March 14th marked the start of the highly anticipated exchange trip to France! Chaperoned by Madame and Mr. Ysursa, 38 Bishop Kellystudents departed from the Boise airport at around 9 am MST and landed in Paris after a harrowing nine-and-a-half-hour flight from Seattle.
It was another few hours before we were reunited with our exchange students in Bayonne, greeted at the gate by signs declaring “Bienvenue à Paris,” and plenty of excitement!
Seeing as the time we would spend with our students would be only four days compared to the eight days the French students spent with us when in Boise, they did their absolute best to make our time with them very memorable! From shopping at boutiques in Bayonne, visiting beaches, and seeing the beautiful countryside of areas like Saint Jean Pied de Port, the first part of the trip was truly a special experience.
When asked about their experiences staying with their French families in Bayonne, Sophomore Liv Edson commented that she enjoyed “making French friends that [she’ll] come back to Paris to see. French kids know how to have fun!” Senior Catherine McGonegle loved “seeing how [her] exchange student lived her life and experiencing Paris.” Garret Shirley’s favorite part of the trip was “experiencing a whole new culture,” adding that “the Basque countryside was very peaceful.”
Staying in the Basque country became a favorite part of the trip for a multitude of reasons. For example, as stated by Alexandra Riese, a junior, “The Basque country has the most authentic French feel. It’s not the Americanized version of French culture you get in Paris.” Many students such as Carley Calovich, whose family originates from the Basque country, said she was “beyond stunned and amazed to see where I come from and where my family comes from.” To sum everything up, as Alice Longo put it, “We made friends we’ll have for life!
Next, it was on to Paris!
The Knights spent the next five days in Paris, eating crepes, walking everywhere, and learning how to ride the metro. The first day in Paris consisted of familiarizing ourselves with our rooms at the MIJE hotel, a beautiful youth hostel in central Paris, and visiting the Tour Eiffel. Shoutout to the workers at the ice cream place in Île Saint-Louis who patiently took forty separate glacé orders!
Wednesday was spent touring France à vélo, seeing sights from the École militaire, Jardin de Tuileries, and Place Vauban. Then it was time for the Louvre, and after, dinner in the Latin District and dancing at Caveau de La Huchette. After the trip, senior Izzie Kite-Powell reminisced on Paris’ unmatched nightlife and evenings well spent with her friends. “We went [to Caveau de La Huchette] three nights in a row and met and danced with so many cool people.”
On Thursday, the knights headed to the Muse D’Orsay and the Palace of Versailles. As Zach Hansen, a senior, said, “Experiencing Monet in person was one of the craziest experiences of my life!”
Friday was a visit to the Catacombs, Ernest Hemingway’s old apartment, and seeing the Crown of Thorns at the Sainte-Chapelle. The latter was one of my favorite moments of the trip, as God’s presence and the sense of faith was palpable when the Crown of Thorns was brought out. Many students waited in line for an hour to venerate! Next, a boat tour along the Seine, and in spite of the cold, no extremities were lost!
During our group’s final full day in Paris, we braved the Tour Eiffel in chilling weather and stopped by Shakespeare and Company, a bookstore revered as a home away from home for many inimitable authors such as James Baldwin and F. Scott Fitzgerald. We ended our night with a visit to the Sacre-Coeur and dinner in Montmartre. Much to our chagrin, we were unable to convince the pianist to play “Mia & Sebastian’s Theme” from La La Land. Kudos to everyone who stayed for the 10 pm Mass at the Sacre-Coeur, even though Madame Ysursa had to explain the Gospel to everyone after the service.
The Value of Foreign Exchange
When interviewing students about their favorite moment of the exchange, or what they exchange meant to them, a certain theme was common. Bishop Kelly students and staff alike loved seeing new things, experiencing new cultures, and making new friends. Mrs. Calovich, ” loved the community and family feel of this trip, and being taught new ways to hang out and interact.” Students such as Maddie Butler, a sophomore, said their favorite part of the trip was getting acquainted with classmates across grade levels that they’d never talked to before. Grace Hobby, a junior, asserted that it was “super impactful to visit new environments with people who are so similar to me, yet live far away.”
Other students like Kathleen Corrigan, senior, remembered specific instances that they loved, like “singing “Unwritten” on the way home from jazz restaurants and dancing in the rain,” or Leah Beeleswho said that her favorite part was “eating Nutella crepes every day.” For Lina Aldape, a sophomore, the most memorable part of the exchange was “getting to meet new people [and]understanding the cultural and personal similarities between [you] and a person who lives across the world from you.”
Madame Ysursa believes that exchanges are formative to a student as they “are a great way to motivate kids to take French, stay in French, and practice their French.” She elucidated that when people have connections to a place, that’s what makes them keep coming back. Madame says it was exciting for her to “see [her] students love French culture, see the beauty of France and all that [this] country has to offer.”
What everyone who participated in the exchange was able to agree upon was that traveling the world broadens a person’s perspective. In many cases, it can even grow your compassion for others around the world and expand your understanding of how a person’s culture affects them. Despite linguistic barriers, we were able to connect with our exchange students, find common ground, and do things that were completely foreign to us. Undeniably, Bishop Kelly had many similarities to their French counterparts— the same basic needs and desires for connection and understanding despite living such different lives. To put it simply, while the language and customs were different, the laughter and connection looked and sounded the same.
The Bishop Kelly Newspaper 