Thursday 15 June 2017
¡Buen verano a todos!
Wednesday 3 May 2017
The American view of our school exchange trip March/April 2017
FHS View: Huskies welcome gallo-iberian students to our school
Huskies welcome Gallo-Iberian students to our school
Earlier this month, Flint Hill welcomed several international visitors into the community. Arriving on March 28, the visitors included students from Lycée Rocroy Saint-Vincent de Paul, a school in Paris, and the Institut Josep Vallerdú in Catalonia, a region of northeastern Spain.
This trip was part of a larger exchange program that has become a Flint Hill tradition in recent years. IJV, the Spanish school, sent exchange students to Flint Hill in autumn of 2015, and Lycée Rocroy Saint-Vincent de Paul sent students last spring. In addition, Flint Hill Spanish students visited IJV in January of this year and and stayed with host families while going to school and sightseeing in the surrounding areas. Students studying French visited the Lycée Rocroy Saint-Vincent de Paul in Paris over spring break, as well.
The Spanish group spent four days in New York City prior to arriving in the D.C. area, and visited many touristic sites, including the Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty, and the Brooklyn Bridge. Albert Capdevila, a Spanish student, found the time spent in New York his favorite part of the experience.
“I really liked New York,” he said. “The skyscrapers were very cool.”
With both French and Spanish students attending regular classes at Flint Hill, the first week proved to be very hectic. Several students shared their positive impressions of the school: they really liked the art installations, they thought the building was very attractive, and that there were many more facilities and fields for sports here than at their own schools.
On top of school activities, both groups also spent time exploring the D.C. area. They visited iconic landmarks such as the Capitol building, the Jefferson and Lincoln Memorials, the Supreme Court, and various museums. In addition to destinations in the city, students also took excursions to other sites, including Mount Vernon and Great Falls in Virginia.
Although the excursions were interesting, a key component of the trip was interacting with host families from Flint Hill. Because of the recent trips that Flint Hill students took to Spain and France, the majority of the students had already gotten to know their hosts and were excited to see them again.
“After meeting Alena [Arbós] and her family and experiencing life in Les Borges Blanques, I was excited to show Alena my family and way of life. I was surprised [to see] where our cultures separated and intersected, and also [enjoyed] seeing America through a foreigner’s eyes… It was different for both me and Alena, and I think it made us even closer than before,” says Jayna Patel, a senior who went to Spain in January and hosted Arbós, one of the Spanish students, this month. Neus Roca Heredia, another Spanish student, shared similar sentiments, saying “I really enjoyed the reunion with the families.”
On top of exposure to and practice of the languages that the students study, the trip offered an opportunity for students on both ends of the exchange to have valuable first-hand exposure to cultures completely different from their own. When asked about differences between the United States and Europe, the students had interesting responses, including many things Americans take for granted. Nesrine Besrour, one of the French students, said some of the differences she noticed were personalized license plates, yellow school buses, and the size and style of American homes. Spanish students shared similar views, noting that houses generally seemed larger and buildings more modern than in Catalonia.
Alena Arbós, a member of the Spanish group, said, “The US seems like a really new place. Everything is very modern… In Catalonia, we all live in ancient towns that date to medieval times, with castles and cathedrals”.
Another difference that surprised many of the international students was the young age at which American teens are eligible to drive.
The students also gained exposure to some different sides of American culture, namely the signature American milkshake, which many of the students were having for their very first time, which seemed to be a hit.
Catalonian student Guillem Capdevila said, “they are very good, and they should be popular in Catalonia as well.”
However, not all the students shared Capdevila’s opinion. His brother Albert Capdevila said he found them to be “too sweet.” This proved to be a polarizing family dispute.
Now that the students have left, life has begun to return to normal for both the Flint Hill students and those living in Europe. Nearly all the students involved in the exchange have kept in contact with their hosts and other students from their respective countries through WhatsApp and other social networks and look forward to seeing each other again in the future.
Victoria Lavelle, a Parisian student who hosted senior Nicholas Magdits in France and was hosted by freshman Valorie Vanarsdall in the U.S., created a short YouTube video to immortalize her class trip to Washington. Watch it here:
Saturday 8 April 2017
16th Day Saturday 8th April - Washington D.C. - Frankfurt- Bcn by Maria López
On Satuday morning I woke up at 9 am and Ananya's mum, brother and me went to Whole Foods to have breakfast and do some shopping. Then, we went home and while Ananya was doing her class I was packing my luggage. After, I said goodbye to Navreet and Rohan ( it was not easy) and Ananya and her dad took me to Chipotle Mexacan Grill to have lunch. The food was so good and it was not spicy! Then we went to the airport and I said goodbye to Ananya's father. Ananya accompained with my friends and my teachers and I said goodybe to all of our exchange friends. I know that I will miss them a lot!
After all, we took a train that took us to the terminal that we had to catch the plane. There, in the DutyFree, we did some shopping, and then we took the plane. The flight lasted about seven hours until arriving in Frankfurt, where we took another plane at 9:15 (Germany's hour) to arrive in Barcelona. The trip lasted about two hours. When we arrived in Barcelona we had to get our luggage and we took the bus to arrive in les Borges. The trip lasted two more hours, and we arrived at 3pm. All of us were so tired as we haven't slept for many hours but this experience was unique and unforgettable!
