Mountains and all-dressed chips are among the highlights of the Foothills, according to French exchange students.
Foothills School Division (FSD) welcomed 15 students from France for a four-week English immersion exchange, with 10 staying in Okotoks and five in High River.
This year’s exchange is the school division’s third — and the first after the pandemic — with the Nancy-Metz academic region in northeastern France.
“It's been a journey but it's very, very cool that it finally is here,” said Andrea Laubman, FSD French immersion coordinator.
According to Laubman, the exchange, which will also see 11 FSD students go to France in February, is currently the only one of its kind in the province.
“We have students attending seven different schools all from the German border down to central France near Strasbourg,” explained Laubman.
“France is a big, diverse country, so because [Nancy-Metz] is very close to the German border, there’s a lot of German influence,” she continued. “When I was there meeting with them and coordinating it, their national dish is basically something I would have eaten in Germany.”
With those significant differences in mind, the French students arrived in Canada ready to be immersed in a wholly new culture.
“The mountains I saw were really pretty,” said Nora Hayouni, a Grade 10 student from Jeanne d’Arc.
France is mountainous but in a different way, she explained. While she’s used to valleys, rivers and forests back home, the Foothills offer a different landscape filled with prairies and open sky.
“It feels like there's more space,” she added, noting that Canada feels less condensed than France in terms of architecture and open space.
Canadian food also differs significantly from the German-inspired French cuisine of Nancy-Metz.
“I've tried the all-dressed Ruffles chips, and I love them,” Hayouni said of her top Canadian culinary highlight.
Poutine and orange Fanta also made some of the students’ lists of newly-discovered cuisine.
When it comes to weather, most Foothills residents have noted this November has been a warm. That’s by Canadian standards, not France’s.
"I've seen some snow already, and in France that would not be happening, so that was fun," said Hayouni sarcastically.
The French students enjoyed even more adventures over the school's fall break, including exploring downtown Calgary, the West Edmonton Mall and Banff National Park.
“The kids from France go back and share what they learned about the English experience, living in Western Alberta, the Canadian history, all the things they learned,” explained Laubman.
Next semester will see 11 of the Foothills students reunite with their partners in France for a French immersion exchange program.
“The difference our students will really notice educationally is high schools are a lot more like universities,” said Laubman on the French education system.
“The students can have classes all the way up to 5 p.m., they can have breaks in the middle of the day, it's treated more like a small university there, so I think our students will find it a pretty cool experience.”
Anne LeBlanc, a Foothills Composite student, saw firsthand how different her school experience is compared to her French partner’s.
"I remember the first day of school here when Lillian was shadowing me, she came to food class and we made chocolate chip cookies during class, and she was like, ‘This is crazy, you're making cookies in class?'” she said with a laugh.
