Last year, spring break 2016, a bunch of my classmates and I traveled to France for a life experience. This February, two French exchange students traveled to America for a life-changing experience.

When I traveled to France last year, I was with a bunch of my closest friends and I felt comfortable. For Arthur Chochois and Nathan Durroux, things are a lot different. You might not recognize these two throughout the school, but that is because Arthur and Nathan are from Southern France. They arrived February 4 and will be staying for three weeks with families that hardly speak much French. Nathan is staying with the Dobriznyski family. Matthew who is a senior is taking French 4 and also traveled to France last year, and Steven is a sophomore and is currently in French 2. Arthur is staying with the Origer family. Patrick is also a sophomore and in French 2.

When I traveled to France I stayed with a family for only five days. I had two brothers, Thomas, who was one year younger than I was and Thibault who was 4 years younger than I am. For me, it felt kind of awkward because I was learning all these new things from people who were younger than me. For Nathan and Arthur, they are younger and learning cool American things from people who are older.  

I caught up with Matthew “Dobby” Dobriznyski to ask him what it’s like to host a student. He talked about how it is a lot of fun because you always learn from him.

“When I traveled to France I was on a short stay with a family that spoke little English. It was very nerve-racking and also very scary, but now I’m in the other shoes and I have to keep Nathan feeling comfortable,” said Dobriznyski. “Some days it’s hard but because I know what it’s like it makes it a lot easier.”