Editor’s note: Beth Ruhl will be an exchange student in France for the 2003-2004 school year. She is 16 and attends Bishop Seabury Academy. Beth will be writing a monthly column about her experiences in France.

Being an exchange student has been something I have wanted to do most of my life. It started when I was in third grade and my mom told me stories about her friends who traveled. The stories were inspiring, and I found the idea of experiencing a new culture to be exhilarating.

I’m going on my trip through the Rotary International Youth Exchange program; the Lawrence Rotary Club is my sponsor. To be accepted, I filled out a long application form and went through interviews on the local and district levels.

I will be staying in Tours, France. It has a population of around 300,000 and is in the Loire Valley, where there are plenty of chateaus and castles.

During my stay, I will be living with three or four families. The first one is the Moniere family — Sophie Moniere, the mother who is a physical education teacher; Patrice, the father, who is a kinesiologist, Pierre, 15, and Louise, 7.

Getting ready to meet my family is both nerve-racking and exciting. I am curious as to what they will be like. I have been in contact with them via e-mail for a while now, but I still don’t know all about them. Sophie can read a little bit of English, and Pierre has taken three years of English, but it is the Queens’ English, and his mother says he speaks it badly.

One question I always is get asked is, “You’re going for a whole year? Won’t you get homesick?” That’s not a big concern for me right now because I feel supported by my family, friends and school. I am sure it will happen at some points, but I think I will get over it.

My school is called the Lycee Descartes. It originated in the 1400s as a seminary and was converted into a high school in the 1800s. In France, students choose an area of interest to prepare them for future work or study. I will take the literary section, so my courses include French, English, Spanish, history, math, physics, an earth science, physical education and an elective.

Because my high school here has a little more than 100 students, adjusting to my new school will be challenging. I am not sure of the exact number of students, but it will be four to five times bigger, if not more. To make friends, I’ll join student organizations so I can meet people and have something to do. My host parents have bought me a city bus pass, so going out with my friends will not be an issue.

I have taken French for two years now and have done well in the classroom, but I know it will be difficult to understand in the beginning. I have been told that totally immersing yourself in the language is the best way to become fluent.

An important thing I have been warned about as a U.S. citizen and as a foreigner in general is not to act like my culture is better, especially when it comes to political opinions. I have put myself in this position because I want to learn about different viewpoints. It is not my job to belittle the opinions of another person just because I don’t agree with them. By being open to new perspectives, it helps to create a mutual respect.

Right now one of my apprehension is flying to France. I have never flown by myself, but it will be a new learning experience. My flight time will be around 23 1/2 hours because I have to fly from Kansas City to Detroit to Paris, which is a pretty long flight, but on the other hand I am flying into the Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris, and that’s exciting. Maybe I will see the grand Eiffel Tower as I fly in.

One comforting fact is that I will meet 42 other students in Detroit who are going to be exchange students in France. We will all fly to Paris together. The Rotary program gives students blazers, and when they meet students from another district or country, they exchange pins. Since I am from Kansas, my pins are little sunflowers. At the end of my stay, I’ll come home with pins from all over the world to remind me of the friends I’ve made.

Once we fly into Paris, the Youth Exchange officer for the district will meet us there with our new host families, and we will have a small orientation and then leave with our families for a new experience.