Europe too costly; EHS students Visit French Canada
By Bobbi Mlynar
Originally published 02:18 p.m., June 23, 2008
Updated 02:18 p.m., June 23, 2008
The falling dollar nixed an annual trip to France, but no one was finding fault after a small group of Emporia High School students returned home from the second-choice destination: Canada.
“It was all great,” said EHS senior Ashley Gitchel. “I just like being surrounded by French.”
Ashley and four other students — Corinne Edds, Jordan Miller, Hannah Watkins and Megan Vickery — joined French teacher Linda Clark for the week-long experience. Clark invites qualified language students along for the tours, which are independent of the school district and usually involve European destinations.
Only Ashley and Corinne were available last week, when they met at Clarks’ house to go over photographs and memories of the trip.
The Emporia group joined students from four other high schools nationwide to become part of the Smithsonian Tour’s educational trip.
“We usually go to France, but with the cost of the Euro, it wasn’t really feasible, economically,” Clark said.
The students this year spent three days in Quebec and three days in Montreal. Clark called it “a very short trip,” packed with places to go and things to do.
The French language dominates those areas, with about 50 percent of the people using it as their primary language in the south, and growing to about 90 percent in the north.
“Sometimes when they knew we were American, they’d go right into English, but we had that trouble in France,” Clark said.
Quebec was celebrating the 400th anniversary of its founding while the local group was there.
“The history is just incredible,” Clark said. “It plays so much into American history.”
They took a haunted-walk tour, where characters from the past would jump out at passersby and re-enact history.
“Oh, it was fun,” Clark said.
The tour brought experiences not only in history, but in architecture, foods, economics and cultural diversity, in addition to giving the students opportunities to hone their French skills.
“So, it was all about education and a lot of entertainment on the side,” Clark said. “They were on the go from the time breakfast was over until 11 o’clock at night.”
They were surprised to learn on arrival that the dark piles at the sides of the roads were remnants of a hard winter.
“We didn’t know it was snow because it was so black,” Clark said, reiterating what a Canadian had told her. “She said it might not melt. They have such a short summer.”
A shopping mall in Montreal is built underground because of the cold climate and, because trains are somewhat pricey to ride, many people use buses or drive their own cars. Fuel costs approximately $1.50 a liter, which translates to about $5.67 per gallon.
The tour included a visit to Old Quebec, a narrow-laned maze of old buildings with fascinating architecture. The winding streets and historic-looking buildings have drawn Hollywood film crews that want to capture an old-world European setting without paying the price of shooting abroad, Clark said.
The group brought back photos of the city and landscape, taken from rooms high in the Frontenac, a massive castle-like hotel built over 100 years ago on a bluff overlooking the St. Lawrence River.
“They had really pretty churches,” Ashley said. “We went to several churches that were just gorgeous.”
They toured Montmorency Falls, with the more daring of the group crossing a suspension bridge over the water before walking down the 400-step stairway leading to the ground.
The students discovered first-hand why a maple leaf is the centerpiece of the Canadian flag. The Canadians — at least those in Quebec and Montreal — cover all sorts of foods with maple syrup, Ashley and Corinne said. “Sugar shacks” along the route soon became popular stopovers for the group.
“I thought it was a joke, them and their maple syrup, but it wasn’t,” Ashley said.
Corinne developed a fondness for a popular dish made of French fries, gravy and chunks of cheese.
“The gravy wasn’t like a meat gravy,” she said; “it was more like a sauce.”
The group also got a sampling of health care, immigration, and international trade as they talked with Canadians along the way.
The Canadians are adapting their government and business practices as the needs arise. Immigration and taxes have become issues in Canada, health care is suffering because there are not enough doctors and other professionals to serve the people.
“They’re struggling, no doubt about it,” Clark said.
In some areas, such as manufacturing and trade, they are finding ways to succeed without waiting for the United States to take the lead.
“They’re just really innovative,” she said. “They’re thinkers and they’re movers. They seem to get things done.”
Clark said that she had used an economics course she’d taken from Emporia State University professor Rob Catlett as a valuable teaching tool during the visit to Canada. Applying what she’d learned from him, she helped the students realize the importance of businesses working within the global economy and individuals learning about cultural differences and similarities, and gaining the ability to speak more than one language. Spanish may be the second language in Emporia, she said, but Chinese, French and German dominate in much of the world.
“With the business world the way it is, I’m thinking for those kids to learn French and get their foot in the door,” Clark said.
Corinne, who plans to become involved in Doctors Without Borders, wants to live in Canada; both she and Ashley came away with a fine appreciation for the country and its people and a better understanding of what it will take to succeed in an international economy.
“If it hadn’t been for him (Catlett), I don’t know if I’d have recognized the importance of this trip,” Clark said. “It’s the best classroom there is. There’s nothing like it. ... It’s a global classroom.”