Ilion High School - Class of 1974

Source pdf file is here Herkimer NY Evening Telegram 1974 00335.pdf on fultonhistory.com

Photo Caption - SOUVENIRS from France are displayed by Kathleen Morris, 17, foreign exchange student from Ilion High School who recently returned from France after a summer under the American Field Service Students Abroad program. From left, her mother, Mrs. Alfred Morris, holds a table cloth; Kathleen displays booties and a wall painting, her sister, Sheila, 15, holds a French doll. Absent from photo are her father and brother, Timothy, 10. The family resides at 396 Otsego St., Ilion.

Ilion Senior, 17 Finds Prices Ran High In France

By BOB KELDER

ILION - Gasoline at $1.20 per gallon?

Sirloin steak at $3 plus per pound?

Yes, these are everyday prices in France, according to Kathleen Morris, 17, Ilion high school senior who spent the summer in that country sponsored by the American Field Service Students Abroad program.

Kathleen said those were the high prices that struck her most forcefully in her five weeks in Lyon and four weeks in Bordeaux.

"But clothing followed close behind," said the dark, personable young student. "For instance, a girl's blouse that cost $2.50 here might cost $10 there."

Daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Morris, 396 Otsego St., Kathleen said fruits, vegetables, breads and other foods were priced much the same as in America. "I didn't notice much unemployment," she added, "most industries seem to be family-owned."

She stayed the first five weeks with the family of Robert Juillet, who owns a photo supply company in Lyon. Her companion was Christine Juillet, 14, and they lived at the family summer home about 12 miles outside Lyon.

"The countryside was beautiful, and the nearby farms supplied all the food we needed," Kathleen said. However, it was Mrs. Juillet who prepared the delicious dish that Kathleen can't forget.

"It’s called 'quiche' and is ham and eggs baked in a pie shell," Kathleen explained. enthusiastically.

Dominating her stay at the Juillet home, however, was her inability to communicate. "In spite of three years French in high school ... first three days all I did was nod and say 'yes'."

However, by the time she left for her four weeks with the Jacque Hordern family in Bordeaux, she was getting the hang of it. Kathleen said that her nine weeks in France taught her three times as much of the language as her formal schooling.

"That's because I had to speak French every day, and I lived like a French person." She even survived the 10-hour train trip to Bordeaux alone, the one time she was unaccompanied.

Bordeaux was a different scene, as the Jacque Hordern family lived within the big city. Hordern is in charge of a wine purifying factory. Kathleen said France is full of such factories, where farmers bring their wine to be purified in machines.

"Yes, I drank red table wine just like the family did, every day," grinned Kathleen. "The French dilute the wine with water so that it's not intoxicating."

Highlight of her stay in Bordeaux was side-trips with the Hordern family to Biarritz, a resort town near the Pyrenees Mountains, and to the Shrine at Lourdes, a 3 1/2 hour trip by car.

Kathleen, who is a Catholic, said she was much impressed by the grotto at Lourdes, where the Blessed Virgin is said to have appeared to three mountain children.

Summing up her nine weeks, Kathleen said her trip provided more enjoyment than her previous journey abroad, a two-week sojourn in Ireland with her family when she was 14.

"This time I really got to know the people," she explained. "It wasn't one big adventure, but I felt as if I belonged."