A Foreign View
How one foreign exchange student sees America.
“I thought everyone in America had a weapon, and an American flag in front of their house,” said Sophie Braconnier, a shy girl from northern France here as a foreign exchange student.
The Americans she met changed her perception, saying that they are “very nice and friendly.”
Which she can’t always say for her countrymen. “French people are always making fun of everybody…they always scream and yell.”
Other things that different between French and American people are the French have a very different sense of fashion and humor, than Americans. American cities vary from those in France, as well. In Sophie’s hometown of Beauvais, the downtown area is more for workers, opposed to Ann Arbor’s stores decorating the streets, and is seen mostly as a place to hang out. There are less cars and restaurants than there are here.
Sophie had fried rice from the very popular Siam Cuisine. Her and fellow foreign exchange student Alenka, who was taking the day off from school in Northville to visit, agreed that you probably wouldn’t find Thai food in France. Another thing you wouldn’t find in France is a local YMCA, a place Sophie visits often.
When asked what she missed about France, Sophie blushed and mumbled “beer.” “I miss going to the pub and drinking, not to get drunk, but to have a good time,” she said, in concurrence to our other European exchange students.
At Community, Sophie is taking two art classes this semester and really enjoys them. She is also taking speech, calculus, civics, and history in film. She loves the teachers saying “they are so nice.”
She also likes to travel, something that is much easier to do in Europe, Sophie would take the train to countries like Germany, Greece and Italy (her favorite). In France she took two years of Italian, and she says she used to be a fluent German speaker, but forgot it all. Sophie would like to travel more in America, and hopes to see San Francisco and Mount Rushmore. Her host family also plans to go up north to ski sometime in the near future.
When asked how she likes America now she says simply, “It’s America”
Filed on 12/12/2006