TRIAUCOURT EN SEIUL D'ARGONNE, FRANCE -- I've been in France for a month now, but it seems like so much longer than that. The school days don't go by as slow as they did three weeks ago, as my brain is slowly coming to terms with the fact that I must adapt the way I hear spoken communication or pass away like the setting sun.

In the coming editions of my letters home, I will attempt to speak about some of the similarities and the stark differences that I have encountered and experienced -- besides the language, of course.

Similarities and differences

As I was first becoming acquainted with the French culture -- the food, the language, family life, etc. -- it was important to find something that I was familiar with in this strange, new land. I found it: Coca-Cola!

My previous experience in a foreign country with this truly American staple was in the Southeast Asian country of Malaysia in the winter of 1996. There, the Coke was not the "classic" type in the states, but a failed attempt by Coke promoters for a new taste. It can only to be compared to picking up someone else's drink and expecting orange juice but drinking water instead.

But I found in France, which seems to try to be as American as possible for some reason, that the desired beverage is the same. In Europe, there seems to be quite a monopoly on the motorized vehicle market that I can only compare to that of Microsoft's domain in the software business. There are three main companies that have a hold on France's car fancy: Renault, Citroën and Peugoet. All the others fall by the wayside, including the likes of BMW, Toyota and Volkswagen.

This could be seen as either a similarity or a difference in the sense that there are only three main makes of vehicles in France, or that there is a dominance like in the U.S. with Chevrolet, Ford, Jeep/ Eagle/Pontiac, Toyota, Mazda, etc.

School life

My previous account of the high school system in France was a little off base. I was correct in that it is a block type schedule and in the starting and ending dates.

Although there are two or three classes specific to a career pathway, there also are optional classes such as Histoire des Arts (Art History) and Italian.

The typical school day starts off at 5:30, as the Europeans go by a 24-hour-based time system, and I catch the bus at around 6:30. After an hour's bus ride through the French countryside picking up other students in towns like mine -- population 400 -- I finally arrive at the lycée in Bar-le-Duc. The buses are typical of the city bus system in St. Louis.

There are several breaks in the 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. school day when there are one-hour holes in the block schedule for certain days of the week.

Au revoir!

Lincoln is a graduate of Central High School and is studying abroad through a Rotary International exchange program.