I was planning on doing this post soon, anyway, but I recently received a comment asking about school. So, here goes!
The school I attend now is called IGS-Osterholz-Scharmbeck. IGS stands for Integrierte Gesamtschule. It's a combination of the German Haupt-, Real- and Gymnasialempfehlung. These three schooling types are for students of different career goals and scholarly capabilities. It's a bit of a complicated system to explain (even for some Germans). So, I'm not going to get into that. I will say that I am attending the Oberstufe, which is a parallel to Gymnasium, but is less challenging and is grades 11-13 instead of 10-12. In my grade, everyone stays in the same classroom (except for choice classes like art, music, religion and foreign language), together with what can be called your "homeroom class". The teachers go from room to room.
Now for my classes. I have 12 subjects: English, German, French, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Math, Geography, Religion, Gym, Art, and Music. I have some classes four hours per week, and some only two. None of my classes are everyday, which is nice.
English:
Easy. Easy, easy, easy. I'm glad it's so easy, though. It's the one class where I always understand what's going on, what the homework is, and what we're talking about. Right now, we're doing too terribly simple work, but in comparison, it's like lying on the beach.
German:
This isn't too terrible. I don't always understand, especially when doing group discussions, but I have people I can go to. I understand most of the assignments, and my teacher is really nice and always willing to help me if I need it. The other day, we had to write an analyzation of a conversation in a text. We turned in our papers and got them back today. My teacher said that, apart from the grammar and such, my paper was the best. Äääh?!* In German? Crazy!
French:
This one isn't too bad. I can't pronounce more than a fourth of the words, but it's going*. It actually helps me a bit to learn vocabulary for German. My teacher is also nice. So, that helps.
Biology:
What can I say? It's pretty much the same wherever you are, it seems. We've looked at onion cells, elodea leaves, talked about evolution and adaptation... So far, it's going well. I only have this once a week, and the teacher is always ready to make sure I get what's going on and see if I need help. He even gave me a tissue when I was sniffling in class (which is nice, but a bit much at the same time).
Chemistry:
This actually isn't too bad. The teacher's nice (even if she keeps forgetting I'm an exchange student), and things are coming back to me (thanks Mrs. Solie!). However, I guess I need to relearn the elements. The symbols are all the same, which helps, but (most of) the actual names are different. For example, hydrogen is Wasserstoff, oxygen is Sauerstoff and sodium is Natrium. Luckily, for some of the ones that are really different from English, the names fit the symbols better (like Natrium = Na). Hopefully, I learn them soon!
Physics:
Again, not too bad, in theory. However, there's a reason I never took it in the States. I didn't want another math class. No one gets what's going on or what they need to do. So, at least I'm not the only one.
Math:
Easy. This is all stuff I've had before. The only thing that's hard getting used to different ways of writing equations, numbers and such. For example, Point (2,4) is Punkt (2/4). Two-thousand in numbers is 2.000. Fractions are almost always decimals, and written so 3,142. Other than that, I'm getting along just fine. Plus, everyone seems to like this teacher, and are in a good mood, which helps.
Geography:
Not the easiest class to understand. A lot of looking at maps, reading text and class discussion. The teacher's nice, though, and I'm able to follow along fairly well. I think I'll be fine here.
Religion:
This is pretty okay. It's not Bible-study, which is nice. It's more learning about what relgion is and what it means, which is actually pretty interesting. I don't understand 100% of what's going on, but I can follow along pretty well. My teacher is really nice and seems to actually be interested in if I'm understanding well and how I'm doing. Always a plus! I believe this is going to be changed for history next semester, though.
Gym:
Ugh... Gym... I only have it Mondays, but I hate it. They have something like the pacer test, but we have to run a certain number of kilometers in 12 minutes. For my gender and age, I believe it's 2.4-2.6km. Maybe that's not really that much, but for someone who's not a runner, it sucks. And we actually train for it in class. This gym class is not like in the States where we could just get changed everyday and do some sort of movement and pass. No, this is real gym class. We train for standardized tests. We learn how to proper do a high-jump. It can be fun, but it's tiring at the same time.
Art:
I like this class, and I don't. It's definitely not like my class in the States. We're working on writing an analysis of a painting. I'd much rather be working on my own painting, but I'm sure that will come later.
