Studying a foreign language recently became more than a classroom exercise for 15 Warsaw Community High School students.

For 12 days, starting with Dec. 26, the WCHS French students of teachers David Chastain and Janet Kirkpatrick visited Paris and stayed with host families in Vende, a small town in western France.

According to two of the students, Stephanie Durbin, 17, and Ryan Brennan, 17, their brief immersion in the French language and culture was an experience they'll long treasure.

"I learned more about another culture and about another type of people in this world. It more than ever solidified my belief in diversity," Durbin said. "There's just a feeling when you're over there that just touches your heart, that's really loving and beautiful."

The trip began with a three-day stop in Paris, where the students visited the traditional tourist haunts - the Louvre, Sacr Coeur, Notre Dame, Arc de Triomphe, Napoleon's Tomb and Versailles.

Of Versailles, Durbin said, "The minute you were there, you immediately felt you were privy to a part of history that you weren't really aware of."

From Paris, they went on to their hosts' homes in Vende for the remainder of the trip.

Chastain, who with Janet and John Kirkpatrick accompanied the students, said the trip was part of a process that began 10 years ago when he wrote a mini-grant to do an exchange program. Two years ago students from Les Etablieres High School in Vende stayed in Warsaw for 17 days, which was a success, and this year WCHS students reciprocated.

The French school wants to send students to Warsaw in 2003, Chastain said, with WCHS students going back to France in 2004.

Brennan said the people of Vende were warm and friendly and patient in helping the students speak the language.

"They were very aware of what you were comfortable with and and really respected that," he said. "They really made an effort."

Though both Durbin and Brennan had taken French classes for four years, they were far from fluent when they first arrived in France. "It would take five minutes to say a 30-second sentence," Brennan said.

By the end of the trip, however, he said, "I could comprehend what people were saying without thinking about it."

"Part of learning is stepping out of your comfort zone and being comfortable with your new surroundings," Brennan said. And immersing yourself in foreign surroundings "stimulates a part of the brain you didn't know you had."

Durbin had an advantage because her host was also a friend - their 21-year-old daughter had been one of the students who visited Warsaw and had stayed with Durbin's family.

Both students experienced some culture shock - gas was $4 a gallon and drivers typically drove about 180 kilometers per hour (approximately 90 miles per hour). Greetings were usually four kisses - cheek to cheek to cheek to cheek - and the food was sometimes "a lot of stuff I couldn't identify," Brennan said, but both kids tried everything that was put in front of them.

The trip has sparked a desire for more travel in both students. Durbin said she wants to study abroad and both students definitely want to return to France.

"I really, really thought this was worth it, and I hope future classes will be as lucky as we were," Brennan said.

Students who went on the trip were: Jon Ciula, Christopher Owens, Tabitha Zon, Matt Schever, Candace May, Shelby Nicol, Crystal Winters, Kate Losey, Gayle Hughes, Shawn Bozarth, Stephanie Durbin, Jodi Mitterling, Ryan Brennan, Michelle Liebsch and Melissa McDairmant. [[In-content Ad]]