A Tale of the Sister Cities: Thionville, France Meets Urbana, IL

The Thionville Students with the current Uni French 4 class (Juniors, class of 2025) Photo courtesy of Mme Lopez

Recently, Uni hosted twenty-two French high school students and three teachers from Lycée Charlemagne, a high school in Thionville, France. 

The Thionville students came for a ten-day visit to the sister city of Thionville: Urbana, Illinois. They arrived Saturday, Sept. 9, in Chicago where they explored the city before taking the train to Champaign-Urbana. Waiting for them were the seventeen Uni families hosting the students and teachers.

During their stay, the Thionville students had the chance to attend classes at Uni of their choosing. Many were interested in the classes that are not offered in their highschool, including: the Spanish and Japanese language classes, Studio Art, and the humanities courses such as Social Studies, Journalism, and Communications and Media. P.E. was also a popular choice, as their highschool’s program focuses on a particular sport for an extended period of time while Uni’s program allows students more freedom to create their own workout program. Margot Muller, a Thionville student, was especially excited about this new experience and attended a P.E. class everyday.

Outside of school, the students’ days were packed with adventures. They took a field trip to Springfield to visit the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, toured the UIUC campus, attended a Marching Illini practice, performed a song (which they wrote) at the Urbana Farmers Market with the Uni High Fiddle Club, and saw the local professional chamber orchestra, Sinfonia da Camera, perform Vive la France. 

Their teachers also made sure to allow the students some freedom to explore. On Wednesday evening after the Marching Illini practice, others went to a soccer game, but Muller, her friend Nael, and their teacher Mme Andrieux “went to downtown Urbana and listened to Brad Wheeler [local jazz musician] at the Rose Bowl Tavern.” 

For many of the Thionville students, this was their first time in the U.S. With so many sights to see and people to meet, their ten-day visit seemed almost too short. But Muller says that the experience itself, to have a chance to practice their English and immerse themselves in an English-speaking community, was the most meaningful. 

This was not just any visit to the U.S. Their trip was coordinated through a project by the Urbana Sister Cities Program, an organization that works to connect Urbana and its international sister cities. In 2021, Urbana volunteered to work with its sister city Thionville, initiating the exchange between Lycée Charlemagne and Uni. The students from the English and French language courses of the high schools have since communicated with each other through emails, letters, and text. 

The past French level four class, the current seniors, have been pen pals with the Thionville students since Fall 2022. The Thionville class had initially planned to visit in Spring 2023, but their trip was unfortunately canceled. The wait only made their arrival this week more meaningful, however. 

Finally having met her year-long pen pals from overseas, Anna Williams, a senior and graduate of the Uni French course, says, “It was so exciting to meet people in person who I had already considered my friends. I’m thankful that we could meet because at some point it didn’t seem possible.”