NHS students enrolled in the French exchange program got to experience life in France over the April vacation.
Students in the French program were offered the opportunity to participate in a foreign exchange program with another high school in France.
October 29 to November 7, students from France came to the US and spent time in the homes of several NHS students. French students saw firsthand the life of an American student, along with days out in Boston, seeing tourist attractions.
On April 23, students from NHS arrived in Paris to embark on the same foreign exchange program. NHS students got to spend 11 days in France- four in Paris and seven with their foreign exchange families. also got to attend school with their host families.
Sophomore Muna Mpundu, a student who’s a part of this program, provided a rundown of how French high school students’ school day actually goes.
“The school day in France is structured very differently compared to America. Students arrive at school at 8 am and don’t get dismissed until 5 pm! -The French also use a different grading scale in France, using grades out of 20. School lunch is much more nutritious but lacks flavor. The first day we had couscous with chicken and a choice between sides, the second day we had mashed potatoes and chicken, and the last day chicken nuggets and pasta. French students also have to wait for the teacher to tell them to sit down at the beginning of class,” said Mpundu.
Sophomore Yaffa Karasik explained how her trip to France showed her the difference in people’s behaviors and how the culture there is very different.
“The biggest difference between America and France is definitely the culture – In the south of France, where we stayed,d people were really nice and also seemed to be present in the moment — I never really saw people on their phones, you know. Another cool thing is people dress very formally to school with dresses and suits, where like here in America, we dress lazy with sweats and sweatpants. A fun fact is that the sun sets really late there, around 10-10:30,” said Karasik.
Sophomore Jolie Loetz remarked about how she had trouble communicating with her host family.
“There were loads of beautiful landmarks we got to visit and all these landmarks are ancient and medieval — it was really cool to experience how they live there and the different times they eat and how they go through their school day — when it came to speaking to my foreign exchange family it was kind of difficult because I obviously don’t speak perfect French so i was using Google Translate most of the time,” said Loetz.
“Even with all the cultural differences, I feel like the trip benefited us all because it showed how all countries around the world are different,” said Mpundu
