Tui's Student Exchange

Kia ora koutou and bonjour à tous ! My name is Tui, and I recently returned from a year-long exchange in France! I’m keen to share my experience with the readers of Gizzy Local in hopes to inspire other teens to trust themselves, trust the adventure and explore options to study abroad. 

Long story short, it was the best decision I have ever made, and I will forever be grateful for the people who made it happen. I can barely begin to describe how much I have changed as a person over a year. From my arrival to my departure, I was constantly learning new things, both about the world around me and myself. I travelled (a lot), I made new friends, I learnt a whole new language, and discovered who I am as an individual. The person who arrived in France is not the same person who left it, that’s for sure. People were not lying when they said that travelling is AWESOME.

In regards to the language, I’ll admit that it was rather difficult to begin with. I understood next to nothing, and communication was a struggle. My host family spoke no English, so I was forced to improvise. After about three months, I began to understand when people spoke to me, but even then my comprehension was limited. After seven months, I was able to speak my thoughts in more than just three word sentences. It was only after ten months, as I was about to leave, that I really felt like I had a grip on the French language. At the end, my comprehension was crazy, to the point where I was thinking in half-French half-English, and I was able to chat and joke around with my French classmates.

In my opinion, the hardest part of my exchange was definitely the school. French school in particular is quite difficult, especially in comparison to New Zealand. For starters, the hours are from 8am - 5pm, and if you include the commute and the extraordinary amount of homework most students are given, it wasn’t easy! Luckily the homework was not compulsory for me; learning a new language was challenging enough! But regardless of the workload, everyone at my school was very kind to me, and while most of my friends tended to be other exchange students, I still made a few French friends that I cherish dearly. In all honesty, apart from school and the language, there was little else that I had difficulty with — I didn’t even get homesick!

Exchange students stay with host families and I was very lucky. Unlike the stereotypical host family that consists of a mum, a dad, and siblings, my situation was slightly different. I spent a year with an older couple— around 80 years old— who were absolutely lovely. I was their thirteenth(!) exchange student, believe it or not. They had been hosting students since before I was born, literally! Therefore they were very understanding, patient, generous, and kind to me. When I first arrived, the phrase ‘language barrier’ had never felt more literal. We communicated in one-word sentences or via a translator. But everyday it got easier and easier, and by the end, me and my host family had become great friends. Since my departure, I’ve already been back to visit them, and we now facetime every week!

To conclude, this exchange has gifted me with the desire to learn, to travel, and to be alive, and I will never, ever forget it. In fact, I loved the language-learning process so much that I am now going to university to study Linguistics! If anyone reading this is thinking of doing an exchange, I would tell them that life is short! Take the risk! Live life while you’re young!! Passing up on an opportunity like this would be one of the biggest ‘what-ifs’ of your life, I assure you. My exchange forever will be the best decision I have ever made :)

Gizzy Local: What made you choose France? It seems so far away and so different from our Gizzy life.

Tui: I chose France almost entirely because of the language; French just sounds so beautiful and I wanted to be able to speak it and understand it. I also wanted to be in Europe, as it's very central, and travelling between countries is shockingly easy. 

GL: How did you learn about your exchange programme? 

Tui: I chose to do my exchange through AFS because it was the only association my family and I had heard of. We knew a few other people who had done student exchanges with them and had nothing but positive experiences. AFS has been helpful, understanding, and absolutely amazing. I have no regrets in doing my exchange through them.

GL: When you got there, language aside, did small-town France feel wildly different from Gizzy, or did you see similarities?

Tui: In France, I lived in quite a small town - smaller than Gisborne. It wasn't a big shock to the system, as I'm sure it would have been if I was placed in a larger city. I noticed that everyone was very kind (contrary to the very common French stereotype), and I received more kind greetings from strangers than I ever did in New Zealand. Despite it being a small town, the school I went to was an area school, so it had more students than any of the Tairāwhiti schools, which was a change. 

GL: Cost must be a big barrier to overcome. How did you fundraise to make this happen? 

Tui: In addition to building up savings with a part-time job, we organised a community fundraising event a few months before I left. A few local bands - including myself - played live music in our backyard. With the inclusion of bake sales and garage sales, the event was a raving success, and contributed greatly to the total cost. I was also lucky enough to receive a scholarship, so factoring that on top of the kindness of those around me, my exchange became much more affordable. If anyone reading this is wanting to do an exchange but finds the cost daunting, I will note that France was one of the most expensive options available, and there are plenty of other countries that are much cheaper!

GL: I imagine to some young people, this may seem beyond them, requiring next-level independence or bravery. How did you begin to see the exchange as something you could actually do?

Tui: To any high school students out there who may, in the abstract, want to do a student exchange, yet struggles to even visualise the mere concept, I can tell you right now that it will be worth it. It may seem far-fetched now, but once you're surrounded by a new culture, a new language, and a new way of life, that magical process of discovering the heart and soul of the world around you is life-changing. Even if it sounds scary, do it scared. Life is short, money comes back, and the force of time is unstoppable, regardless of how you spend it. Besides, even if it goes awry, you'll still have a hell of a story to tell.