Since Jan. 30, Superior has had four visitors living with local families, attending Superior High School, traveling to basketball games and observing other events in competition with other schools.

The foreign exchange students are from the Ardeche region of Southeastern France. It had a population of 328,278 as of 2019 and is 3.5 hours from Paris by train. For privacy protection, only their first names are used and the town they live in is one hour south of Lyon, France.

“The organization is Language and Friendship and it’s been in existence for decades. I actually traveled with them when I was 15 to France when I was growing up in Minnesota and I’ve remained in contact with them on and off prior to coming to Superior. But this is the first time I’ve helped coordinate the host family situation,” explained Vicky Nytes, Superior Junior and High School Social Studies and French Teacher. 

She said that there are nine students visiting western Montana with two students in Corvallis, two at Flathead High School and one at Glacier High School. However, this session has 38 students with their teachers in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Missouri and Superior which is the first time for the school. 

“They speak English and they are here to work on their English and experience American life in American schools,” Nytes said.

Leo, 15, has plans to become an archaeologist. He has a younger sister and pet rabbit with his parents. Mathieu, 16, is an only child living with his parents and three cats while considering university but still undecided. This was their first time visiting the US. Louna is 17 and two years ago, she visited New York City for a week on the same program. She has one older brother and sister with an Australian Shepard and a cat. She plans to go to university also and remains unsure of what she wants to study. Missing was Léonore who was in Missoula. 

Their English teacher/chaperone is Catherine Robinson who has been on this program to Fargo, North Dakota and another time to Denver.

Mathieu is staying at the Cooper family home with Nicholas as his host sibling. Louna with the Ruthford family and Lani as her host. Sidney Kuhl and her family welcomed Léonore and Leo is staying with the Quinlivan’s having Gannon showing him the ropes as all four families have students going to Superior High School.

The guests are not only staying with their host families but partaking in local travel also. 

“I know that Leo has done a lot of basketball with Gannon playing. He and their teacher, Catherine, went to Kalispell with us to our National History Day competition last weekend. Léonore with the Kuhl family has done, I believe, Helena and Bozeman and I think they are traveling this morning, which is why she isn’t here.”

Nytes said that school is incredibly different in France. 

“It is longer and much more intense, she said. “There are no school sports. They are extracurricular after school programs. Typically, music is not a school class either. They normally go to school from 8 in the morning until 5 p.m. every day. In some ways you make that decision about the next steps of your life at ages 14 and 15. Are you going to college or not? Most of them talk about a specialty which is similar to choosing a major in college. So, it’s a very different experience than what most American teenagers are used to.”

The students have been allowed to pick and choose the classes that interest them. 

“As art, music, and shop classes are not always offered in French schools, I think that the students may want to try out those classes. Native American History, United States History, and US Government may also be popular choices. I know at least one of them loves science. They may be interested in spending some time in the elementary as well,” Nytes shared. “These students are expected to follow all school rules (dress code, phones, etc.) and will face the same consequences as our students, if they don't abide by the rules. I also understand that they have work from their school in France to complete as well.”

All three said the food is quite uncommon. 

Louna made the comment that the cheeses, meats and breads were all unlike what she was used to. Not unpleasant, but different. 

“It’s interesting that there aren’t hard (crusted) breads. These are softer and I can tell sugary,” she said. “I will say sourdough is pretty tasty,” smiled Catherine. “I think you put more spices in the meats than we do,” Mathieu shared. 

When asked if they feel the French eat healthier than Americans, they all agreed. 

“You eat all the time. Throughout the day. We eat breakfast, lunch and dinner. No snacks. You can’t eat in class.” 

Their three daily meals are to last about one hour each with 40 minutes of conversation before dining and actual eating at about 20 minutes. It’s a much more social and relaxed experience. They do have American fast-food restaurants but those appeared to be for special occasions and not a regular way of dining.

The three expressed that they do much the same that American teenagers do with friends, hanging out and sports. 

“But not the football we play in France. Soccer. Or baseball, we do not play” Leo said. 

“Handball is popular for teenagers,” shared Louna.

One thing that Louna noticed is our single use plastic bags from grocery stores. 

“Because in France we use one plastic bag, for I think, six months.” 

They clean them and reuse them while plastic straws are nonexistent. Actually, they are illegal.

Asked what stands out that is visibly different from their culture, and hunting was brought up by Mathieu. 

“We don’t do that in France. Just adults. You need special permit. An industry and not a sport as it is in the U.S.”

All students at age 16 are required to spend one day in basic military training but enlistment is all-volunteer. Louna said that her day convinced her that university is the direction she’s going.

For fun stuff and recreation, Louna likes to practice sports with her friends and stay outside. But Mathieu likes to play video games with his friends and Leo enjoys reading alone or playing some sports with friends. Asked what concerns they may have of world conflicts and terrorist attacks; it was the war in Ukraine that concerns them the most. It doesn’t border France, but it’s closer than many people realize.

School years are the same with summers off, but they have a holiday every 6 weeks with a week off from school so the students are only missing one week as this is a two-week excursion. All agreed that this has been a very enjoyable time. They return home on Feb. 18.