School life in the south of France
School life in the south of France
A different country, a different school life?
Well, when you visit other countries it is very interesting to visit the schools too.
You will have a lot of questions in your mind, like: How are the teachers? Are they more relaxed than in Germany or are they stricter? How are the lessons? What about the pupils? Are they bored as we sometimes are?
School life in France is quite similar to school life in Germany. The school (Collège et Lycée Jeanne d'Arc) consists of several buildings. Directly next to the school is a factory. A German teacher who has lived in Mazamet for nearly 20 years told us that they used to process wool1 in this factory and when it rained there were many colorful puddles2.
The first strange thing when we wanted to go inside was that the school isn't open for everyone.
In the front of the door stood a man who looked grouchy3 but in reality he wasn't. He welcomed everybody very friendly and he reminded us Germans of a doorman4 in a disco.
The outward appearance of the pupils is very important for this French school. The pupils are not allowed to have any piercings or tattoos and the dresses have to be knee-long - "very unusual", we thought.
In our opinion the pupils behave like the German pupils because in some lessons they are more concentrated (like in Maths) and in others they aren't (like in French). The pupils talk, laugh, draw little pictures but also help other classmates when they have questions.
The other thing we noticed was that for the French pupils English seems to be a difficult language. The people who live in the south of France have a strong accent when they talk in their native language and that's why they speak English with a strong accent, too. It wasn't very easy for the Germans to understand them but after some attempts we found a way to communicate.
The teachers are like in Germany (Maybe they are everywhere similar?! Friendly but strict!)
We don't know what else to say about the teachers because everyone knows how teachers are.
A thing we have never seen before is that the pupils from class five to seven have to wear white coats. These coats look like the coats you wear in Germany when you have Art at school and you draw with watercolors or acrylic paint5.
In the breaks the children can buy a meal in the cafeteria. At this school the meals are always prepared freshly because they think that it's better for the pupils' health than eating fast food.
Teachers and pupils gave us a very warm welcome.
We all had a very great time in France and we got a lot of impressions that we will never forget!
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1 Wolle
2 Pfützen
3 brummig
4 Türsteher
5 Acrylfarbe
Family life in Mazamet
Family life in Mazamet:
How is family life in Mazamet?
Most of the families didn't speak English very well, but they made great efforts to communicate with us. At the family's house, I got my own bed room and my exchange student slept in her own room. I ate three times a day together with them; we had breakfast, lunch and dinner together. In the evening other families with other exchange students arrived and we played games or talked together. The exchange students organized our free time and after a few hours the parents arrived and brought us back home. This was great!
I had the feeling to be really welcome because the family cared about me a lot and spoiled me very much. Every day I was provided with lunch packets. My exchange student only wanted the best for me and now we have become really good friends. They were very sporting because one day we bowled together and then we went shopping in the shopping-center. It was a wonderful day. I had a lot of fun with the family and they were very friendly and nice.
Finally they bought me a farewell gift and baked my favorite cake for me - strawberry cake. When we had to go back to Germany the families were very sad and most of the mothers cried. Everybody had very much fun there and we plan to go back to Mazamet next year. I'm glad to know that my exchange student will come to see me in September!
Eileen Zajac (Jahrgangsstufe 11)A travel diary: Wednesday, 11th May
A travel diary: Wednesday, 11th May
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On our first day in Mazamet we met at school at 7.50 where the principal of Jeanne D'Arc Pascal Rouanet welcomed us.
After that we had a small breakfast and later we took the bus to Albi. Albi is a small town a bit more than an hour away from Mazamet. It is very beautiful. In the city there is a huge castle near the river Tarne.
Our next stop was another small town called Cordes.
It was another midieval village and we visited the city, went shopping and after that we went back to Mazamet. In the afternoon we had free time with our exchange partners and one of the French guys invited us to go to his garden and have a poolparty, which was fun.
After a great day we went back to our host families.
Robin Schwiertz (11/1)A travel diary: Thursday, 12th May
A travel diary: Thursday, 12th May
On the second day of our stay we attended the French school lessons for two hours and then we had a sightseeing tour through the old town of Mazamet.
At 12 o'clock we met at school again and had lunch in the canteen.
After school lunch we met us our exchangepartners and worked on the COMENIUS project against drugs. Every group of 4 pupils (two Germans and two French students) had to work out an information brochure about a drug they wanted to inform about.
In the afternoon we had free time again and this day some of us climbed up a hill to a small castle ruin in the mountains. The view from the ruin over the landscape was incredible. We had a beautiful panorama view over the whole town.
We spent some hours at the ruin and then we went home.
Robin Schwiertz (11/1)A travel diary: Friday, 13th May
Friday, 13th May
On Friday morning we attended school. In the first lesson we had Maths. I sat in the back room at the last table with another German exchange student. It was interesting to see that the French have exactly the same topics as we have in Germany. We understood very little because they all spoke so quickly and we got used to the fact that the lessons last 55 minutes, instead of 45 minutes. As the bell rang everyone stood up and walked out. Then the next lesson started and all the pupils came back into the classroom and sat down. After the second lesson all the Germans gathered in front of the school and we went to the bus that should bring us to Carcassonne (cf. Samy's report).
After the trip we were picked up by our host families. We returned back home and there we had a wonderful evening with other exchange students and their partners. We ate something and then we talked a lot. Later the others were picked up and we went to bed. It was an interesting and beautiful day.
Julia Borek (9/6)Carcasonne
Carcassonne
During our journey to Carcassonne we had a fantastic view over the beautiful landscape.
We stayed in Carcassonne for a long time because we visited the two parts of the city. First we went to the old city, which consists of the old castle, surrounded by small streets and by the old city. We started with a guided tour of the old castle to get more information about the history of Carcassonne. The whole group thought it was very interesting.
After the visit we got enough time to go in all the tiny little shops and buy some souvenirs. After that went downhill to the modern city center . We walked together through the city and had lunch at McDonald's. Then, with new strength, we also went shopping there and I think everybody bought something.
It was a very hot day so that everyone of the group sweated a lot. So we finally climbed up the "mountain" to the bus and went home.
Sammy Snita (Jahrgangsstufe 11)