"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." - Philippians 4:13
My first day of school, and my 50th day in Germany, was on Tuesday 16 September and it was quite a difficult day for me. My head was spinning with all the German! I started out the day without a schedule and the secretary found a couple girls in my host sister’s class for me to follow around - my host sister is in America until Saturday! I was soon passed off to another student, who just happened to be one of my friends (plus he speaks English). I went to class with him for the first part of the day and then I was assigned to a grade and a class so I walked in in the middle of math class. |
German school is A LOT different than American school. Here are some examples:
- there’s no cafeteria and no lunch period
- on long school days (Monday and Thursday for me), there is however a “pause” in which students venture into the city to get food or purchase something small like a bakery item from the snack stand (for lack of a better term) at school
- there are short pauses between classes in which students eat their sandwiches or baked goods that they packed
- not only do students change classrooms for different classes, teachers change classrooms as well
- school lasts until 12:50 pm (it starts at 7:50 am) unless you have a “long day” - a long day typically lasts until 4 pm (I think)
- there is no guidance counselor so the secretary is your “go to” person
- I have six classes on normal days and nine classes on long days
- I have 15 different classes in all
- most students carry bags like purses or messenger bags instead of backpacks - after a week of carrying a purse-like bag, I broke down and bought a nice backpack
- I have 15 textbooks
- the “school bus” on my first day was a charter bus - since then, it’s been a commuter bus
- in the mornings, instead of saying the Pledge of Allegiance (that’s only America), students and the teacher stand and do the “Father, Son, Holy Spirit” thing (sorry I’m not sure what it is - I’m not Catholic)
- when a teacher is ready to begin class, the students stand and say hello all together before sitting down to start
- all students have a protractor and ruler at the ready for math class
- the classrooms have chalkboards and overheads - my religion teacher brought his own laptop and projector
- when a teacher is sick or unable to come to class, we don’t get substitues, we just don’t have class
- there is one month of Summer - meaning that there are a lot of holidays throughout the year
Today, my religion and history classes were canceled so I had more time to spend in the beautiful city of Passau! I went to eat at McDonalds (because I was missing home) but I couldn’t explain to the cashier that I wanted a cheeseburger plain - with ONLY cheese. She ended up giving me everything without cheese…. I need to work on my Deutsch. I then had time to visit the StadtGallerie (a mall) and H&M before my host mother and brother game to pick me up. I had Fußball Training Heute Abend [soccer practice this evening] so now I am completely exhausted from this wonderful week of “firsts!” Liebe Grüße, Lyndee |