The Exchange

One year ago!

2011-01-30T10:25:00.002-05:00

Can you believe that it is exactly one year since Les Matagots came to SAA to share two wonderful weeks with us? It was such a wonderful experience for all the students and their families.

Thanks for the great memories.

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Home again

2010-07-04T08:12:00.002-04:00

We are back from our trip to Europe and I will make this post with all the departure pictures. La CIotat is a wonderful town and we were welcomed with open arms by the parents, staff and student. We had a wonderful supper with Nathalie & Jean Pierre Frechet at their home with Fanny, Estelle, Stephanie and Tara. A beautiful home for a wonderful family. To see how loved our kids were was amazing, they were treated as their own and were loved equally. I could tell how much Tara and Steph felt at home.

We spent a day touring the region and sampling some local delights, most notably nutella ice cream (Kim's recommendation).

Tuesday morning came bright and early and when we rolled up to the school the gang was all arriving and the tears were flowing and the hugs were everywhere. All the parenst showed up to send off the students in style, group hugs were shared, farewell gifts given and a lot of emotion poured out. I will post the photos I took, you will see from them just how much of a bond this group developped. The Les Matagots parents were wonderful and the tears were flowing from their eyes too.

Thank you to the Les Matagots parents, student and especially all the teachers involved at both schools. These memories will last a lifetime.

Party Couleur for Axelle's birthday!

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Tonight all the students are going to Axelles' birthday party with the theme "couleur". Just so you know what that means, here is a photo of Fanny, Estelle, Steph and Tara before they left the Frechet home! Thanks JP and Nathalie!

Paella Night

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Here are a few photos from the Paella night that were sent by Nathalie and Jean-Pierre Frechet. I have NEVER seen a pan that huge, WOW. Also M.Tomei was looking rather sharply dressed for the evening!

Lucky indeed! Quelle chance!

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Lucky you say, how fortunate our youngens are to be in such great hands....thank you, thank you, thank you to all the lovely parents in La Ciotat and to our wonderful teachers, so committed. It warms my heart to see these photos and I'm so thrilled and grateful that my Stéphanie has had the chance to experience this amazing France trip. Have a great day and let the fun continue!!!

Nos jeunes sont très chanceux d'être entre si bonnes mains....merci, merci à tous les parents extraordinaire de La Ciotat et tous les professeurs si dévoués et si aimables. Il me fait chaud au coeur de voir toutes ces belles photos et je suis heureuse et très reconnaissante que Stéphanie ai la chance de faire cette expérience magnifique. Passez une très belle journée et que le plaisir soit toujours au rendez-vous!!!

Linda Lefrançois

Back from Paris - Courtesy of the Famille Frechet!

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Some great pictures of the students at the La Ciotat train station being met by their correspondants! Apparently they all had a great time in Paris, the smiles on their faces prove that!

More photos from the Frechet family!

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I am feeling so lucky to get these lovely photos today. Fanny and Estelles parents emialed them with a lovely message. Glad to see all the students made it to Paris, thanks to all the great Les Matagots parents who made sure they were up and ready to go! Wow our kids are very fortunate.

The second photo is from Julia (Kim) and Juliette's (Kassi) house.

Weekend

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We had a "spy" at Rémi's party...here are some of her/his? photos!!!

xx2 was also sent on a special mission on the beach on Saturday... A very nice job!

Had to upload this one....now there's a ''Free man''!

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Creeping on facebook I found these!

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Sad I know, but these are some great pics!

The Frechet Families Photos

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Photographs taken by Nathalie and Jean-Pierre Frechet, Estelle and Fanny's parents.

More happy faces!!!

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Goodbye for now!

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Here are some other departure photos...enjoy!!!

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Bon Voyage 2

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Bon Voyage

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Great photos from Bev of the departure!

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They're off!

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The link to the Les Matagots blog

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http://matagotsaa.blogspot.com/

From Mme Blight

2010-06-06T09:30:00.001-04:00

Well, this is IT : the last part of our exchange starting tomorrow for you, on Tuesday for us...The French students and their parents are over excited. the last meeting took place on Friday night and now everything is ready, we are just looking forward to seeing the bus coming round the corner...
We hope your children enjoy their stay as much as we all did back in February. I may repeat myself, but thanks again for all the activities and most of all for making us so welcomed!
We will post messages and photos on our blog every day so don't forget to check it, that way you will be able to follow your children's adventures day after day!
My very best regards to you all.
Marie-Christine

One week to go!!!

