Times Advocate, 1989-12-27, Page 7Exeter girl reports on stay in France
Cheryl llockey, daughter of Car-
ol and Dennis, Exeter, is spending
a year in Le Mans, France, living
with a' French family and taking
the equivalent of Grade 13 at a
large local secondary school. Her
10 -month stay was arranged
through the Swiss -based, non-
profit Education Foundation for.
Foreign Studies.
By Cheryl Hockey
LE MANS, FRANCE - Bonjour.
Everything is going wonderfully,
and 1 really feel at home here.
My hosts, the Subilles, have
gone out of their way from the be-
ginning to make me feel welcome.
This is exceptionally kind of
them, as they receive no remunera-
tion.
Family life
The Subille family consists of
Michel, Annie, son Frederic, 15
and daughter Vcronique, 13.
Michel works in electronics, and
Annie is employed in an insurance
office. Traditionally the mother in
a French family does most of the
housework, whether she is , em-
ployed outside the- home or not. It
is considered much more impor-
tant that the children concentrate
on their homework (of which there
i5 a lot) than that they help around
the house.
Much of the family's spare time
is spent together - bicycling, walks
in the woods, going to movies and
museums, or watching nature and
science programs on tv.
Le Mans has a population of
170,000, and is 45 minutes from
Paris. The Subilles live in a sub-
urb. There is excellent bus service
to the downtown area, and I even
made the trip by myself without
getting lost!
As Michel's parents live in Paris,
we have spent several weekends
there. I have been taken to Notre
Dame Cathedral, Beaubourg (a li-
brary -art gallery), and City Hall. I
have toured several castles - one in
ruins, and the other now a hospi-
tal.
Christmas
The Christmas season seems to
be far Tess commercialized than in
Canada. The Subilles have men-
tioned that there will be a number
of large family gatherings with
much tool and champagne and rich
cakes. I'm looking forward to that!
I have tried several wines, and
am saving the labels. At most
meals, especially during the week,
the main beverage is water.
Lunch is a more substantial meal
than in Canada, but dinner isn't
served until 7 or 8 in the evening.
At school
There are about 30 students in
my class. We take all subjects to-
gether. There are no options, other
than the initial choice of a techni-
cal of arts and science curriculum.
Class schedules are set up like
university and college timetables
here. A student may start at 8 a.m.
and have a three-hour lunch, or
may have no morning classes some
days. I have one day that ends at 6
p.m., but don't have to go in on Sat-
urdays. The work -load is heavy,
with a great deal of note -taking.
•Interesting facts
The average person in France
earns 5,000 francs ($1,000 Canadi-
an) per month. France has a high
rate of unemployment. The prices
in grocery stores arc less than those
in Canada. Stores are closed from
noon until 2:30 except for super-
markets.
When you greet someone you
know, you kiss the person four
times, twice on each cheek.
France has the highest population
of dogs per capita.
Sports •
The main sports followed are soc-/
cer, Formula '1, and various other
car and motorbike sports. Howev-
•
er, in France, as in most other coun-
tries around the world, the most
popular pastime is television.
Cable is not available in all re-
gions. Even in Le Mans, a city
about the size of Kitchener, cable is
limited. Those who are lucky
'enough to have it get 10 to 20 chan-
nels, depending on the package of-
fered.
The average family, who doesn't
have cable, gets five channels. Of
these, two are public (government-
owned) and three are privately
owned.
Public stations have five minutes
of commercials between programs.
Even two-hour movies are not in-
terrupted. Private stations have
five minutes of commercials every
half-hour. Half-hour programs are
not interrupted in France, but pro-
gramming is varied with translated
American programs (eg The Cosby
Show) and even soap operas LSanta
Barbara), French programs, French
versions of American game shows
(Jeopardy), variety shows, and
news.
The news is a 25 -minute pro-
gram, followed by a five-minute
commercial break, followed. by
two minutes of weather.
More later.
Times -Advocate, December 27, 1989
Page 7
In France - Cheryl Hockey is taking Grade 13 in Le Mans.
"Even I won't miss
Stedmans BOXING WEEK
SALE...Don't you miss it!"
,.•,.,.«,0•s.•
..AI„ 11•,
A Canadian family - Appearing as a Canadian family at last
week's Christmas concert at McCurdy School at Huron Park were
Jennifer Taylor, Barry Edwards, Julie Hearn and Danny Mosurin-
john.
A. John Hughes, C.D.
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