La vie de l’élève – The life of the student in France

Two weeks ago I was sleeping in my own bed; fourteen days ago I was surrounded by my family and friends; 336 hours ago I was in a country where everyone spoke English - Today, I am living with my host family in Toulouse, France, where I am attending school, and attempting to speak French. 

In all honesty, the language barrier is the hardest component to this whole experience.  I am attending classes at Lycée la Pierre de Fermat, a high school known for its academics, and all my classes are in, you guessed it, French. 

Luckily for me, the majority of the population in France can speak English (not always well, but somewhat conversational).  My classmates have been extremely welcoming and are cooperative in helping me with my schoolwork. 

My French is not adept enough to keep up with the teacher, so I have a “cheat buddy” in class whom I copy notes from.  I would have to say though, my toughest class is Spanish.  Not having any background in Spanish, I am thrown into a class where the students have already taken one to three years of Spanish. 

The French take languages seriously and the students take language classes, not because it’s mandatory like it is in the U.S. or because it “looks good” for college applications, but because they NEED to learn another language. 

In Europe, especially Toulouse, which is near the border of Spain, foreign countries are only a train ride away, so it is a NECESSITY to learn another language; especially in the workforce.  So I have a teacher teaching me Spanish, while speaking in French, and unfortunately she doesn’t know English.  As a student trying to keep up with French alone, Spanish is nearly impossible to comprehend.  But like I said before, my classmates are awesome and help me out.  

Along with all my lessons being in French, the whole school schedule is completely different than that in America.  You travel around with the same class all day, which is beneficial because you can help one another with classwork and such, and I have classes Monday through Saturday (yes, I have school on Saturdays); each class ranging from one to two hours.  But school on Saturday is not that bad, because I get Tuesday, Wednesday, and Saturday afternoons off.  Of course this time is meant to be devoted to homework, but free time IS free time. 

Everyone has off Wednesday afternoon, so the streets, cafés and restaurants get extremely crowded around lunch time as everyone is taking advantage of eating outside and socializing.  My schedule is comparable to that of a university student. 

I start and end school at a different time each day depending on which classes I have for that day; once a class is over you are free to come and go as you please, so it is quite common to go to a café or the library or the school’s courtyard during your free time.  Also, you don’t have the same classes each day; for example, I have two hours of history Friday and Saturday morning, and that’s it for the week.  

Besides the usual, “How are you?”  the most common question I get from both my friends back home and from my new friends here is, “Is it like America?” followed by, “Which do you like better?”  Honestly, they are very different, but I like them both. 

France is different from America.  McDonalds here doesn’t sell hamburgers and fries.  Working men and women bike to their destination in suits and dresses.  People kiss each other on the cheek even if they are just acquaintances . . . the list goes on and on.  However, the culture here is amazing, and I don’t know a better way to experience it than to live completely immersed in it.         

Two weeks in and it is almost natural to me that one walks everywhere, goes to the café daily, and eats dinner late.  Two weeks in and I am still clueless what people are saying, but still, ever so slowly, learning the language, customs, and culture.