Eight French students and their professor, Géraldine Réniez, spent a week in New York City and this past week in Shippensburg. Shippensburg University French professor Blandine Mitaut is the connection between SU and St. Joseph. Réniez teaches marketing and retail and sales management at Saint Joseph, which is a university in Boulogne-sur-Mer, France.

Q: What were some challenges that you faced while you were here?

A: There are many difficulties … Also the difficulty to express themselves because of the language and then even before the first day they were afraid to be with the family because it was the first time for them in a foreign family.

Q: What were some of the biggest differences between university life here and back home?

A: There were many differences between the American university and the French system. First of all, French universities are located in towns, in a city, and your university is located in a forest and far from a big town. But your American university is particular in sports. We visited the Rec Center and it’s amazing for us because we haven’t got that in our area. The student behavior is also different. When they went to French courses last week, there were students moving outside the class and eating and discussing and wearing hats and it’s completely forbidden in our universities. It’s a huge difference for them.

Q: Every country has different perceptions of other countries. Were there any about America that were very true or very untrue?

A: There are some stereotypes. The first one is that everything is very huge and it’s the case because everything in New York was very huge and also their houses are huge, the university is huge, when we go to the restaurant, the portions are huge! We were very surprised by the American people. We didn’t think they were so friendly, so open-minded and it was a very good surprise. They are more open-minded than French people and more friendly and it was really a good surprise.

Q: How do you think this trip will help your communication skills within or without of your own cultural group?

A: This kind of trip helps with the confidence with traveling to another country and perhaps in the professional field or the cultural field, and it will help us also to be able to learn easier the language so they will be able to communicate easier with the family and classes they met last week and will meet this week. But in fact, you don’t have to master well a language to be able to communicate, you have to be able to show good will.

Q: Do you think you’ll ever visit again?

A: Yes! It’s a huge experience for [the students] and the contacts they have with families will have good consequences. I’m sure they will visit again the families and the country, perhaps discover a new area and the experience of the last group was well in Shippensburg and they still keep contact with the families and there is communication between the groups.

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