2010-05-31T08:31:00.004-04:00

Let the packing begin! Though I do realise that some of the students have packed everything already and some, like us, have not even begun.
Here is a link to a 14 day weather forecast for La Ciotat http://www.zoover.com/france/provence-alps-french-riviera/la-ciotat/weather it might help you work out what to take.
Here are a few tips that might help....
If any the students are taking bank cards to witrhdraw money they need to let their banks know that they will be in France or those cards might not work.
Put bottles and tubes of liquid stuff, shampoos etc, in ziploc bags in their suitcases. These things have a habit of exploding when the suitcases are tossed "gently" into the airplane!
Anything that cannot be "lost" should go into the carry on bag, though liquids need to be less than 3oz and that should be in a ziploc bag to present to security.
Tweezers, scissors etc should be in the suitcase, otherwise they will be confiscated.
Gifts should not be wrapped, if they are the students might have to unwrap them at the airport to show security.
It is also good to photocopy the passport info page and keep at home just in case.
A pack of gum to chew on take off and landing helps with the inner ear air pressure.
If they wear belts and lots of jewellery they will have to remove it at security. Sometimes it is better to put it in the carry on bag.
If they have prescriptions, they should still have the label on.
Don't overpack your suitcse, if you have to sit on it to close it it may open up at some point. That is NEVER fun!

Last meeting and presentations

2010-05-19T21:35:00.003-04:00

Tonight was the last meeting before the students depart for La Ciotat on the 7th June. The students made presentations about different topics concerning France, it's architecture, it's customs, the food and the geography. They all worked hard and we got to eat some great food.

Both parents and students are getting more and more excited about the trip, we received a letter from Mme Blight and the schedule too. Our kids will be having agreat time and we parents are assured that they will be well taken care of in France.

Thankyou to the teachers, both here and in France and thankyou to the families who will welcome our children into their homes.

Davis & Mikael

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Maude & Jasmine

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Jade & Camille

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Stephanie, Abigael & Cassie

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Bianca & Myriam

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Mike & Chas

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Tara & Kim

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Emilie & Stephanie

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Deanna & Craig

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Kelly & Meghan

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Jake & Dave

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Four weeks to go....

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How time has flown since the first meeting one year ago. We have one last meeting on the 19th May and then the group will be on their way to La Ciotat and a wonderful reunion with their correspondants.

The students have all been working hard on their presentations about France and the places they might visit, the food they might eat and customs they may experience. These will be presented at the final meeting.

Some of our students have never left Canada, and a few have never been on a plane. A great opportunity has been given to them by Renee, Cathie and Leslie. Thankyou a million times for all your hard work to this date, and even more thanks for all the work to come.

Thanks also have to go to the three marvellous Les Matagots teachers, as we know they are working very hard right now to welome our group.

Work hard now, so you can relax in France!

Newspaper Article

2010-03-13T08:38:00.001-05:00

This great article was in the local English newspaper. Thanks to Danielle Gareau for her work on it.

Video from the sleigh ride

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sleigh ride part two

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Photos from the sleigh ride

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Images of La Ciotat

2010-02-25T17:11:00.002-05:00

Whilst we are sitting in the middle of a snowstorm I thought it would be lovely to see some beautiful scenes of La Ciotat.

Getting closer!!!

2010-02-23T10:25:00.002-05:00

It is snowing outside, the first real snow storm since December. Just to remind us that this is Canada and it still really is winter. Three more days of school this week and then March break for a week. The High School has activity day on Friday and all the students are looking forward to that. Skiing seems to be a popular activity.

Three more weeks to Spring and then before we know it the France trip will be upon us and all the excitement that will bring to the SAA and Les Matagots schools.

Great to see the exchange students are still talking often on MSN and FB, the wonders of modern technology.

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More from the Last supper

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Photos departure day

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The final day - some photos from Bev

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....yet even more

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even more....

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Photos from the last supper

2010-02-15T13:09:00.004-05:00

Bev took some great photos at the last supper. Clearly everyone had a great time.

Part Three

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Part two

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Bev's photos from Tremblant Dinner

2010-02-15T13:00:00.003-05:00

A number of families and students went to Mont Tremblant on the 11th February for dinner and some skating. Here are the photos that Bev took.

The teachers final song

2010-02-15T12:47:00.002-05:00

A small portion of the song written and performed by the six teachers. Highly amusing and greatly appreciated.

Some more last day photos

2010-02-15T09:51:00.001-05:00

The end and a new beginning

2010-02-13T14:39:00.003-05:00

So Les Matagots are on their way to Montreal to the airport and the SAA students and their families are returning home. What a fabulous two weeks, great students and wonderful families.

The teachers from both Schools are simply amazing and as time goes by it becomes more and more apparent how much love and hard work has gone into this exchange. The benefit to our children is huge and all our lives have been improved by the experience. There are no words to really express our gratitude, thank you just doesn't seem enough.

Many, many tears were shed. Many hugs and kisses exchanged, some with a LOT of passion, if you know what I mean! ;) Friendships have been made that could last a lifetime.

The next time they will see each other will be in June in La Ciotat and won't that be a joyful reunion. So much to look forward to and so our planning is just beginning.

To the Les Matagots parents, thank you for trusting us with your children, they were delightful, polite and a whole lot of fun.

They are gone......so sad!

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more photos from Nathaniel

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Farewell photos from Nathaniel

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Fanny and Estelle singing

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The last supper

2010-02-12T22:53:00.002-05:00

Home from the supper. The students, teachers and familes had a great time. Many tears were shed and much fun was had. I will post more pics in the days to come when I gather them in.

There was some great singing and the videos will follow tomorrow!

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