CRESTVIEW — Crestview High School students aren’t the only ones preparing for Friday’s arrival of 22 visitors from Noirmoutier, France, Crestview’s sister city.
Mattis Durand, 15, has a list of experiences he hopes to have while in Crestview over the next two weeks. It includes, "The way of life, food, MacDo (McDonald’s, which Noirmoutier lacks), waking up early to go to the high school, sports (maybe football), big houses and yards, motorways, big trucks, and long beaches with white sand on the Gulf of Mexico,” he said in an email.
Jean-Luc Poignard, an English teacher who has visited Crestview, and Alice Cook-Perron, a Baltimore native now living in Barbâtre, an Ile of Noirmoutier village, instruct a weekly class for students preparing for the trip.
While their students are familiar with the version of American life seen in films and TV, Poignard and Cook-Perron’s classes provide insight into the culture they will actually experience.
For example, students are learning the differences between American English and the British English they learn in school.
At least nine of the 22 visitors have siblings who visited the Hub City, and they have an idea of what to expect, Crestview High School French teacher Chris Lanoue said. Some, such as Mattis, have socialized with Americans at home. “We have hosted eight or 10 students from Northwest Florida State College for several years and I loved trying to speak with them,” he said. “They were so nice to me.”
Though the 34-member French delegation’s visit is less than two weeks long, Mattis hopes to meet all the objectives on his list with help from his Crestview High host, Lukas Voight. “I am not sure I will have enough time for all the things I want to do,” Mattis said. “I’ll have to open my eyes all the time, even during the night!”
Lanoue said as important as classroom instruction is, immersing into a new culture by staying with a host family is sometimes more valuable. While Mattis and his friends will have fun, they’re also enhancing their education.
“I really hope to improve my American language to show to my teachers in France the benefit of this trip,” Mattis said.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Students from France prepare for Crestview visit