A Week in France

Before most University of Sioux Falls students had left campus for spring break, USF sophomores MK Schuelke and Paris Whalen were already on the other side of the globe. Their destination? France.

The trip was a long time in the making. “I went on a trip two years ago to France,” Schuelke says, “…and stayed with a host family, and they’ve been asking me when I was going to go back.” She wanted to return to France but didn’t want to go alone. So she asked Whalen to come with her.

One eight-hour flight and seven time zone jumps later, and they were in Paris.

The two spent the first day of their trip exploring the city. Their itinerary included classic tourist attractions like the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame, as well as some unplanned adventures with public transport. “We spent a lot of time on the metro,” Whalen says.

They ended the day by boarding another train. It was time to meet up with their host family. The train took them to Lorient, a coastal town in northwest France. From there, their host brother Leo picked them up and took them to his family’s home in Caudan.

The next week was filled with all sorts of activities. The two got to go out to local spots with their host family, walk the beach at Saint Pierre, go to a school and answer questions about America, watch a French film called “The Swarm”, walk through World War II bunkers, go to a creperie, and even try sour milk.

Saint Pierre was a highlight of the trip for both Schuelke and Whalen, however, “The most incredible moment was stepping onto the beach,” Schuelke says. “There were still hills around us… and you just feel so small.”

Even though they were only in the country for a week, the two were able to pick up on some distinct differences between France and America. For Whalen, one of the most noticeable differences was the mindset of the citizens. “The biggest for me was the switch of the individualistic mindset that we have as Americans, and then their very community-based mindset,” she says.

But not everything was unfamiliar. “I think the strangest part was that some things are so incredibly different, and some things are exactly the same,” Schuelke says. “The things that make a society are different, but human nature is always the same.”

Photos courtesy of MK Schuelke and Paris Whalen