CSI

          Whenever we are not going on our field trips, we are spending our day at the Cité Scolaire International de Lyon (CSI)!

          First of all, the building and layout of CSI is very different than FCS' campus. The building is very industrial, with a curved layout and its main hallway looking as if it used to be a road. The roof and side walls of the school is composed mostly of windows, letting a lot of sunlight in, utlizing it as their main source of light. The school is also an international school, therefore they also have foreign students from countries such as England. There are many different sections regarding what type of program you can take, regarding and where you are from/what you plan to do.

          The school schedule: The schedules of the CSI students have very different layout than FCS does. Most students start school at 8:00 am-- some students come in later depending on what time their first class starts-- and they all end at 5:30pm. Unlike in the US, high school students in France already specify what kind of future they want to have-- language arts, history, sciences, etc-- and therefore are classed in different sections. There are many classes offered to the students. My correspondent takes 4 languages: French, English, Italian and German! Each class is 50 minutes long, and sometimes they can have double blocks, which result to 1 hr 40 min long classes.

          In addition, CSI is located in a very nice area. Being very close to the public transportation, whenever there is free time, the students are allowed to go out during their free time if they desire. They have been a couple of occasions when the FCS students have gone with CSI students to Confluence, a nearby shopping center, for lunch. It is only 2 metro stops away, only taking ~5 min each way--getting there and back-- which means that we have about ~35-40 min to enjoy ourselves!

-- Julianna and Jesse