Caitlin Scarr - QLD to France

Tue 10 Apr 2007

Caitlin Scarr from The Glennie School in QLD is currently on our semester program in France. Here is her latest news.

Just thought I would send my update and let everyone know how I've been going all the way over here in France!!

Well I've been here now just over 2 months, and I'm nearly already half way through! The time has absolutely flown! I'm living in Avignon, a city in the south of France which is only slightly bigger than my own home city in Australia. I arrived in late January, and was met by my host mother and youngest host sister at the train station. I was absolutely exhausted, but I still managed to stay awake for the first few hours there!

My host family have been absolutely amazing! I honestly could not have asked or wished for a better group of "strangers" to have been chosen by! They are a family of 5 - My host father Dominique, my host mother Marie-Odile, and my three host sisters; Karine (22), Marielle (17) and Eloise (15). Karine is at university in another city, but comes home every 2nd weekend, so even though she's usually not there, I have still been able to spend time with her as well. The entire family is absolutely lovely!!

They are all really fun, make lots of jokes and laugh all the time, and they have all helped me HEAPS with the huge amount of business work I need to do in order to get a 'Carte de Sejour' (so I can stay in France as an 'adult' - I'm already 18). And it is wonderful to have 3 sisters who are all completely accepting and inclusive of me!! I know how lucky I have been, and it has made my stay so far completely comfortable.

I haven't really been given any jobs to do, so I thought the best thing would be to just help out for the first few weeks as I got used to the family routine, and found that everyone just seems to help each other out with everything. So I just try to jump in and do things without being asked, and we have not had a single problem so far! So I'm very happy about that.

When I first arrived, I hit some massive homesickness and culture shock, and begged my parents and my boyfriend to let me come home, as I'd "made a massive mistake". But they talked me through it, and I found, even in that first week when I was very tired and confused, that whenever I was with my host family, I felt ok. So they were a fantastic support, without even realising it! I also decided that I should try and read over some of the booklets PIE and Student Exchange Australia had given me, and that was when I was able to work out I had culture shock, and I was able to deal with it very quickly and sensibly. If in doubt, READ!

And my first day at school was very difficult. I arrived and was told by the first teacher she hadn't expected me and I couldn't come to class that day, so I sat by myself until some of the girls from my class came to collect me.
They were all very nice and friendly, and they took me with them to the next class. But the teacher was away, so we all ended up sitting in a corner of the main hall, with them being extremely loud and inquisitive and me struggling to stay awake. (I'd had approximately 8 hours sleep during and after 30 hours of travel!). For the first day, they spoke nearly completely in English to me, as it was fairly obvious the French was going in one ear and out the other. Although I was crying a fair bit, just overwhelmed by it all, they all tried to include me and were very nice.

School itself was a lot harder to adjust to. It is COMPLETELY different to the Australian school system. I think it's probably very similar to university in Australia in regard to the freedom that the students have. If a teacher's away, you could leave school for the hour if you wanted. You eat at a canteen, and the students are allowed to smoke at the front of the school at any time (the worst thing about that is having to walk through it every morning and afternoon to get in and out of school), and they are allowed mobiles and ipods at any time and place in school except in the actual lessons. I came from a private religious all-girls school. Things are very different here. And while I know deep down that I do prefer, or at least am used to, the Australian system, I am certainly finding the numerous differences extremely interesting.

I absolutely LOVE the food here. It is incredible! Every meal is just exquisite, restaurant-standard food, and yet, it's 'everyday food'. I've heard lots of other students talking about how they've put on weight, but I've actually had the opposite happen. When I first arrived, I was going through a huge amount of stress and was not at all hungry, so I was eating very little, and I found that in the first 2 weeks I was here, I lost about 3 or 4 kilos. But after I got through that stage, I started eating more. However, I really haven't put much, if any weight, back on again. My family is extremely healthy, and every meal is very healthy, and I'm also doing something physical every day, even if just walking to and from the bus stop. So I've found that, if anything, I've become healthier since getting here. And while we eat cheese and bread and everything typically French that you would expect to make you very fat, it is always in moderation, so again, it has not affected me at all! Very relieved about that!

I have been lucky enough to do a bit of travelling since I've been here. My host mother's parents live in Embrun, which is in the southern Alps, so we have been skiing twice, for a weekend and then for a week during the first holidays. That was absolutely fantastic. I've also been to Marseille a few times, but only really passing through. And last week, while my class was sitting the BAC exams I was allowed to visit my aunt for the week. She lives in London. So I spent a week in London, and actually found the first day a little difficult adjusting to speaking English again. But I saw some of the sites, had a wonderful time, and am now back into school again. I know the program was nervous I might have trouble settling back in, or undo all my progress, but by the time I walked in the front door of my 'home' in France, it was like I hadn't left. And I'm back and enjoying school, and have found that I am understanding even MORE French than when I left for England... don't really know how that one happened!

With regard to the language, it's never been too difficult, but the start certainly was extremely tiring. I had studied French for 3 years, but there was a 2-year gap between when I finished studying the language, and when I came to France, so I had forgotten a lot and what I could remember was very rusty. My host family were all very nice and helped me out. I was lucky that they all spoke reasonable to very good English, so for the start, if I got really stuck they could usually help me out. And they have started correcting my language now, which is a huge help - they were too nice to do it for about the first month of my stay.

Now, as I have less than 3 months left, I am already excited about going home. I have missed home the entire time, although I really have been given so many wonderful opportunities here, and I believe I will always keep in contact with my host family, as they are a very special family! But one of, if not the best thing, that has happened to me is I have realised just how much I care about my family, friends and Australia, and just how much my parents do for me. I have really grown to appreciate all my family and friends so much, because being flown to the other side of the world to a country that speaks a different language, and placed with a family of strangers, you can't help but realise very quickly what you've left behind and everything you never had to do by yourself. So, I am so thankful for the opportunity to discover a new culture, learn more of a challenging language and meet some wonderful new people, but I am particularly grateful that I am able to truly appreciate those who I have left behind. I cannot wait to tell them that the moment I see them again.

It has been extremely difficult, challenging, eye-opening, entertaining and I will never regret anything I have done. What an amazing experience, and what a fantastic opportunity to live with a fantastic family in an incredible culture! Cannot wait to share it with my family and friends in Australia.

Caitlin