Excited whispers fill the empty Dougherty Ferry parking lot as the moment everyone has waited months for finally arrives. The bus tires hit the wet concrete as 20 students from Lyon, France step out ready to greet their new roommates for the week. Most of these students had been getting to know their partners through DM’s and snapchats during the months leading up to the trip. Including Audrey Scherr, junior, who started talking to Elodie, her partner, through Instagram. 

The French American Exchange Program (FRAME) pairs KHS students with students from Lyon, France. After being paired, both groups visited each others’ homes for a week, Lyon students visiting Kirkwood in April and Kirkwood visiting Lyon in June. 

“[My partner Elodie] followed me on Instagram and I was like ‘Oh that’s weird, a French girl is following me,’” Scherr said. “So, we got to talking and she was like ‘Hey, I’m your partner.’ We got each other’s Snapchats and we started talking at least once a week leading up to when she came [to Kirkwood] and before [the Americans] went to France.”

Although most of the partners had talked leading up to the trip, according to Elizabeth Button, junior, some students felt awkward about meeting before the trip started. However, that awkwardness quickly wore off as they got to know each other, Button said. Along with the developing friendships between partners, the KHS students also bonded with other French students.

“We got closer to each other when I got to France,” Scherr said. “But for the first couple of days when she got [to Kirkwood] she was shy and tired. We developed a really close friendship over time. I also began to make friendships with the other French students who were her friends so we had our little friend group, and then once we got to France it was really easy to just start right where we left off.”

Along with new friendships came new and unique experiences, Scherr said. Button said French schools were different from KHS, especially in the behaviors of the students. 

“School was the most surprising part of the trip,” Button said. “Maybe because it was the last month of school they were going through, but all of the students there did not care about school. They were really hyper and talked all the time during class. It’s a regular high school but the behaviors were just different.”

Although some students joined FRAME to improve their language, for most students it developed into more than that after getting to know each other. According to Button, the down time during the Lyon portion of the trip included bonding and getting to know her partners family and her better.