Thank you Classen from Céleste

Approaching the closure of our stay, I think it's time to express my feelings about Classen, Oklahoma and the USA in general. 

 

We have all had a really great time, many visits were scheduled, the families were great, American students were always warm and welcoming, we never felt out of place. Everyone was just so very nice with us. I think that meeting so many different people and having so many expericences is going to be memorable for all of us. 

 

Now, there weren't all good things, I missed French food and also just walking around town and hanging out with friends. The problem is that Oklahoma is so large that people have room to expand, so the houses are a lot bigger than in France and everything is wide and open, there are very nice landscapes and all but this makes things so widespread, nothing is in walking distance. You need a car to go everywhere and at first it's quite surprising. Another bad thing is that I lost my money in the very first days and I quickly realized that without money... there isn't much to do in the US. But I had a great experience nonetheless and I am so happy I came!

 

But there are also so many wonderful things, school is shorter and easier with more focus on art and athletics. Academics are important but they are not the only thing that counts like it is believed in France. Classen High School puts emphasis on organizing events, hosting clubs and everything so students feel completely integrated in their school. I think it's really great. Experiences like the mall, Thanksgiving or Black Friday we can never live in France and I find that it is missing. What we haven't seen and I would have liked that Classen organized that for us Frenchies was a dance. There are no dances in France and I really wish we could have them, something like Prom would be extremely fun and also it would bring some realism to the OIB section because it is such an full American experience. 

 

Overall, I really enjoyed my stay, I'm happy I'll be able to go back to France but I wish I could stay longer I was just starting to know Classen and some of the students and I really think two weeks is too short.

 

I hope to stay in contact with the Americans I met and I was also very happy to meet and talk with the 11th graders that I had barely ever seen or talked to. I wish we could have done some get together like that before.

 

This is basically what I have to say about my stay in the US, and I hope the Americans will enjoy France as much as I enjoyed Oklahoma! 

 

Céleste Charbonnier