Previous exchanges
March 2008. France - China exchange
In March 2008, a Culture Capsule exchange was organized between the French Jacques Feyder high school, located in Epinay-sur-Seine next to Paris, and the 21st Century Times Training Center in Beijing, China. When the idea to carry out a Capsule was introduced, the 27 students of the Jacques Feyder high school were preparing a 3 weeks field trip to China. They were thus enthusiastic about the project as it constituted a kind of introduction to their stay in the Middle Kingdom. Notably, Hélène le Bail, a French China expert and member of ASEFUAN, came to the classroom in order to give some elements on Chinese culture and history to the pupils.
The French Capsule was organized thanks to the assistance of Sylvère Baron, English teacher at the Jacques Feyder high school. Chinese students at the 21st Century Times Training Center, an English language school, were very much involved in the preparation of their Capsule. They were eager to communicate with pupils from Jacques Feyder high school with the hope that they all would be able to meet in China. Thanks to the help of Frank Wei Dong and Kelly, a beautiful Capsule was sent to France. Due to the busy schedule of the French pupils as they were visiting China, a meeting between the 2 classes was not possible in the end but strong links of friendship were established between pupils of the 2 countries.
Echo From France, by the students of Jacques Feyder high school,
Epinay-sur-Seine, France
We are the 27 students from your partner class in the Jacques Feyder high school, located in Epinay-sur-Seine, next to Paris. We are between 15 and 18 years old. We are glad to send you this Culture Capsule and we hope you will enjoy opening and discovering it as much as we enjoyed preparing it! We are a multicultural class. Here are the countries to which some of us are related through our familial origins. Also, some of us were born in these countries: - Tunisia - Morocco - Algeria - Ivory Coast - Mauritania - Ghana - Turkey - Mali - Democratic Republic of Congo - Italy - Haiti - Sri Lanka. Though we now live in France and some of us have become French citizens, we remain strongly attached to these countries. Just read our letters and look at our drawings and you will understand!
As we are originally from many different countries, items included in the Capsule come from many different places and not only France. In the Culture Capsule, you will find:
- A CD-ROM with music we like to listen to.
- Another CD-ROM with pictures from our school and from the view one of us has from her apartment (you can even see the Eiffel Tower!).
- The English textbook of Christian. Do you do the same exercices?
- An issue of a French Black fashion magazine entitled “Miss Ebene”.
- A wooden frame with a small statue of an elephant that comes from Ivory Coast, a country famous for its elephants!
- An issue of “Le Parisien”, a famous daily newspaper that is sold in Paris and its suburb.
- A box of “President” camembert… Do you like cheese? Camembert is the most famous kind of French cheese, but there are many other kinds!
- A small iron box that was made in Morocco. You can place any small items you want inside it!
- A box in which you can store money… it has the picture of a 50 Euro bill on it!
- An object in glass that looks like grapes. It comes from Turkey, where it is said to bring good luck.
- A ticket of Paris’ subway (it is purple).
- Two key holders with the Eiffel Tower!
- A Mickey Mouse badge… Do you know that the only Disneyland in Europe in located in Paris’ suburb?
- A white necklace… it looks like ivory, but it isn’t, one shouldn’t kill elephants anymore.
- A wristband with white, blue, orange and green bids.
- A little painting with some French monuments and symbols… one of us is an artist!
- A tube of Harissa, a spice from Algeria. Do you like spicy food?
It was a great pleasure to gather those items and to write letters for the Capsule. Now, we look forward to meet you in Beijing. Merci beaucoup et a bientot! (Thanks a lot and see you soon)
Pupils from the partner class at the Jacques Feyder high school
Echo From China by Kelly, teacher at 21st Century Times Training Center,
Beijing, China
Dear all,
I’m Kelly, coordinator of 2008 France-China Cultural Capsule program. As the world is becoming connected more closely, various cultural exchange programs are available for people to communicate with friends from afar. But still, we find Cultural Capsule one the most interesting programs for its unique design and friendly essence.
It’s the first time that CC extends its network to China, and all program members certainly maneuvered to make it happen. The children are so excited about opening the parcel to find out what their French friends have prepared for them! All items are well selected, each reflecting a part of the daily life of common French youngsters.
