At the moment, the school has 27 students from eight countries attending classes as part of the Nova Scotia International Student Program.

Rieko Nakaoka, 18, is at YCMHS for the third year. She says her mother suggested it to her as a way to work on her English and have a different experience.

Nakaoka says the biggest difference she first noticed between Yarmouth and her native Japan was the lack of public transportation.

"It's really small. If I'm in Japan in my town . . . we can go everywhere with bicycles or take a train or take a bus. But Yarmouth doesn't have a train or bus or some kind of stuff. It's sometimes very difficult to go just to a mall or movie theatre."

Still, she is enjoying the experience.

"I like teachers at Yarmouth high. I think I'm taking real good classes."

Joelle Vos only arrived in Yarmouth a few weeks ago, but already the 18-year old can see differences in the culture.

"In the Netherlands people are always busy . . . (People back home) are friendly as well, it's just really relaxed here."

The school's principal, Gerry Randell, is hosting two international students. He says exposing local students to different cultures is an important teaching tool.

"We live in a global community and we try and educate our kids in a global environment and it's very, very difficult to do through textbooks and through print materials," he says. "When we have an international influence and these kids come in, . . . they come representing other countries."

George Egan is the teacher who oversees the international students. He says dealing with the challenges such as a gap in language or getting foreign students involved in the school and community can be difficult, but the benefits outweigh the challenges.

"They listen," he says when asked how students with little to no English skills approach class.

"I think you have to adapt in the classroom as a teacher, as well, because you may slow down a little bit when you're explaining something or you may often explain something in two or three different ways at two or three different levels and then you can actually see them say, 'Oh yeah, I get that.'"

The payoff, he says, of having students from different places in the classroom is the way it can affect students' thinking.

"(Local students) see the cultural differences that exist — the different ways of looking at things; the different ideas that students from other parts of the world have; the way that the world where they're from operates as opposed to here; and so it broadens the horizon of local kids in the classroom."

In total 72 international students are spread across Digby, Shelburne and Yarmouth County for half or all of this school year.