Mattie Carruth’s Cultural Exchange with Heurtaux Family

Recently I had the chance to meet and visit with Polk County teen Mattie Carruth (daughter of Marianne and Mike Carruth) and her exchange family from France the Heurtaux’s. Mattie has recently returned from spending a year studying in Le Mans, France through the Youth for Understanding program. While waiting for the ladies to return from shopping, I had the chance to visit casually with Vincent and Maxim. I was comforted that even though my French skills are poor, Vincent spoke excellent English. He had just finished teaching me the game of Jungle Speed, a card game the Heurtauxs had brought from their Games/Toy Store to share with the Carruths, when the ladies returned. Marie Christina joined Mattie and Vincent late after stowing their supplies for this weekend’s camping trip to Cherokee.

How did you get involved with the exchange program?
Mattie: My mom and I were looking for a way for me to learn French without just sitting around and studying it. We were looking online for a program that was two weeks and found one that was actually a year with Youth for Understanding (YFU).

What drew you to the program?
Mattie: It was one of the cheaper ones and it seemed like a good organization. I also had a friend that had been through the program.

How did you go about applying?
Mattie: First they sent an information packet and then a stack of forms. Once you filled out the forms and sent them in they had you meet and interview with a representative to see if you would be a good representative of the US. For me it was hard because you were supposed to have a two year base of French and I only had a year and had not been in school (I was home-schooled). The French government was concerned about my ability to succeed in a French speaking school. My mom and I talked to our representative a lot and he conveyed my willingness to learn and how much I wanted to go and he was able to convince them. It was a big thing for me.

How did they pair you up with the Heurtaux Family?
Mattie: The family actually picked me.
Vincent: We also have forms to complete and then are sent stories from people like Mattie about why they want to come.

Why did you pick Mattie?
Vincent: We had two criteria, a girl and English speaking. We spoke English and thought it would be easier in the beginning. We liked her honesty about missing her family in her story and she seemed to be quite like us in habits. Simple habits and easy going.

What was your first impression?
Mattie: I was really scared because I didn’t speak French and I missed my home a lot. They were very welcoming though and happy to have me there and seemed very helpful to me. They helped me to learn and understand.

What were the first differences you noticed?
Mattie: I went from living here in the country to living in Le Mans, which is a city of 20,000, above the toy store the Heurtaux family owns. So the first thing I noticed was the noise of the city.
Vincent: It’s noisy here too, the river, the bugs, but it’s a different sort of noise.
Mattie: When France made it to the finals of the World Cup, every time they won a game everyone in the streets would honk their horns and yell.

What did you like about living in France?
Mattie: I liked the food. I liked going to school and how relaxed it was. If you didn’t have a class you could go home. I liked the food a lot. I like the language and the family. I enjoyed living in the city and being close to everything so I didn’t have to take a car everywhere. I could go shopping, the movie theatre, and the town hall to handle paperwork. We went to clubs to go tango dancing. Sometimes the whole family would go, but sometimes their kids stayed home because they didn’t enjoy it as much. It was neat. I definitely enjoyed the cheese and the bread.

What do feel were the most important things you learned in your year?
Mattie: Self confidence and maturity. Learning to speak up for myself and to be by myself. I learned how to not rely on people as much.

Do you feel like you would have learned the same in any country?
Mattie: I think it helped that French customs weren’t way different, but just different enough. That made it easier, but I would have learned the same in any non-English speaking country.

What were the classes like for you?
Mattie: At first I didn’t understand anything so they were boring and tiring. The teachers really wanted me to learn though, and thought what they had to teach was important. They were hard classes. I think the level was a lot higher than here, but I did well because I wanted to. I was able to figure it out and do as well as other students. The French class was really hard because we were reading texts from the 15th and 16th Century.
Vincent: It was hard for us too. In the beginning we tried to help translate and analyze the text, and we had to translate it from old French for ourselves first.

What advice would you give to someone else looking at a program like this?
Mattie: It’s hard but it’s worth it. I wanted to come home the first month, but it was worth it to stick it and be open to learning new things.

Is it normal for the family to come to America to visit?
Mattie: It’s not normal, it depends on how well you get along with the family.
Vincent: Mattie was the first person to come to our home so we created strong links. Since we had never been here it was a good excuse to visit.

What is your impression of Mattie’s world?
Vincent: We are on holiday or vacation and well received. The landscape is wonderful. We can do walks or hikes. It’s a holiday because we like them (the Carruth Family). It’s a different area. I live in a town, but my parents were farmers so I understand the country, but there are more woods here, and different species of plants and animals. But nice, it’s really good we’re having a good time here. I have to quit in three days and it seems to be very short. We arrived July 21st, but the shop is closed, so I have to go back and open it. What I like in this family we are not considered strangers. We help and even got involved helping with the set for The Little Prince (which Mattie’s mother Marianne directed). We did the same with Mattie, she wasn’t a stranger but part of my family.

What else has your family learned here?
Vincent: It’s for us a good practice for English. I hope that it might open the mind of our children for foreign language. My daughter and especially my son is very close to what is different here from his country. I hope that to come here will open his mind. I already am happy for simple sentences that he can speak of English.
Marie Christina: The life is different. Living here you need a car because everything is so spread out.
Vincent: We can see some American specific pictures in the cars. The cars are bigger with 4WD. In France they are smaller. Tattoos on the arm are bigger too, with flags. In American there are flags in front of houses, which is unusual in France. One thing that surprised us was the easiness to speak with someone you have not met.
Marie Christina: Like getting gas, you speak with the people, but in France you would not speak to anyone. People are more sociable. I enjoy that really, even if people are talking to us quickly and we don’t understand them.

I see from the pictures you went rafting, what all have you done here?
Mattie: It was everyone’s first time river rafting. My brother Casey was the river guide and he helped because he was very understanding. Nobody fell or got hurt. Well, people fell in, but no one was hurt. It was fun. We also went camping and square dancing.
Vincent: It was very different than tango, but similar to folk dance from Brittany. We had to try really hard to understand what the callers say to follow.
Marie Christina: That was on Wednesday when we had just arrived after a long journey.

Anything else you’d like to add?
Vincent: It was a great experience for us to receive a foreigner with knowing nothing but her little bit of text. It was a hard duty to receive her well and give her chances to pass with success in France.
Mattie: They did a good job.
Vincent: The fact that we are here today is because everything worked well.

The mission statement of YFU is “preparing young people for their responsibilities and opportunities in a changing, interdependent world.” The program offers educational exchange opportunities for youth ages 15-22 in about 38 different countries. If you or someone you know is interested in studying abroad, or if you are a family interested in hosting an exchange student, more information can be found out about the program at www.yfu.org or by calling their office toll free at 800-TEENAGE or 866-4 YFU USA.