In return, the Chinese children offered back their warmest invitation to their new friends by sending souvenirs of the Olympics together with a letter describing teenage life in China. Enclosed was also a contact list of all Chinese class members – there are over 20 of them – including names, addresses, emails and phone numbers to make it easier for them to keep in touch with each other.
We really hope participants of CC program between France and China can actually meet in person and talk freely face to face. To make it even more meaningful, family-visit and home-stay may also be great options and we do plan to try it out when we organize the second CC exchange in the future. The Chinese pupils are longing for visiting France and other European countries if possible. It’s such a pleasure for us to learn that we may realize this wish by registering on CC website and by the help from our friends within the organizing team like Romain and many others. After all, it’s the Cultural Capsule exchange program brought us together which will surely attract much more new blood to share the joy with!
February 2007. Indonesia - France exchange
The Indonesia-France Culture Capsule exchange was organized between two junior high schools, one in the city of Paris and the second in Jakarta.
The visit of the ASEFUAN members in the participating classes gave them the opportunity to introduce the involved students with the partner country. The ASEFUAN member first showed a map of Asia, located Indonesia and Jakarta with the help of the children and said a few words about the population, culture and religion of Indonesia. Then the teacher organised a question session : the pupils asked as many questions as they wanted. Finally we organized the work to create a photo album that we would send to the Indonesian partner with the personal letters. It was decided in advance with the ASEFUAN partner in Indonesia that each school would send a photo album which depicts their everyday life environment : the classroom, the school, the streets, the shops where they go everyday, the playgrounds, the house/building where they live, a lunch or a dinner at home, etc.
The ASEFUAN member provided the teacher with a camera and the children where given the responsability of one or two picks each. It was very interesting since they really had to think about what was special in their everyday life even if it seemed to be so common for them.
The two parcels were sent at the same time and opened simultaneously in each class. On both sides, letters and photos have been a source of surprise. On the French side, pupils discovered that Indonesia was mainly a muslim country (the partner school in Indonesia was a muslim school). On the Indonesian side, the children may have discover the ethnic diversity of Paris (except for four or five pupils all the children were of foreign origins).
The teacher of the Class in Paris commented her experience in the Culture Capsule project: I really appreciated to participate in a Culture Capsule exchange for it was very beneficial culturally and linguistically for my pupils (fisrt grade of junior high school). For these pupils, who just started learning english, to write a personnal letter was not as easy as they thought it would be, but they were very enthousiastic. I was myself surprised by the resources they gathered. They were particulary motivated by the creation of a photo album that depicted their universe at school and in their famillies. And, when the parcel from Indonesia arrived, they were delighted. The opportunity to open a window to another culture really helps when learning a foreign language : the students found themselves in a situation of real communication which is often lacking in english classes. Anne Duchene, English teacher, Charles Peguy junior High school, Paris)
March 2003. South Korea - France exchange
The Korea-France Culture Capsule exchange was organized between two primany schools, one in the city of Nantes in France and the second in South Korea.
The visit of the Asefuan members in the participating classes gave them the opportunity to introduce the involved students with the partner country. At that time, French children still reminded South Korea performance during the world cup. Korea was popular and children were eager to learn more about that country.
After a time of workshop in groups about Korean culture and society, the Asefuan member gathered in a postal box all the letters, pictures and items to be sent to the Korean pupils. With the cooperation of the English teacher, children had written very simple letters with their name, hobbies, number of sisters and brothers, etc. The French class partner had the particularity to be located close to a refugies residence. Thus, most of the children had foreign origins. To participate in an exchange with a foreign country was an opportunity for them to define themselves as French as well as to express their double cultural belonging.
Before the visit of the Asefuan member, the teacher was provided with a camera and asked the pupils to take photos of their everyday life : in their families, at school or on the playground were they meet after school. Together, they organised and commented the photos for the Korean childrens.
Finally, they were ask to bring one item representative of their country or city. That was probably the most difficult part of the project since they had to think about what in their way of life or in everyday environment may be different from a Korean pupil way of life and environment.
The box was closed and sent to the Korean school. Koreans pupils did the same at the same time and two weeks later, the children could open their parcel with the teacher. Each one got a letter and the small « gift » included with it. The teacher commented the items and the photos received : photos showed Korean children in school uniform or family seating on the floor for lunch. Inevitably the Korean class was much more homogeneous than the French one. In fact, photos are a good way to introduce children with another country everyday life.