website. The Gibson family started what it calls eastern Ontario’s first pick-your-own apple operation in 1970 and the Lyall and Hobson families bought the farm in 1973.
Today the orchard has more than 10,000 dwarf trees. Two wind towers protect the spring blossoms from frost and drip irrigation keeps the trees watered through dry spells. When it hails, the website says, the family relies on prayer.
The International Education Centre runs outings so international students can meet people outside the classroom.
Niamh O’Shea, manager of international student integration at the IEC, said many of the students the centre works with come from places where taking part in a harvest isn’t a tradition, where fall isn’t even a discernible season.
“It’s an opportunity for students to learn a little bit more about Ontario, some of the agriculture we grow here,” she said. “But really an opportunity for students to have a fun day out.”
In Ontario, this time of year brings apples and corn.
“In Tunisia, it’s olives and dates,” said Mahdi Raboudi, a recent graduate of Algonquin’s building construction technician program.
Getting to seasonal fall activities is often the prohibitive part for a lot of students. O’Shea said many couldn’t make the 40-minute trip on their own.
“It’s not always easy for the students that we serve to go out into a place like Mountain Orchards,” she said. “It’s not an opportunity that every student can make happen by themselves.
“We want to make sure that some of these fun, quintessential seasonal activities are accessible to our students,” she added.
More is coming for international students who want to immerse themselves in Canadian culture. InterVarsity, a campus Christian club, is hosting a Thanksgiving Feast on Oct. 8, aimed at international students who don’t usually celebrate the holiday. The IEC’s Coffee Break meetup also runs every two weeks, giving students a regular place to see familiar faces between bigger outings.
Events like this remind international students that they aren’t on their own here and give them an easy introduction to Canadian seasonal traditions they may not have grown up with.
