RUMFORD — Adele Barreau and Bathilde Beteille were surprised when they arrived at Mountain Valley High School from their native France how much the students like their school. They also like the sense of school spirit here, they said.

“In France, everyone hates school,” said Bathilde, 15, who is among eight foreign exchange students attending the local high school this school year.

She hopes to eventually attend college in the United States, perhaps in the field of international relations.

All eight of the foreign students at MVHS like how U.S. schools combine academics and extracurricular activities. At their homes — in France, Germany, South Korea, China, Denmark and the Czech Republic — school is academics and if students want to take part in a sport or club, they must carve out other times to join what may be offered in their cities.

“We just study and go home,” Jan Fillies, 16, of Germany, said.

He played on the MVHS soccer team, and plans to participate in cross-country and downhill skiing this winter.

Adele, 17, looks forward to playing softball, a sport that isn’t offered in France. Marek Rakous, 17, of the Czech Republic, wants to play baseball, and Yae Reem Lee, 16, of South Korea, went out for cheering this fall. Others have or want to go out for the tennis team, golf, soccer or field hockey.

Yae began her foreign exchange experience last January, so will leave Mountain Valley later this month. She plans to return to the United States in February to begin a second year in the United States as an exchange student at neighboring Telstar High School in Bethel.

Robin Baxmann, 16, of Germany, was surprised that everything was so big in this country — the cars and trucks, the supermarkets and stores.

In his country, the stores are small and each offers specific items.

For Yuqi Zhang, 16, China, the area landscape was similar to back home, she said, with lots of trees and cows in the road, but the students in school were far different from those at home. In the U.S., students can wear what they want, and do pretty much what they want. In China, everyone has to dress the same, wear their hair similarly, and adhere to very strict rules.

She, like many others at Mountain Valley this year, wants to go to college in the United States.

All agreed that people in the River Valley area are very nice and friendly. However, most of the young people come from cities where public transportation is available so they can go where they want, or they can ride their bicycles because everything is so close.

Simon Jensen, 16, Denmark, said he has to rely on the his host family to go anywhere.

Jan was surprised at the number of hunters in this area, and how easily most people can get guns. In Germany, hunting is rare and the process for getting a permit to hunt or get a gun is long and complicated.

All eight had already learned some English at their respective schools because English is important to learn, they said. But living in the U.S. for a year is giving each one a chance to improve their use of the language.

The school’s assistant principal, Chris Decker, said inviting foreign students to MVHS is good for the local students.

“I marvel at the societies they come from compared with us. Some are similar, but others are vastly different,” he said. “Some students come from much more closed societies.”

Principal Matt Gilbert said the exchange students have adapted well to being at Mountain Valley.

“They have strong host families,” he said.

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