Morgan Manypeney - QLD to France

Mon 28 Jun 2010

Morgan comes from QLD and is currently on a year exchange program in France. He is having a fantastic time and has provided us with an update on his experience so far:

Summer has arrived! But celebrations won’t commence until next weekend. The nationwide exam, the baccalaureate (BAC) exam started last week for the grade 12s and will start this week for the grade 11s. As a result everyone my age is study, study, study. As I won’t be doing my university studies here, I’m not obliged to the BAC pas du tout (not at all). When school recommences in September, I will continue into grade 12 but will only do the first 3 months before finishing my program.

I started at the local high school Lycée Benjamin Franklin (named after the American President who famously made a visit to the town) in February and was placed in a grade 11 class. In France at the generalised high schools (as opposed to the specialized high schools for apprentissage or apprentice in english), there is three grade terminale (grade 12), premiere (grade 11) and seconde (grade 10).

I find it really weird but at the same time incredibly good that the students here learn two other languages in addition to their national language! At my school in Australia, we were only offered one language, Italian and that was only in grade 8 for 6 months.

No surprise, my host dad and the guys that I know are crazy with the world cup (coup de monde). They’re not too happy to admit that they’re French and even so, have been mocking Australia. Two red cards!

The weekends are spent with my family or friends. If with friends, it’s usually at one of the pubs in town. Most of us aren’t yet legal but, hey, it’s France. With my program, rules are that I don’t drink and I’m happily keeping to that.

I live in a small village that adjacent to Auray, where my school is. In France, there is much less than space between villages or town. It’s just village after village after village, something we don’t see so much in Australia. The area, Brittany (or Bretagne in french) is popular with the tourists during summer who flock to the beaches and bathe in the sunshine 7am until 11pm. Hundreds of years ago, Brittany was predominately populated by the Celtics or Irish and as a result their culture is still evident in their modern-day culture. So much so that if I had to compare the stereotypical France and Brittany, Brittany would not at all seem like the typical France and in fact, seem like a completely separate country. Mind you, like many stereotypes of countries, the French stereotype does not exist.

It is true that the French are heavily political and focus a lot on culture and intelligence. They do care for fashion but it’s more about personal style than following the fashions. Yes, everyone eats baguette and cheese and yes, usually as part of every meal. I haven’t seen many people wearing the beret though. The cars drive on the opposite side of the road and they don’t speak English but other than that they’re still human and no different from us, in Australia. I’ve learnt that stereotypes are really just a very small amount of population and that the average day person is not at all like the stereotype of their race, region or country.

My friends often ask why I don’t go the beach more often in Australia. I couldn’t give a good answer. They think that all Australians are always at the beach because of course the weather is always beautiful and the shining is always shining. It’s almost like that but I tried to explain that it depends on where you live, ability to get there etc. etc. I try not to mention the crocodiles, sharks, snakes and jellyfish too much... One of the local chain stores here began selling Tim Tams, but they were only given so many. I introduced them to my host family and to my friends at school and everyone loved them. I have also made pavlova and Anzac biscuits on separate occasions, which have both been adored by my friends and host family here. Especially the pavlova with cream, it is France after all.

This was very hard to write. I backspaced a lot after writing sentences in French and not English. I miss my family, my friends and my country but I’ve discovered an amazing country here, that isn’t really all that different from my own. I’m so happy that I chose the better part of the year rather half a year. It’s given me the opportunity to get my area and the people so much better and receive a much better understanding of France. Oh and my French is good (I understand nothing at the start!) but with still 5 or 6 months to go, it can get better.

The world is smaller than you think.

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