In this interview, we meet Jessi, an IB MP5 student at Ermitage International School who recently took part in our exchange programme in Scotland. With a deep passion for reading and travel, Jessi’s journey has taken her from Shenzhen to Paris, where she’s experiencing life as a boarding student at Ermitage. Jessi embarked on this exciting international exchange, immersing herself in the rich culture and academics of the prestigious Gordonstoun School. In this conversation, Jessi shares with us her transformative experiences, from navigating academic differences and discovering cultural surprises to reflecting on her personal growth as both an exchange student and a host. 

Scotland Unfolded: Lessons Beyond the Classroom

Could you briefly introduce yourself?

My name is Jessi, I’m 16 years old, and I’m an IB MYP5 student. I like reading and travelling. I’m Chinese and used to live and study in Shenzhen, China. Then I moved to Paris, where I studied at the International School of Paris for a year. After that, I transferred to Ermitage International School, and this is my first year here as a boarding student.

How was your experience in Scotland as an exchange student? 

I did an exchange with a Russian girl called Anastasia at Gordonstoun School in Moray. Everyone was really nice to me and helped me a lot with understanding the lessons. The school is big, and it’s easy to get lost, but whenever that happened, there was always someone to help me — I really appreciated that.

How do Ermitage Lycée and Gordonstoun School differ from each other?

I’m in IB MYP5, this is equivalent to Year 11 in the UK school system, but I mainly had classes with Year 12 students, so the programme was a year ahead of what I am currently learning at Ermitage. I had to choose three classes and I picked Maths, Chemistry and Biology. Likewise, I could also choose the sports I wanted to practice.

Then, the timetable at Gordonstoun is also quite different from Ermitage. We had to go to school from Monday to Saturday, and we went to church every morning except Tuesday, which was the equivalent of assembly. And on Tuesdays, we would go to the tutor classroom to work out any problems we were having with our studies. 

The teaching style is not very different from Ermitage's one. Each class is 60-minute long, and if I had some free time, I could go to the library or back to my boarding house for the rest of the day. However, there were two teachers for each class, and they taught different things. So, we would find out which teacher we would study with according to the schedule.

What did you like the most about the school, and what did you not like? 

I liked the food the most. For every meal, I had the choice between several dishes. For instance, for lunch, you could choose a sandwich, pasta, or something else. The food was fresh and good, and the canteen was spacious.

The one thing I didn’t like was the fact that the school was huge. It took me 10 minutes to walk from the boarding house to the canteen, and 15 minutes to reach my classes, so sometimes I was late.

What aspects of Scottish culture surprised you the most? 

Primary school boys wear kilts as part of their uniform even in near-freezing weather. This was the first time I saw boys wearing short skirts in real life.

I also went to Edinburgh with other exchange students to visit Edinburgh Castle, where we did some sightseeing. During the trip, I noticed that the streetscape in Scotland is quite different from France. It was a unique and wonderful experience to compare daily life and education in the two countries.

 

Did you taste any Scottish dish? If yes, which one is your favourite?

I tried the Scotland shortbread. It has a melt in mouth texture and a bit of sweetness. I usually had one after school, when I was starving. It was really nice!

What was your best memory of this experience?

My best memory is the trip to Edinburgh with the other exchange students. We took a five-hour train ride from Elgin to Edinburgh, then went to Edinburgh castle. We visited the oldest surviving building in the city - St Margaret’s chapel, and we learnt more about Scotland’s history. We had pizza for lunch and I bought a Loch Ness Monster ornament as a souvenir. It was a tiring but fulfilling day!

 

What skills or lessons did you learn that will benefit you in the future?

Overall, this experience gave me a new perspective of language-learning. I improved my communication skills. Scotland is quite different from France. Being in an English-speaking country helped me improve my English a lot, and I also learned new vocabulary. For instance, I found out that in Scotland, people often call a church a “chapel”, a word I had never heard before. 

From Maisons-Laffitte to the World: Hosting at Ermitage

Then, how was your overall experience as a host?

Being a host and showing someone around your school can be a wonderful experience: you start as strangers and end up as friends. It was a great opportunity to get to know my own school better. I know I still have some parts that need to be improved as a host, but I tried the best I could to serve. Overall, I am grateful that I joined the exchange program.  I would definitely like to host again, it’s a great way to meet someone new and learn new things.

If you could give advice to students considering an exchange programme, what would it be?

It’s a great opportunity to study for a short time in an unfamiliar country, but you need to arrange your homework and exams in the two weeks you are missing before joining the exchange programme so that you will not miss too much content.