By Jason Hodgett | Posted: Thursday February 18, 2016
Over the summer holidays, six Year 12 students (James Bell, Thomas Bell, Ryan Davis, Jason Hodgett, Libby Melhopt and Bailey Whitnack) from Timaru Boys’ and Girls’ High Schools travelled to Montpellier, in the south of France as part of the exchange between our schools and the Lycée Jean Jaures.
While
there, we went to the local high school with our exchange students, who came to
New Zealand Term 2 holidays last year, and attended various classes. While the
subjects proved to be surprisingly interesting, and the French challenging, the
highlights of our trip would have to be the various trips we were taken on by
our host families. Most of us were lucky enough to see Paris but we all got to
experience many of the other, different regions France has to offer. With some
travelling North, to Colmar and Strasbourg, very close to the German border,
and others getting to lounge on beaches in Majorca and Barcelona, between us we
managed to see a great deal.
It was very interesting seeing the many striking differences between France, both geographically and culturally (and linguistically, of course) and New Zealand, however, it was the similarities that surprised us most. Much to our relief, our biggest shock was that they don’t eat frog’s legs and snails for every meal; they’re actually surprisingly civilised. It was probably mostly thanks to the amazing job our host families did of making us feel welcome and relaxed in a completely new environment that helped ease us into the ways of French life.
This
experience, of being immersed in foreign culture, language and locations was
truly exceptional and we are all immensely grateful to the schools, families
and teachers who made this once-in-a-lifetime trip possible. The friends and
memories we’ve made will stay with us for the rest of our lives and help us to
put into perspective our place, and that of New Zealand, within the wider
global community. While this particular exchange is only open to French
students, there are countless other opportunities available to any students to
go or do practically anywhere or anything imaginable, which we strongly
encourage you to explore.
