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• • •
drienne Montes, like Kevin
Gaumard, boarded a flight with an
.open mind and an excited spirit,
but unlike her Parisian counterpart,
Montes flew from Houston to Paris.
“By traveling abroad, not only are you
opening yourself to new experiences, but
you also take a part of that culture back
with you,” the Texas A&M sophomore
international studies major said.
Once she arrived, she realized that
many of the American stereotypes about
the French were untrue.
“During my three months in Paris. 1
ran into very few rude people." Montes
said. “Contrary to many beliefs, people in
Paris are just as nice as any other big-city
dweller.”
The pace of life is much slower in
France than it is in the Cnited States, as
Montes said she quickly learned.
“I appreciated the ability to do
absolutely nothing
and watch the world
go by,” she said.
Montes said one
of her favorite things
• •
was sitting on a bench for hours, just
relaxing “without a care in the world."
“The French people value their free
time and guard it heavily” she said.
When Montes wasn't people-watch-
ing. she traveled all over the city and
surrounding areas. Her favorite place to
go in Paris was the Latin Quarter. There,
she and her friends hung out at restau
rants. bars and shops.
Montes also took day trips to the
Loire Valley, the Palace of Versailles,
and Euro Disney, but her favorite trip
was to Monet's gardens in Givemy.
Montes said as she walked across the
famous Japanese bridge, she felt like she
was in one of Monet's paintings.
She says it's important to study
abroad because "we must be able to
communicate with people who are dif
ferent from us.”
Montes said she would love to study
abroad again in Italy or Spain.
“Once you travel to a foreign coun
try,” she said, “you get addicted to it and
then you want to find out anything and
everything possible about everywhere
around the world.”
— Sforv by Curly Adam
W hen Kevin Gaumard
boarded the plane in
France on his way to
College Station, he knew he had to
arrive with an open mind. As a
participant in a partnership pro
gram between his school in Paris
and Texas A&M. he recently
received a master’s degree in civil
engineering from A&M.
After arriving in the United
States, Kevin saw that the French
stereotype of Americans was ficti
tious.
“Americans, especially Texans,
have a bad reputation in France,”
he said. “The French think of
Americans as narrow' minded and
racist, but I have seen that it is not
true and a lot of them are very
open-minded and helpful.”
Compared to the French,
Americans are competitive and
“they all want to be the best,” he
said. But at the same time, he said
he appreciates how many
Americans are willing to go out of
their way to help others.
Gaumard has studied English
since he was 12
years old and
recommends that
American
schools also
teach more structured foreign
language programs.
“It is a shame that many people
don’t know how to speak any other
language besides English." he said.
Gaumard said the United States
is not much different from France,
but College Station is vastly differ
ent from Paris. Gaumard said
that’s why he enjoyed visiting
New York City.
“My favorite place in the U.S. is
New York,” he said. “It is like
Paris, and there is always some
thing new and interesting to do."
Gaumard plans to stay in the
United States and work.
“It is a lot easier to find a job in
the U.S. right now than in France,"
he said.
However. Gaumard does plan to
return to France in the future
because, as the adage goes,
“There’s no place like home.”
— Story by Curly Adam
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