Humble Rotary Youth Exchange student discusses Kingwood experience
By Melanie Feuk | Posted: Friday, December 4, 2015 12:45 pm
 

Humble Rotary Youth Exchange student discusses Kingwood experience

By Melanie Feuk | Posted: Friday, December 4, 2015 12:45 pm
 

Humble Rotary Youth Exchange student discusses Kingwood experience

Gwendal Raoult is an exchange student from France who came here in August as a part of the Rotary Youth Exchange program. He spoke about his experiences at the Humble Rotary on Wednesday, Dec. 2.
 
In August, the Humble Rotary Club welcomed two exchange students as a part of their Rotary Youth Exchange program: Gwendal Raoult from France and Winnie Lee from Taiwan.
 
Now, after becoming familiar with life in Texas and the Kingwood area for almost four months, Raoult was eager to relay his experiences to the Humble Rotary Wednesday, Dec. 2.
 
“My sister was an exchange student as well,” Raoult said. “She showed me all of these pictures. I was always asking her about the American culture. I wanted to see it with my own eyes. I’m always impressed by what I see here, the huge malls, the cars.
 
“When I was in France before I came here, I was so happy every day thinking about coming to the US. Being able to come here was my main motivation to do well in school. I really enjoy being here now. I’m having a lot of fun. I couldn’t believe that everyone was as generous as they have been. This is a beautiful thing.”
Raoult is from Jarnac Champagne, which is a small city with vast vineyards and a scenic French country landscape, which he described as calm and peaceful.“Before I came here, my host mother said that Kingwood was a small city,” Raoult said. “Coming from a small city, I was impressed by the size of Kingwood, which is actually pretty big.”
 
Kingwood and shopping centers are not the only things that Raoult found impressively sizeable. As an avid eater, Raoult found the ample portions of American cuisine suited his healthy appetite.
“I eat a lot,” Raoult said. “On my second day here, we went to Fudrucker’s. American burgers are huge. People here tend to go to restaurants a lot. In France, I’d go to a restaurant maybe once every couple of months. Here’s it’s like: pizza, burgers, burgers, pizza. I love it.
 
“Also, when I ordered a large coke here, which I expected like 20 ounces, and they gave me 44 ounces. I was like, ‘What is this? I ordered a coke, not a swimming pool.’ And you can refill (it.) People finish the coke and can go get more. I was impressed.”
 
Raoult is also a car enthusiast. He explained that in France, the cars are relatively small, which was not necessarily a good match for his tall stature.“French cars are much smaller,” Raoult said. “I had trouble cramming in. Then I came here and saw trucks and Ford Mustangs everywhere. I was like, ‘Look, that’s a Camero; that’s a Mustang.’ I’m still impressed by all the cars here.“Also, in France you have to wait until your eighteenth birthday to drive a car, so when I’d have to drive somewhere I had to rely on my parents. They were not always happy to drive me everywhere because gas is really expensive. Here, gas is so inexpensive; it’s like buying water.”
 
As far as adjusting to Kingwood High School, Raoult expressed relief at the length of school days in the US.
“In France, I’d wake up to go to school at 6 a.m. and spend the entire day there until 5 p.m.,” Raoult said. “It’s a lot of work. In the US, school is really cool because you’re out by 2:45 p.m. and then you can spend time hanging out with friends.”
 
Raoult has been instrumental in recruiting candidates for the Rotary’s outbound exchange program and finding host families in Kingwood High School. He is extremely grateful to his host family, Kim and James Davitt, and is looking forward to the rest of his experience in the US.
Humble Rotary’s other exchange student, Winnie Lee, will have the opportunity to share her story at a meeting in January.
 
For more information, visit www.humblerotary.com.