Seven French students decided to forego Bastille Day celebrations en la patrie last month, in favor of spending three weeks to acquaint themselves with American culture.

Loisirs Culturels A l'Etranger - Cultural Endeavor Abroad - is a foreign exchange program that brings English-speaking students from France to the United States, where for three weeks they live with host families, participate in and learn about the American way of life. The French-based program made its way for the first time this summer to central New York, thanks to the efforts of Weedsport High School French teacher Melissa Brown.

“I want to bring the French language and culture closer to my students,” said Brown, whose first exposure to Loisirs came when she taught at West Genesee High School in Syracuse. To be sure, American and French teens saw they shared more in common than not; the perceived differences allowed for the most learning on both sides.

“I want to become more open-minded like them,” said Ryann Lamphere at a barbecue one Weedsport host family held on a recent sunny Sunday in honor of the students. The 17-year-old was alluding to her guests' attitudes about excursions to the beach, the mall, Niagara Falls, amusement parks, baseball and basketball games. Lamphere's family hosted two students, Anne Crosiner, 17 and Cyrielle Sanchez, 16.

“Americans know how to have fun,” said Sanchez admiringly. Sanchez, a petite blonde with a penchant for wearing quirky eye makeup and slightly mismatched earrings, said she also got to attend a lot of pool parties - something she described as foreign to French culture.

“Americans are outside a lot; they don't stay in the house,” she said.

Attitudes about food were among the most notable differences between cultures. Some Americans marveled at the French approach to meals; some French were dumbstruck at American supermarkets' abundance of choice, people's routine consumption of fast food and of course, portion sizes. One American parent admired her guest's fork-and-knife approach to a slice of pizza.

“French people don't eat with their hands,” said Sue Ryan, whose daughter Laura befriended Gabrielle Redde, from Paris. Both girls are 17. “They take time to taste their food.”

Ample repasts aside, young French guests like Damien Caliandro reveled in the bounty of American life, admiring people's “big cars and big houses.” Anne Crosnier backed him up.

“Everything is huge - the food, the houses...” she said. Sue Ryan didn't see it exactly the same way.

“We needed more space,” she said, thinking of her three relatively grown children - all home for at least the summer. Ryan's sewing room doubled as a bedroom for three weeks. Still, the students spoke besottedly of homes that seemed palatial and other extras Americans may occasionally take for granted.

Comparing his school - located in Haudrecy, a 60,000 population city in northern France - to Weedsport High School, Caliandro said, “My lycee is not very big and there is no pool.”

Prior to this, his first visit to the United States, most of Caliandro's ideas about American culture came from the movies. The raunchy “American Pie” was the only one, at the moment, that came to mind. Films portraying a sex-fueled American culture apparently served as reference points for several young visitors. It only took a trip to the beach, though, to disabuse one young woman of that misconception.

Gabrielle Redde was dismayed when, on a trip to the Jersey Shore, the Ryans put down their collective feet at expectations she'd change into her swimsuit right on the sand.

“She told us how contradictory (Americans) are and told us, 'in movies, you have more love-making, but you can't change on the beach,'” Sue Ryan said.

For the most part, participants delighted in each other's differences. Of course, moments arose when life was not all Brie and Chardonnay, but parents sensibly put minor flare-ups down to the typical frustrations - slowness to pick up after oneself, for example - their own children might present.

“Kids are the same all over - they're just teenagers, Kim Ciupylo said. ”All of them have quirks.“

The program is nonacademic in tone, setting it apart from most other student exchange programs - a positive because it allowed the French students to immerse themselves in the American lifestyle, but a challenge for some families who felt obligated to structure summer days that normally invite loose time.

Families generally enjoyed positive experiences; Brown said she hopes to develop the inaugural Weedsport program, and bring it back again next year.

“It's the next best thing to traveling overseas,” she said.

Ryann Lamphere agreed.

“France comes here, instead of your spending so much money to go there,” she said, adding that she made every effort to practice speaking French with her guests.

“They learn, but you learn too,” she said.

And isn't that what a cultural exchange program is all about?

Staff writer Olivia Goldberg can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 235 or at olivia.goldberg@lee.net