Potluck farewell dinner at BLS, by Elias and Diane

Tonight was the farewell dinner during which teachers, parents and students could say goodbye and thank you to each other.
Mrs Lapointe and BLS students made very touching speeches in English and French about that fantastic exchange.
The choir of BLS and some student volunteers sang the national anthems of US and France and then the song "Vois sur ton chemin". That was very nice and the singers looked a little moved.
The step squad also made a very impressive performance with dance and singing.
Mrs Audhuy and lycée des Pontonniers' students made spechees about how they were happy that the trip went well and to thank everybody.
We ate together the potluck dinner, with specialities from different countries. The whole buffet was very appetizing. While we ate, we could see a slideshow with pictures taken during the trip, which reminded us the good times.

The freedom trail-Tuesday,13th October 2013 posted by Oscar and Cécile

On Tuesday, in the afteroon we did the freedom trail.

We saw a cemetery where Samuel Adams and Benjamin Franklin are burried.

 

 

To do the freedom trial we had to follow a red line on the floor. We visited Paul Revere's house. We saw in front of this house a man from the museum of the USS constitution who told us how to do a rope.

 

 

Classes at Boston Latin School and flight home (Friday 18th of October) posted by Lélia and Daniel

Interview of a Boston Latin School student

Kim, a Boston Latin School student, agreed to answer our questions about the American school system.

Which are the positive and the negative points of the American school system and of your school?

I like the fact that in the United States we have a lot of different school subjects, we have therefore many choices. The school tries to make us happy with activities such as sports and art clubs. Taking care of the garden is an opportunity to think about something else.

But there are also some negative aspects. The atmosphere is tense because we have too much work. That’s the reason why the subjects are very large.

We need to excel to go to good universities and have interesting jobs opportunities. We have to separate ourselves from the other candidates. That’s the reason why we are afraid of the future and have a lot of pressure. Unfortunately we can just learn one foreign language.

What do you want to change at your school?

At my school I want to change many things such as the atmosphere, because the pressure to excel is scary. Furthermore some teachers should go further into their subjects instead of broadening many different topics. The teachers teach us too many different themes superficially instead of concentrating much more on the aspects of one subject. 



What we did today

The last day! ( 😞 )

Time flue so fast, we all didn't see this day coming. But all good things have an end! So today, we went to school with our correspondents as we did on our first day here. Each one of us went in the different classes of our correspondents. Althought we were very tired, it was interesting to see one more time how the school days are in Boston. But, since it was the last day, we (french students) were allowed to leave school at 11.30 after lunch to go shopping one last time. For lunch we got to eat the same food as our correspondents at the cafeteria: pizza , potatoes and some salad. That was, I gotta say, much better then the food we used to have. So after that, all of us could go out of the school and do what they wanted. Some of us went shopping, others stayed at school, others were just hanging out together. At 2.15 we had to be back at school so that our correspondents could pick us up. Then we has another  two hours freetime with our correspondents where we could do one last thing with them. But at 4.40 we had to be at the airport and it was already time to go. After long (and hard) goodbyes, checking in and waiting, we went on the plane and had a 6 hours flight ahead of us. Most of us watched movies or slept because we were very tired. We landed in Paris without any problems, the flight didn't even have turbulences. Then we waited for our train to Strasbourg, got the train and the two hours passed very quickly. We were very tired when we arrived but also very happy to see our family and friends again. After thanking our amazing teachers for making this trip even possible and spending so much of their time for us, we all went home. We were all very sad it was over, I think, but we can look foreward to February, when our correspondents are coming to Strasbourg!

Massachussetts Institute of Technology(MIT) by Claire and Corentin

After visiting Harvard University we walked for an hour but we finally arrived at MIT, exhausted and hungry.
MIT is a research university in Cambridge, it is considered as one of the best in sciences and technologies.
It was 12:30 and we had two hours to eat and to have a tour of the university.
We did not have any guide like at Harvard so nobody saw exactly the same places.
Personally I went inside by the main entrance and explored the inside.
There one could see nice and very technical  labs. Outside f the building we could see the famous dome of MIT.