Friday 7 April 2017
15th Day Friday 7th April - Washington D.C. by Josep Berent
We woke up at 6:30 but we hadn't breakfast in the house because the Flint Hill high-school prepared a breakfast for us and we had eaten beggels. Then we took the bus and metro and we went to Washington D.C.
First of all we visited the Botanic Garden where are a lot of flowers and plants of differents countries. Then we had visited the Holocaust Museum, where we had seen the pain and suffering the Jewish population in Germany. We had lunch at 1p.m and we had visited differents memorials to presidents and important things, for example differents wars. I like it a lot the Jefferson Memorial and the Washington Memorial. When we came to school, Flint Hill has give us a t-shirt.
In the afternoon I had gone with Judit and hee parner Emily, then all the exchange students had played in the Bowling and had dinner
15th Day Friday 7th April - Washington D.C. by Alena Arbós
We woke up way early than the other days due to a breakfast that Flint Hill School had prepared to all of us. We had to be at school around 7:40 am. Once we ate it, we left the school to go to Washington DC again where we were supposed to visit all the memorials that we couldn't see the other days in the city. In the morning we went to see the Holocaust Memorial museum which is based on Nazi and Jewish's history, especially on the treat that Jewish people received. After eating our lunch, we saw presidents' memorials besides other memorials dedicated to wars such as the Vietnam one, which is based on a high and wide wall with all the names of people who died in that fight written on it, I think that was the most impressive fact of the whole day. By the way, it was all so enjoyable despite the weather which was so windy and cold. Flint Hill School gave us T-shirts when we came back and we are all so thankful for that. In the afternoon we all met at the bowling where we played and had fun.
15th Day Friday 7th April - Washington D.C. by Judit Vives
I woke up at 6:40 and then I went to have a breakfast. Then I went to DC by metro. We visited all of the differents and beautifuls monuments of Washington. Moreover we went to visit the Holocaust and Genocide Studies musem and it's about the Nazis time.
In the afternoon me and Emily, my partner of the exchange went to the mall to go shopping. Also we went to play bowlling with all of the spanish students. Finally we ate in the Ihop, a typical amrican restaurant. It was a really fun day!
In the afternoon me and Emily, my partner of the exchange went to the mall to go shopping. Also we went to play bowlling with all of the spanish students. Finally we ate in the Ihop, a typical amrican restaurant. It was a really fun day!
Thursday 6 April 2017
14th Day Thursday 6th April - By Neus Roca
Today I woke up at 6:15 and I had breakfast with Patrick's family. During the breakfast I had a surprise, they gave me a letter with an emotional text to congratulate me for my birthday. It was very nice!
Then we went to the school with his brother, Jack. When we arrived there, I had to go with Emily and Judit because Patrick had a presentation for the University. The first class that we went was Biology, after this class we had a break and we spent the time playing cards. Then, we had lunch and we went to the Spanish class, here we spoke with Katherine to practice her Spanish.
In the afternoon, we went with Tyson, Albert, Guillem and Josep to the Tyson's Center and we had a good time together.
When we arrived at home, I went with Patrick's brother to pick up a pizza while Patrick went to music lessons.
Finally, at night, we celebrated my birthday together.
It was a fantastic birthday!!!
14th day Thursday 6th April-By Yanina Rodriguez
Today I woke up at 6 o'clock had breakfast and went to High school (Flint hill school)at the first period I went to math class with one friend of Grace because today she had a presentation with university directors in the free period I stay with another student in the hall before I went to the Spanish class and help at students with the translations, we ate in the cafeteria and before I went to another Spanish class in that class we did and answered questions at 12:30 we said goodbye to the French students in the afternoon I did homework and read a book. Grace's parents ordered a meal in a Thai restaurant we ate and cleaned the kitchen finally we went at our rooms and I watched a movie in Neflix and went to sleep.
14th Day Thursday 6th April - Washington D.C - By Núria Martínez
Today Jacob's mother has led to high school by car, we usually go to high school by bus. Our first class was Spanish with Mr. Fernando, a few days ago he told us that since child he speaks Spanish because he is from Puerto Rico, in the class Andrea, Adam and I have talked with two girls who were about 16 years old. The truth is that they speak Spanish very well. After that some Spanish students we have met and we have been resting for a while or playing cards with American fellows. At 11:30 AM we went to have lunch, the menu of the day was Hot Dogs, chicken, vegetarian hamburgers and all the days there are different kinds of salads. Afterwards we went to another Spanish class, at the beginning of the class we have been warned that a tornado was approaching to DC and all the students went to the basement, as it was a drill, a quarter later we were in class. We have never met in a similar situation, it has been a new experience. At 14:30 Jacob's mother picked up Andrea, Aran and I to go to the mall. After we went to Sameer's house and we spend 1 hour there. At 7 we went to Mod Pizza for dinner with Sameer's family.
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