An American Student in France: Day in The Life

As an expatriate of more than two years now, I have a pretty good idea of what life is like in France and especially the school system. I’ve built up a routine and gotten used to certain things I thought were really weird before! This post will be a breakdown of what daily life is like for me in France, including school, the city, and general French-isms.

République, which I walk through every morning on my way to school.

On a school day, I always wake up super early, so like 6 a.m. That is, unless I have cancelled classes. Cancelled classes are something they don’t really have in America, but they definitely should! In the U.S., if your teacher is unable to come to class on any given day, the school finds a substitute teacher to come in and take over for the day (usually the teacher leaves them notes and directions). However, in France, since kids are in school for such a long time each day, if a teacher is unable to attend, the class is simply canceled. It’s something I actually quite like about the French system, especially when you discover your morning classes have been canceled and you don’t have to go in until 9 or 10 a.m.!

So generally I wake up and get myself ready for school pretty early. Since my school this year is actually pretty close to where I live, I walk there. The last two years, I took the bus because the sister school is farther and was more of a twenty minute walk (something you would have to walk only if you missed the bus!). I usually leave my apartment about fifteen minutes before school starts and I get there a little early so I have time to talk to my friends and visit my locker if necessary. That’s another thing that’s cool about France-lockers! I know they have them in America, but at my school there weren’t any and it was always something I wanted. Although ironically, now that I have it, I don’t really use it!

Once I’m at school, my friends and I usually head straight up to the classroom of whatever class we are having that morning. If you're interested here is my school schedule and if you're not, just scroll down:

Monday:

8am-9am: Music (in French)

9am-10am: Social Studies (in English)

10am-11am: French

11am-2pm: Lunch

2pm-3pm: Social Studies (in English)

3pm-4pm: English

4pm-5pm: French

5pm-6pm: Physics & Chemistry (in French)

Tuesday:

8am-10am: English

10am-12pm: Physical Education (in French)

12pm-1pm: Lunch

1pm-2pm: Math (in French)

2pm-3pm: History (in French)

3pm-5pm: Art (in English)

Wednesday:

8am-10am: French

10am-11am: History (in French)

11am-10am: Earth Science or Physics/Chemistry or No Class (in French)

Thursday:

8am-9am: French

9am-10am: Social Studies

10am-1pm: Lunch

1pm-2pm: Spanish

2pm-3pm: History (in French)

3pm-4pm: Free Period or Class Meeting

4pm-5pm: Technology (in French)

5pm-6pm: Earth Science (in French)

Friday:

8am-10am: Theater (in English)

10am-11am: English

11am-1pm: Lunch

1pm-3pm: Spanish

3pm-5pm: Math (in French)

So those are the classes I attend every day. As you can see, only about three classes are in English and the rest of the main subjects are in French. The first two years I was here, I was a grade behind so I could be in an FLS class (Français Langue Seconde). This was the class where I learned French, but this year I skipped 8th grade and went straight to 9th, my normal age grade, so I have no more FLS support and I'm basically on my own. I do have a tutor, who helps me with some of the writing assignments and math, because in France the math is a bit different.

An example of what the French consider a hot dog: A thick sausage on a baguette, however since I'm now vegetarian I don't eat these anymore :).

As you probably noticed in the schedule, I often have lunch breaks that are 2 or 3 hours long. Generally, the lunch breaks are only one hour, however, some students, such as myself, have free periods in their schedules that line up to right before or after lunch, so the school will let you leave. I generally always go home, since I live so close, and it's nice to have a break before the rest of your day.

There is one day I eat at school, Tuesday, when I only have an hour for lunch, which isn't quite enough to get home, eat, and go back. At my school, there are three lunch options. First, you can go to the canteen, which is what they call a cafeteria. You scan your badge and get a salad or fruit, cheese, a dessert of some sort (usually yogurt or mousse) and a hot main course (pasta, couscous, fish, etc.). It's not the best food in the world, but compared to other cafeterias I've heard about, it's pretty nice. The second option is the food cart. The food cart is situated near the entrance to the school and they sell water, desserts, and a main course that's normally either a panini or a sausage of some sort. For the food cart, you also can simply badge, which is pretty cool. Finally, the third option is to go to a nearby restaurant. What's really nice about the high school is that we are located right in the middle of the city, where all the fast food restaurants and shops are. What's more, during lunch the school doors remain open, so you can leave and come back as many times as you want. Generally, students will get McDonald's or takeout from another restaurant nearby and bring it back to eat around the school courtyard with friends. I've only done this a few times, but it is pretty fun when I do.

A traditional Alsatian tarte flambée, something many people here in Strasbourg eat (although I don't know many students who eat this for lunch lol).

Those are the in-school lunch options, however as I mentioned, I generally prefer to come home and rest for the three hours I have instead of having to stay in the library after and before lunch (the library is one of the places you have to go if you have a free period and don't want to or can't leave the school).

Other than that, I always have school until quite late in the evening. It's always dark when I walk home. Sometimes I stop by the bakery with my friend so we can pick up a baguette for her family and we usually get an éclair or a pain au chocolat to share on the way home. If we're really hungry we might get crêpes from the crêpe stand right next to the school, they have some really good ones with Speculoos!

Once I get home, I put my bags away, help my Mom with dinner, and take a little break. Generally, I'm writing or exercising. We eat dinner around 7:00 p.m. now, which is really late compared to when we used to eat in California, around 5:30 p.m. or 6:00 p.m. After we eat, I go do homework for the next few days, which could take anywhere from twenty minutes to two hours-it really just depends on what the teachers give us. If we have time after, my family and I might watch a T.V. show and then I get ready for bed.

That's pretty much a day in my life. I have a few extracurriculars, but right now they've pretty much been put on hold due to COVID. Before COVID, I played soccer, did aerial hoops, and was a part of the yearly YATS (Young Actors Theater Strasbourg) production. Soccer was on Wednesdays and Saturdays, aerial hoops were Friday nights, and YATS was kind of all over the place. Currently, soccer practice is only on Saturdays and we aren't allowed to play any games or even do group exercises. We can only do simple passing drills and more technical drills. Aerial hoops has been on hold for a few months now, and I'm hoping to go back soon. YATS has been doing a talent show of sorts in lieu of the planned production which was Oklahoma!, so I've been taking part in those rehearsals every weekend. The only other thing you might find me doing on a weekend is babysitting. I babysit for these two adorable little boys that are also Americans.

Me in a blur at soccer practice. Also, my team is called ASS, which stands for the Association Sportive Strasbourg, so go ahead and laugh now ;)

I read a lot, write a ton, and somehow manage to find time for the insane amounts of homework that constantly plague me, not to mention side projects I create for myself and other school obligations that comes with being a 9th grader this year, like the stages.

In France, when you're in 9th grade (3eme), you do a work-experience project called a stage. Basically, the idea is that you submit an application to a place you think you might want to work where you're older, and if they accept you, you get to go and help them out and observe what it's like to work there. Then, at the end of the week, you write a paper on what you learned, etc. I could explain more, but it's getting very complicated this year with COVID and most businesses aren't even accepting students.

Anyway, there's a little glimpse into my daily life as an American in France. It's complicated some days, but I manage to somehow get everything done. I hope you enjoyed and be sure to leave me a comment if you want to see more articles like these!

-Loreleixx