Exchange Students in and out
Lucy Noakes recently returned from France and will speak with the club soon. In the meantime she writes:
“I feel like the experience of living in France has been such a positive thing for me and I am very thankful to the E-Club for sponsoring me to do it.”
Meanwhile, Carmel Kelly has sent the following report for the club:
On the 17th of January, I left home around 6 am to drive to Canberra to catch the flight from Canberra airport. The whole trip from my home to my first host families home took around 35 hours, with 22 of those hours spent in the air.
I arrived at the airport in Paris at midday Sunday and my host family and the other host families were waiting at the airport to welcome me and the other exchange students I flew with. Then it was a 2 hour drive to Lille and we went past so many cute little villages.
After we arrived, my host parents took me for a walk around lille and we saw some cool house boats. Here are some pictures of Lille from the past 2 weeks.
On Monday, I had a brief tour of Montebello International School. I am in Seconde which is equivilent to year 10 in Australia. I started school on Tuesday and it is very different to school in Australia! Montebello has 1500 students and is a very big school with over 3 floors. The subjects I am doing in French are French, mathematiques, science, physics/chemistry, Economics, Sport, History/geography and technology. The subjects I have in English are: History/geography, English, and Poetry/Drama. My school hours vary from 6-10 hours at school depending on the day and if all the professors are at school. There is no uniform which I love because I can wear whatever I want each day!
On Thursday, I went to my first Rotary event at the theatre where we watched a play. I didn’t understand a lot of it because it was in French, but my host brother translated some of it for me and it was fun to see.
On my second weekend, my host mum and I made Galette which is a French tradition where they make a pie with some kind of paste in the middle and in the paste is hidden a little figurine. Whoever gets that figurine has to wear a crown and is king of the Galette. All my host families came over for dinner, and wehad a galette party.
Overall, I am loving my exchange so far. The people are so kind, the other exchange students are so welcoming, and the city is so gorgeous. Every day I am surprised by something new and different but it justmakes me like France even more.
A few things that I have noticed are different are it’s normal to have pink toilet paper, they eat meals later (8-9pm), and I often have 3 hour breaks over lunch at school. I hope you enjoy my small update!
Cheers, Carmel
