Local Student Returns From A Four-Month Sojourn In Provence

By Laurie Borst

Newtown resident Vanessa Courchene-Roy will begin her junior year at the Wooster School in Danbury this fall with a new understanding of the world. Or, at least a new understanding of the French. Vanessa spent September 2005 through February 2006 living in southern Provence.

Vanessa lived with a family in the small town of Cairanne, population approximately 1,500. She had requested a “cute and rural” place. She did not realize how rural it would be. Cairanne is in wine country. The family that Vanessa lived with owns a vineyard.

Vanessa’s French family consisted of her “sisters,” Clemence, 15, and Pauline, 16, and their parents, Veronique and Francois. There were only two close neighbors. One family was Spanish and the other was an older couple.

“I didn’t have much interaction with people outside of school,” Vanessa said.

The town had a bakery, a bank, and a very small library. In small towns in France, libraries are a rather new concept, just beginning to get popular. The Young Adult section in the local library occupied one shelf.

Television was very different from American TV. There are very few cable companies and few families own TV sets. For those who do, there are lots of talk shows. Old American and British television shows are dubbed in French.

Vanessa saw a few films. The theater was a 20-minute ride away. “I saw Harry Potter, Narnia, and a few French movies. Most French movies are really bad,” she said.

Shopping was fun, although, for most things they had to travel about an hour to Avignon. Vanessa compared shopping to going to the mall here, but there is nothing else around it.

“I liked the Euro coins, the equivalent of $1 and $2. They round off prices, too. They don’t handle change much,” Vanessa added.

The program Vanessa participated in is one of total immersion. She had studied French at Wooster school, but found it a little difficult when she first arrived. The family only spoke French. It was around November that Pauline admitted she could speak English and understood the things Vanessa said. Vanessa happily reports she is fluent in French now.

After several months with no American culture, Thanksgiving came around. The family cooked a turkey dinner for her. Roast turkey, green beans, and mashed potatoes. “The turkey was a little bitty bird, the smallest I’ve ever seen; it was wonderful.”

Vanessa was one of five student from Wooster School to spend time in France. While there, the five students and their French “sisters” took a trip to Venice. They also took a trip to Paris.

“Paris was really interesting. I expected something like New York City. But it was a lot of old houses. In central Paris, you see a few tall buildings. One area has five skyscrapers close together. But it’s mostly houses,” Vanessa explained.

She saw the usual tourist sights, the Louvre Museum, the Eiffel Tower, L’Arc de Triomphe. When they passed the American Embassy, Francois started to take pictures. French police and American Military Police converged on them. They would have to delete the pictures or the camera would be confiscated.

“It was very strange. You felt the tension,” Vanessa said.

While Vanessa was in France, tension was running high regarding employment. Riots were breaking out, but not close to Cairanne.

“The French like to protest and boycott and riot. We had at least one day off a month from school because the teachers were protesting benefits or raises,” she explained.

The teaching system was very different from what Vanessa was used to. “It was more lecture, you copy information, go home and memorize it. The next day, you have to be able to recite it. The way they taught English was awful,” Vanessa continued. “They would give the students lists of words, with no translations, and the students had to memorize the words. Classes aren’t as interactive as here.”

In the classroom, the teacher was in charge, students had little say. Vanessa related an event that occurred shortly after she had arrived. She was in class and got up to throw a tissue away. Everyone around her got wide-eyed. She asked her sister what the problem was. Students were not allowed to get up out of their seats without permission.

Students attended school from 8 am to 5 pm. They got a two-hour lunch break in the middle of the day. That break took place outside regardless of the weather. There was a shelter that would be packed with students on rainy days.

Asked if she would recommend the program to others, she said, “Definitely. I know another language now. The family was incredible. I got along great with my sisters.”

Clemence and Pauline visited Vanessa during July. She reports that they liked America a lot. Numerous trips were made into New York City while they were here. Chinatown was a big hit.

“It was a really great experience. It’s wonderful to get a look at another culture. People don’t know what’s outside America. It’s a great way to get an understanding of the world. It wasn’t a third world country, but I understand things a lot better now.

“People are all the same, no matter where you go. Some people are ignorant, some people are wonderful, whether here, France, wherever.”