During the month of April, six students from the Tennis Section, St Jo, had the opportunity to spend 3 weeks in the state of Tennessee, USA. Their trip started with taking three planes with a total of 17 hours. During those three weeks, the students visited and enjoyed many American foods, places and cultural sport events.
The St Jo students stayed at different family’s houses and got to experience life with an American family! On Sundays, they went to church with their families, but the churches were not like the ones we have here in France, these churches had music and concert rooms! They not only went to church with their host siblings but also to school, and not just any school but a sport school! They had to wear uniforms because the high school was a private school, but it is very rare for an American schools to have uniforms.
Of course, the students played tennis! They said that they enjoyed and progressed a lot during their stay. They played up to 4 or 5 hours a day on some days. Furthermore, they even got to watch professional tennis matches, and they had the opportunity talk to professional tennis players and take pictures with them.
The group got to visit some famous places in Memphis, Tennessee. They visited the Memphis entertainment center called “The Pyramid”. During their stay, they also got to go to the Memphis Zoo. The zoo was so big that they spent 5 hours there looking at all the different animals.
Some of the students were lucky enough to experience some American high school traditions. One of the students told us that her host sister went to prom, and she hung out and took pictures with them! She explained to us that all the students get to a place in either limos or buses, and they party together until around 3 am. Some of them also watched a famous American sport called Lacrosse. The students said that they really enjoyed this sport and would love to play it if it existed in France. On one of the last days, they had a traditional American pool party ! They remembered that it was really fun and that the pool was very big !
Lastly, they were surprised by the very welcoming people who greeted them well. Americans are very welcoming and open to foreign students! They really loved their stay and would like to go back.
Article rédigé par les élèves membres du journal de St Jo News.
