The Piedmont Highlander

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The Piedmont Highlander

The Piedmont Highlander

Senior Diane Pouvesle says Bonjour to America

“Hi,” said foreign exchange student, senior Diane Pouvesle, waving to a random student walking past our interview. “I don’t actually know her,” she whispers, laughing. This happened three more times as Pouvesle, who is from Tours, France, joyfully greeted passersby on their way to lunch.

Pouvesle is staying in Piedmont with a host family for a year through the AFS Intercultural Program. Since she has arrived in America, many people have asked her why she decided to take a year abroad.

“I was kind of bored with the old education system [in France] and I always loved languages, especially English,” Pouvesle said. “I would like to live my life later in a foreign country, and if I can, in the United States. I wanted to do an exchange program to be able to see if it fits the way I imagine my life later.”

Pouvesle said once she found out that she was finally coming, she was really happy.

“I have that app on my phone called ‘Countdown’ and I was counting down the days until my departure,” Pouvesle said. “At the beginning I was like, ‘Only 107 days I am so happy,’ and then [the app] was like, ‘Day minus 10, day minus five,’ and I didn’t really realize.”dianewithhostfamily_courtseydiane-1

Even though she had been counting down the days, when the time came to leave, Pouvesle said she was taken by surprise because she had so many people to say goodbye to and so many activities to do before she left.

“The day I was leaving for Paris I was like, ‘Oh my god, I need that, I need that,’ and my suitcase was huge, over 1.5 times too big,” Pouvesle said.”

This year is basically a gap year for Pouvesle, as she will enter her last year of high school next year. She said that the lack of graduation requirements gives her the ability to take classes that she normally would not have taken, like acting.

“It is interesting because many times a foreign exchange student doesn’t have a set of expectations class-wise for when they return,” counselor Chris Hartford said. “Some might be doing an extra year so when they go back it gives them flexibility about how much pressure they are putting on themselves in classes and what classes to choose.”

Already, Pouvesle said she notices differences between the education systems in France and the United States. She said that one difference is that classes in France stay together in one classroom, while the teachers are the ones who move around.

“It’s a positive and a negative point here, the fact you are never in the same class, because you get to meet a lot of people but you can’t really make friends easily,” Pouvesle said.

The teachers in France are not only more mobile than the teachers here, but French students also treat their teachers in a different manner, she said.

“In France, it is way more formal, like, ‘Hi sir, bye sir,’” Pouvesle said. “If you see them after a long holiday you don’t go hug them or talk to them as I see here. This is really cool.”

French teacher Christèle David has Pouvesle as a TA for her French IV Honors class and said that she is excited to have Pouvesle, not only because she looks forward to establishing a relationship with Pouvesle, but also because Pouvesle brings new information to the classroom.

“Since the focus of French IV Honors is a cultural one, it’s really wonderful having a person from the country giving their point of view,” David said. “For example, we were discussing stereotypes and values last week. Students were really interested and engaged talking to her.”

While Pouvesle is helping fellow students learn about French culture, she herself is learning a lot about American culture and cuisine.

“I had this thing called trail mix which was M&M’s, peanuts and these things we would never imagine in France,” Pouvesle said. “Also, there was croissant with jam and cheese in it as a sandwich. No! You can’t do that with such an important thing of France. It was really funny.”

Freshman Josie Gross-Whitaker, who is a member of Pouvesle’s host family, also notices the cultural differences when it comes to food.

“We went to a restaurant and she was eating her hamburger with a fork and knife and I was like ‘Oh we don’t do that here, we are a lot more casual,’” Gross-Whitaker said.

Despite cultural differences, Gross-Whitaker said that Pouvesle has been really quick to adapt, and that she already views her as another sister.

“It’s really natural,” Gross-Whitaker said. “It feels like she’s been here my whole life.”

But since Pouvesle is only here for a limited amount of time, she has a lot she wants to do. Her list includes visiting the Statue of Liberty, Alaska and Hawaii.

“I love scuba diving so I would also like to dive in the deep water in San Francisco and Santa Cruz,” Pouvesle said.

Additional Content

Here are thoughts from Pouvelse on how America and France are different in her experiences:

“The HS is very different, 4 years in America 3 years in France.
You do not get to choose your classes, but you have to choose a “section” between scientific, litterature, and economy. ( I am in scientific. )

Then the way people dress up, I think everyone here realized I was not dressing as you all are, but in my HS you are not allowed to wear Athletic clothes (mostly meaning sweatpants) so I am used to dress up more. But wearing sweatpants is not a bad thing don’t worry.

Meals are different in France we have “regular” times to eat, the bread is also of course very different… And yes we eat “baguette” all the time. Cars and roads are smaller in France.

Smoking in France is very common, I think it’s because students want to follow the trend, but then get used to it and need it in their lives.

The teacher-students relations are way more formal in France, there is no personal connections.

Things like clothing, food… Is more expensive in France, of course it depends on what you are looking for, but it is generally like that.”

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Pouvesle with her host mom

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Pouvesle at her first baseball game
Pouvesle at her first baseball game
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