Entre le 3 et 19 mars les élèves de Première Européenne sont partis à Grand Rapids dans le Michigan. Ils ont été hébergés chez leur correspondant et ont ainsi pu s’immerger réellement dans l’American way of life. Ils ont également eu l’occasion de découvrir des musées, la cour fédérale et un campus universitaire américain.
Le séjour s’est achevé par une étape d’une journée à Chicago, au cours de laquelle les élèves ont visité la ville, découvert l’Art Institute, la Hancock Tower et sa plateforme panoramique et bien sûr dégusté une deep-dish pizza.
Voici leur récit.
During our trip to Grand Rapids we were separated into three schools: Forest Hills Central, Forest Hills Northern and Forest Hills Eastern.
Throughout these two weeks, we attended four days of school.
As such we have discovered all the differences and common points between school in France and school in the USA.
After school we did a lot of exciting activities. We went to many hockey and basketball games. We didn’t just watch, but we played too! We participated in the training of our exchange students.
There were plenty of sports: lacrosse, track and field, volleyball, crew, soccer. There is a team for every sport in the school… amazing!
Some of us also watched musicals, for example The Little Shops of Horror in Forest Hills Central, or Mamma Mia in Chicago, or Charlotte’s Web, a play in Forest Hills Eastern and Northern.
We also went to Craig’s Cruisers, a fun place to spend time with your friends. There was go kart, a free buffet, laser tag, and a bunch of other cool activities.
As a conclusion, the activities we did were very pleasant and we would do them if we could!
But we also did some activities all together. The first week, on Wednesday in the morning we went to the court house to see a trial. First, we talked to a federal judge who explained to us how the American justice works. It was very interesting.
Then we walked to the Ford Museum. The visit was short.
On Thursday we had picture day. We stayed in French class to talk about our life in France with pictures. It was very nice to talk with all the students. At Forest Hills Central, there was assembly. Students were holding a man on a mattress, who had to be carried over a long distance and then back.
On Friday we went to Union High School. It is a different, less privileged school. It was very cool. We met other students and went to class with them.
On Monday the next week we went to the Van Andel Museum. The museum shows the city’s history and at the time there was an exhibit on whales. It was very interesting. Then we ate and visited downtown. We saw a war memorial and talked about the architecture. It’s very different from Europe.
On Thursday we visited the Grand Valley State University. A student showed us the campus which is huge and explained to us how college works. He said that art was very important and said that it’s very expensive. Then we took the yellow school bus to go back to school, which was very funny.
On the 17th of March, we had to say goodbye to our host families, which was hard and full of sadness. We took the bus and left for the windy city. We arrived at the hotel and and left right after. We had some free time on our own and then we walked around the city to the wonderful art institute. We saw a huge variety of pieces of art, that was amazing. Some of them were very famous. Then we walked to Navy Pier and we had some free time again. We ate all together at Gino’s East, a place where you can eat deep dish pizza.
On the 18th, we went to the Hancock Tower and saw the city from the top, all the buildings and Lake Michigan. That was gorgeous.
And then it was already over. We went to the airport and took our plane back to Frankfurt.
In America we ate a lot and not just heatlhy food. What most people think about eating in the United States is true. They eat a lot of junk food and they mostly do not cook. For us at least, we at a lot times outside or they just ordered things like Chinese food or pizza. We were not used to this way of life! They don’t know how to eat all together, they eat on the couch or all in different rooms. For us French people, it’s hard to understand why they cannot eat all together because we like with our parents and tell them what happened at school. That’s why eating in the United States is very different from here and they eat when they want to, there is no dinner time and at school lunch time is sometimes at 10:30 am. Sometimes they can eat 7 times a day and it’s pretty normal.