We did not have a guide like at Harvard so to learn things about the university's history or see what students were working on in the university we had to go to the MIT museum which was at approximately fifteen minutes of the university.
On the ground floor of the museum was exposed the history of MIT for example its foundation in 1861.
On the higher floor were very fascinating little robots and impressing

Interview

 We met one of the MIT Student when we were waiting in the line and asked him some questions:

- So you're a student at MIT? Yes, I am. - What do you study? Math and Civil Engineering. - Oh that seems hard.. Is it hard to get in to MIT ? Yes, I had to work a lot. And the exams we have are also pretty hard. - And are you from Boston ? No I'm from Michigan, but I've now lived in Boston for 3 years. - And do you like it here? I do! I will stay here as long as possible.

Museum of Fine Arts by Claudio

Today we woke up really early to go to the Museum of Fine Arts.  Unfortunately it opens only at 10 am so we went to the Starbucks. We walked there because it is near the school.

They were very strict, because we couldn't take our bags with us. Then we met our guide and she took us upstairs to see French paintings by artists such as Claude Monnet, Edouard Manet, etc. She showed us different arts like impressionism, pointillism, etc. Then we went downstairs and she showed us the artist Pablo Picasso and his cubism style, with The Rape of a Sabine Woman. Finally the guide took us in a chamber, and gave us papers and pencils to do reproduce the cubism style like Pablo Picasso. We were doing that until we ate lunch at the museum cafeteria. So from 12.30 pm to 14.30 pm we had free time in the museum to see whatever we wanted. 

What I thought was the most interesting thing was the contemporary art, especially the Andy Warhol art because it was very special and also nice to see. However the museum is so big that you cannot visit the whole museum. I also liked the Roman sculptures, with the Cesare and Augusto bust.

Andy Warhol masterpiece.

   

Museum of Fine Arts.

Museum of Fine Arts Boston: Interview of Marcela, a gallery guard (Quynh)

Today in the museum of fine arts, Pontonniers students had chance to create their own piece of art. But we didn't do it alone, we had so much help from Marcela, a gallery guard of the museum. At the end of our activity, I had a little talk with her.
_How long have you been working here?
  I've been working here for 1 year. Before that I was a teacher for 19 years in a school of art
_Do you have some others activities beside your work in this museum?
  Yes, I do. I have my own studio and I paint. I have 3 paintings which exhibits now in Chelsea gallery.
_What is art for you?
  For me, art is a creation, it's like a mathematical problem that I have to resolve. When I find an idea, I look for the different ways to show that idea. Sometimes when it doesn't really work, I keep looking for it until when the painting fits my thought, feeling and intention.
_What is your artistic style?
  It's abstract and realism. I'm a visiual person, so I usually paint, combine what I see and combine the different kinds of shapes. At the moment, I'm working on repeating motifs.
_How long does it take you to finish a painting?
  It usually takes me 3 months.
_Thank you very much for your help. I really hope that you will be successful in your artistic career.

Museum of Science : Interview of a visitor (posted by Tillmann)

So, with who are you visiting this museum?

-I'm visiting this museum with my wife and my two children, who are 3 and 5 years old. 

And where are you from?

-We come from New-York city it's take 4 hours with the train to come to Boston.

How do you know this museum?

-One of my friend recommend me this museum, so I think it's a good think to visit it.

And why is it a god ting?

-It`s a good think because I like very much science, I'm scientific, and I think it's important that my children learn something and have funny time together.

Do you find the price expensive?

-Yes but I think it's normal because is one of the biggest science museum I ever see and all the things here are very expensive.

And finally how do you find the museum?And why?

-This museum is really well build. It's very funny for the children and there can also learn something, I also learn something.