Christine’s Day 1. WHAT Breakfast: She eats two croissants, NZ students do not eat croissants for breakfast, probably more as a treat or at a café Lunch: She eats at the school cantine, NZ students take a packed lunch. While she is able to eat a full 3-course meal, NZ students would just have a sandwich or something light Dinner: She doesn’t say what she eats, but I assume it is a large meal as it is quite late at night and she’d be hungry

1. WHEN Breakfast is pretty much the same as NZ students (i.e. before leaving for school), but probably a bit earlier than NZ students because she has to leave early Lunch is earlier for her, at midday, but she has two hours in which to eat it. NZ students are more rushed for lunch Dinner is very late, much later than NZ students. She eats only at about 20h30, whereas NZ students probably eat between 18h00 and 19h00.

2. It takes her about an hour to get to school. She leaves the house at 06h55 and gets to school just before 08h00. I think it takes this long because she lives in the countryside about 10km from town. The bus ride would be slow and they would probably pick up passengers on the way in, although an hour does seem a long time to go 10km! She doesn’t actually say what time the bus picks her up, maybe she gets to the bus stop very early.

3. Her periods are longer, each is 55 minutes whereas ours are between 35 and 45 mins long. Their interval is much shorter, just 10 minutes, whereas we have 25 minutes. Lunchtime is earlier (12h00) and much longer (2 hours). She finishes later too, at 16h00. She says that on Wednesdays she plays volleyball and does athletics after lessons, so it sounds like she finishes earlier on a Wednesday, maybe at lunchtime. Our schooldays are all the same length.

4. I think Christine gets a lot of homework. She spends an hour after school doing homework in the library and then more time (not specified) in the evening still doing homework. If we assume she gets home at about 18h00 (an hour for the bus), reads or plays the piano for an hour (til 19h00), then she would do about an hour and a half of homework before dinner at 20h30.

5. Yes, she leads a very healthy lifestyle. She does not eat dessert or drink coffee, both of which are not healthy. Orange juice and croissants for breakfast, a salad and a main course for lunch are probably all healthy options as French canteens serve healthy food. Perhaps eating so late at night may not be healthy. She also does physical activity on a Wednesday, playing volleyball and doing athletics

5. She also has other interests, reading and piano, and she doesn’t watch TV. TV can be a waste of time and not very educational. Mentally and emotionally she is healthy; she helps around the house (clearing the table) without complaint, does her homework every day (so she is not stressed) and has friends with whom she shares s. However, she only gets at most 7 hours of sleep a night – this is not enough for a girl in year 11.