Virus outbreak ends exchange visit early

The coronavirus outbreak has upended the lives of people all over the world.

For French foreign-exchange student Anna Christien, it upended hers in two worlds.

Anna came to Fredonia last September to live with the family of Mike and Liz Smith and attend Ozaukee High School for her senior year.

She got involved in sports such as volleyball, was looking forward to spring soccer, prom and commencement — something they don’t have in France — and became fast friends — “sisters” — with the Smiths’ daughter, Naomi, also a senior.

All that came to a crashing halt on March 24 while Anna and the Smiths were on vacation in Florida during spring break.

“Everything was perfect until my (exchange agency) sent me an email saying that I had to go back to France because of the (Covid-19) situation,” she wrote in an email Monday.

“I read the email to everyone. Me and my gorgeous sister Naomi started to cry. I wasn’t ready to leave. I’m not going to lie, it was really hard.”

It became even more difficult to accept when three days later Anna learned she had to leave that Sunday, March 29, before international flights would be canceled.

“Everything just went too fast,” she said.

They flew back to Wisconsin on Saturday, packed and said goodbye to friends and neighbors.

Saying goodbye to the Smiths “was the hardest thing ever,” Anna said. “Even saying goodbye to the dogs was hard.”

At 4 a.m. Sunday, Anna was headed to General Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee with Naomi and two friends.

“In front of the airport saying bye to my sister, Naomi, and two of my friends was the saddest moment I lived in America,” she said. “I didn’t want to leave the life I built in Wisconsin. It was just so hard and it was happening too early. I was supposed to leave June 9, not March 29.” 

Liz Smith said they and Anna had been in contact with Anna’s parents in France and the exchange agency earlier.

“At first we were told it was up to the parents if the child would go back. We were told she could stay,” Liz Smith said. “Then there was a change of policy that they would send all the kids back because they were concerned about international travel being shut down.” 

“It was very hard. She was very excited about being able to participate in the graduation ceremony because they don’t do high school graduation (in France). She was sorry to miss prom and was planning on playing soccer in the spring. That’s all gone.”

While the family had done some traveling with Anna, they had planned to visit Chicago, Wisconsin Dells and Door County and go to a Milwaukee Brewers baseball game.

“Now she’s missed all those things,” Liz Smith said.

In France, Anna is living under tighter restrictions than in Wisconsin.

“I’m in quarantine with both of my parents and my older sister,” she said. “We are following the quarantine’s rules: Not going outside for more than one hour per day. Not going outside farther than one kilometer (0.6 miles). Not more than one person in the same car.”

Only grocery stores and pharmacies are allowed to be open and only one family member can enter at a time.

The quarantine began April 14 and is scheduled to end May 11.

Anna also experienced tragedy due to the pandemic in the last week when an elderly family friend died from the virus.

“I felt yesterday the same pain that a lot of persons have felt during the last past weeks,” she said. “I think I realized for the first time how this virus can take our loved ones really fast. Nobody had the time to say goodbye. She died, alone, in her hospital room.”

Once Anna left, it didn’t take long for the Smiths to agree on what Naomi’s graduation present would be.

A trip to France.

“I’ll never forget the people that I met,” Anna said. “They changed my life. 

“This entire experience taught me that you can believe who you want and you can do what you want in your life. You just have to follow and believe in you and your dreams. I’m not the same person anymore. America opened my eyes about a lot of different things.”