Farewell Party

Goings on at Classen

Classen, a really good school - Aubane Decobert

Hi,

 

Today will be one of the last visits before we leave, unfortunately... I really enjoyed staying at Classen, that's a really good school. I'd like to come back here. My favorite museum was the Oklahoma City memorial, that was was very touching. The reconstitutions were very well done and some witnesses were very hard. 

 

I also enjoyed the "Poodles and Pastries (and other important matters): the new paintings exhibition by Franco Mondini-Ruiz at the Oklahoma City MOA. We didn't have so much time to visit the Cowboy museum but I enjoyed the reconstitution of the Cowboy Town.

 

This school trip was very rewarding in a cultural way but also because we improved our English a lot.

 

Aubane Decobert

We will miss this place - Agnès Rouhier

Bonjour la France !

 

So how was my trip in Oklahoma City ? I would say rewarding ! Thanks to this trip I've met new people, improved my English and learned a lot about Oklahoma history ! 

 

Each morning I went to class and during the afternoons we were all together, most of the time the Americans were with us, to visit museums. The Memorial, a rich place for the Americans really pleased me. But the Art Museum and the Cowboy one too !

 

Classen, as a high school, is a really good one. I really enjoyed my time there. To experience, I went to dance, photography, TOK (theory of knowledge), arts and ceramics classes. And in order to compare with the French system, I went to French, Physics and other classes. Now I can say that the way they teach in Classen is clearly different from the one of Luzarches. 

 

In two days everything will finish. Yet we know that we will miss this place and the people.

See you soon, Agnès.

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

I will miss Oklahoma - Louise Phung

We are at the end of our trip, everything was very interesting.

I will say the most impressive visit was the Memorial but what I prefered was staying with my family to learn the American culture and going to school. Even if it is so different, and that sometimes shocks, the way of life is sweeter; the teachers make the students confident, there are lots of art classes to express yourself and the people are very nice.

I will miss Oklahoma.

Commentaire de presque fin de sejour - Solenne

Ces deux semaines furent tres enrichissantes autant sur le plan culturel, grace aux nombreuses visites et aux jours passes dans la famille et au lycee que sur le plan linguistique . J ai appris beaucoup sur la culture americaine et sur l american way of life ! J ai aussi beaucoup apprecie l Oklahoma City Museum of Art. Le National Memorial Museum est aussi extremement bien fait et tres touchant.

   Ensuite au niveau de l apprentissage de la langue il est clair qu il n y a rien de meilleur que ce genre d echange permettant une immersion dans un pays parlant cette langue pour progresser. Notre anglais s est beaucoup ameliore !

   Je vais garder un tres bon souvenir de cet echange, et attend deja avec impatience la venue des Americains en mars.

  Je compte profiter des derniers moments de cette magnifique experience a fond !