Normandy Exchange 2018: Au Renoir et a bientot

Early Saturday morning, we gathered in the parking lot near le Lycee Jeanne d’Arc to say goodbye to our hosts and board the bus for the 3 1/2 hour ride to Charles de Gaulle airport. I am happy to report that the trip home was wonderfully uneventful, although a few of us did consider making a break for it and heading back to Bayeux while we still had the chance!

I want to share with you a few more reflections that was unable to post earlier:

I have had so much fun in Bayeux so far. My family is so nice. They always ask how I’m doing and after it snowed they made sure I had proper shoes, a scarf, a hat. They’re so sweet. We also play games together just about every night. French board/ card games are so cool. I am so grateful that I got a family like them!

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Seeing the American Cemetery was absolutely breathtaking. It was so nice to see the flags being taken down with Taps in the background. I loved all of the interesting information that I got from our tour guide and the museum. It was really moving to hear some of the stories of the people who are buried there.

(Jadyn Chandler)

I have noticed that people come from different places from Europe. Specifically Britain. I have met two people so far who have UK heritage and have a British accent. What I have also noticed is that they keep up with our news more than we keep up with theirs. They seem to know about the mass shootings and gun control, which we ourselves are struggling to get control of. They don’t have the same issue of mass shootings because they are not allowed to buy guns in France. 

(Jordan Walker)

Here are some highlights from my past few days in Normandy for the blog 

-a group of students got together and had pizza, after dinner the American correspondants taught their french counterparts various “classic” American dances such as the cha cha slide and the Cupid shuffle, it was a great bonding experience and a unique side of American culture for the exchange partners to see 

-Seeing the abbey of Mont St-Michel was amazing, the architecture and sheer ingenuity of building atop a rock were very impressive, getting to experience such a culturally iconic place with our correspondants was very enjoyable.

(Lilly Cady)

Being in a French English class and a French Spanish class was an eye-opening experience.  Seeing them learn another language—our language— in the same way we learn theirs was a great reminder of how alike we really are.

(Christian Corpening)

This trip has been a wonderful experience for me.  I have bonded with my host family and enjoy our dinner time conversations very much.  They ask me questions about America, and I have learned a lot about French culture.  C’est vachement cool.

(Unsigned)

As for me, I come out of this experience with feelings of friendship and respect for our partner school in Bayeux, and renewed love and admiration for our own students, who represented our community and our country beautifully. I can honestly say that I enjoyed every moment I spent in their company, and I am extremely proud to be associated with this wonderful group of Saints!