Nicole (Nikki) Thorson (nee Thompson)

School Program, France 1999

I learnt French in 3 months, I now teach French, I met my husband, I marched in the Olympics ceremonies, I have a French family, I have 5 host sisters in 5 different countries, I have made lifelong friends, and lifelong memories.

My AFS journey began in 1998 after I convinced my parents to let me go on exchange. After going through a selection process, I was offered a 6 month exchange in France. Hooray! I knew very little French, but I was excited to go and learn.

In January 1999, I left Australia. I had never been on a plane before, so I was a little nervous to fly so far away and alone, but I had already stepped out of my comfort zone even before arriving in France!

At the airport, I met my beautiful host family that immediately kissed me 3 times on the cheek, as was the region’s Poitou-Charentes’s custom. Here began a journey that I will never forget. My Maman and Papa, my sister and my brother, are family to me. Some of my best moments in France were spent with them, sleeping in on Sunday, my host mother bringing me freshly squeezed orange juice in a champagne glass, and a croissant, for breakfast. I loved the walks around Parthenay, a medieval town, with cobblestone streets and fortified castle walls, and plenty of history.

At school we started at 8am, still dark in winter, and finished at 5pm, at sunset, a much longer day than in Australia. The classes were also run differently, more respect for teachers, very quiet classrooms and lots of writing with little discussions. However, I did enjoy the long lunch break, going home for lunch and eating a hot meal, followed by my favorite local cheese - fromage de chevre. My first trip to Paris was with my school’s music class. School was a place to meet and make friends, and at first I found it difficult to do work with very elementary French but I made good friends at school one of which lives in Paris, we visit him whenever we go back to France. I am also still in contact with another exchange student, John, from Melbourne.

As for the language, when I arrived my French was pretty much non-existent. In fact I was watching some cartoons in Spanish and I thought it was French! With the help of my host mum and my friend Jason, another exchange student, I gradually got better and better. By about the 3rd month I was able to carry on a good conversation, by the 5th month I was thinking and dreaming in French. Amazing! I still remember when I was forgetting my English and I could not think of the word for remote control in English, I had to look it up in a dictionary!!!

Leaving France, I remember crying as I packed my bags. My host mother also shed a tear as she watched me pack. My host dad didn’t let his feelings out so much, but I know he loved me because I had come home late 2 weeks earlier and I had been grounded. Yes! He cares!! I should have been upset to be in trouble, but I felt like giving him a huge bear hug.

My relationship with my host family is still strong, we talk on the phone occasionally, and now with facebook I am in regular contact with my host sister. I have been back to visit several times and it’s just like being home again. I just talked to my host dad last night because he is coming to New Caledonia for work 3 times this year – hoping he can come to Sydney too!!!!

Anyway, I left Paris in July and started year 12 in October. I studied French for the HSC which was great and I was able to share my exchange experience with the French class. In October 2000, the best thing happened to me I got a job as a National Olympic Committee (NOC) Assistant at the Sydney Olympics. I was with the African team of Gabon, 6 officials and 6 athletes, all French speaking. I helped them by translating, getting them to their events or training, and they even came up to my house in the Blue Mountains for a barbeque with my family! I escorted Athletes for the opening ceremony, getting my Gabonese team from the village to the stadium, and I marched with them in front of a crowd of 110,000 people! What an amazing moment, it all happened thanks to my AFS exchange to France. I was also in the closing ceremony, mingling in a sea of athletes from 199 different countries. Awesome!!!!!

Now, as a high school teacher I have been able to use my language for my current job teaching French and Food Tech and Science. I am enjoying teaching French to my students, and they are all so interested in hearing about my experience – I am hoping that one day one of my students will go on exchange with AFS!

Since returning, I have been involved in a pre departure camp (excellent fun) and in my local chapter. My family also has hosted 4 students from Chile, Austria, Italy and America - Hosting is awesome! I have even gone to Austria and stayed with my host sister – another cool way to open up the world! My husband and I have also been support for 3 students – 1 German boy and 2 French girls.

Well, I can’t finish off without talking about Jason. He was an American who went to my school in France. He had heard I was coming to Parthenay and kept phoning my host family to meet me. I just wanted him to leave me alone, but in the end we met, and well, we hit it off. He taught me lots of French specially the slang and we ended up dating while I was in France. We kept a long distance relationship, flying back and forth for a couple years, before getting engaged. We married in Dec 2001, and John from Melbourne was our groomsman. We now live in the Blue Mountains, with our 3 gorgeous children, aged 5, 3 and 2.

If you have managed to read my story, I applaud you, but honestly, this is the abridged version!! My exchange was such an amazing and life changing event that has given me so many opportunities I would have never had before. I stepped out of my comfort zone, I learnt French in 3 months, I now teach French, I met my husband, I marched in the Olympics ceremonies, I have a French family, I have 5 host sisters in 5 different countries, I have made lifelong friends, and lifelong memories. I am so glad that after years of asking to go on exchange, my parents finally gave in! Best thing I have EVER done.

Thanks AFS :)