Music:
I've never really been a fan of music class. However, this isn't too bad. Even though I can't really sing and I don't know how to play an intrument, it's going well. My teacher can speak English, and he's really nice. I believe one of his kids had gone on or wanted to go on exchange to the USA. I haven't had too many hours of this class, but I think I'm going to like it.
Politics:
I know this wasn't in the first list, but that's because I don't have it anymore. I've dropped this class. I couldn't understand a thing, and the teacher had no interest in me. Those two things combine to make a class really not enjoyable. So, now I have two extra hours free to go into town for a bit or work on homework. I think that's a good trade-off.
I think that's enough for this post. If you have any other questions regarding school or any other topic, or if you have suggestions on what I can compare, drop a comment!
Also, to Kaylee and anyone else wondering, I'm living in a small town in Niedersachsen (Lower Saxony), just outside Bremen.
*These are either habits I'm picking from the Germans, or expressions I don't know how to say in English, so I just directly translate.
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Busy, Busy
Everything's going well, and I've been kept fairly busy with a combination of school, homework, going out with friends, and spending time with my hostfamily. Don't get me wrong. I have some downtime, too, which is great. I like being able to take a break from it all, but keeping busy helps to keep me from missing America and everyone there too much. So, I'm up for anything!
Last week Sunday, the 18th, I went with my hostparents and hostbrother to Bremen. There was this bike rally to gain support for and encourage more people to bike rather than drive cars. It was pretty cool. There were over 2000 of us, of all ages. We rode through a designated route through Bremen and up and down on-ramps to the highways. The only part I didn't like was when we had to ride really slowly because there were so many of us trying to round a curve or go up a hill. I guess I just don't have quite the skills to be confident riding so slowly! You can find some pictures on my 365 Photo Project.
On this past Saturday, I went with some friends to Bremen to shop. One of them was an exchange student from Spain. She was the first person I talked to at school, and she's really nice. It was fun to spend time with her. We went to this one shop called Die Perlerie im Schnoor. It's this little shop near the old part of Bremen that sells various beads. You can either buy pre-made jewelry, or make your own bracelet. We went for the self-made kind. It was a lot of fun trying to figure out just the perfect combination, and it took a while, but I had fun. After that, we went to Starbucks. It was either the second or third I've seen in all of Germany, and my first time in one since long before I left. It was strange to have everything in German, but it all tasted just as good. Then I went home (after being there for 8 hours), had dinner and baked muffins for Sunday.
On Sunday, there was a fall meeting with YFU. All the exchange students in the Bremen area came and brought a food from their homeland (my muffins had cranberries, which are a product of Wisconsin!). We also had delivery pizza, but everything I had was good! Of course, we didn't just eat while we were there. We also talked about how things are going with our families, school and making friends (in German). Afterward, I had to stay for 2 extra hours. It wasn't too bad because there was a former exchange student who waited there with me. We talked the whole time. In German. Yeah, I'm pretty proud of myself!
Yesterday, after school, my hostmom and I went to Osterholz-Scharmbeck to visit the Herbstmarkt going on. It was like a mini version of a county fair. There were animals (sheep, horses, chickens, etc), rides (merry-go-round, bumper cars), games, foodstands and booths. It was nice and felt familiar. My hostmom and I ate these sort of pancake-ball things with butter and powdered sugar. They come from Holland and were delicous! We also had icecream, which is always good. We weren't there for too long. My hostmom had to go to a parent night at my hostbrother's school, but it was enough. It was a fun thing to see.
In my next post, I'll talk more about school. For now, I think this is enough of an update. Keep making suggestions for what topics I should use for my comparison post!
Bis später!
Last week Sunday, the 18th, I went with my hostparents and hostbrother to Bremen. There was this bike rally to gain support for and encourage more people to bike rather than drive cars. It was pretty cool. There were over 2000 of us, of all ages. We rode through a designated route through Bremen and up and down on-ramps to the highways. The only part I didn't like was when we had to ride really slowly because there were so many of us trying to round a curve or go up a hill. I guess I just don't have quite the skills to be confident riding so slowly! You can find some pictures on my 365 Photo Project.
On this past Saturday, I went with some friends to Bremen to shop. One of them was an exchange student from Spain. She was the first person I talked to at school, and she's really nice. It was fun to spend time with her. We went to this one shop called Die Perlerie im Schnoor. It's this little shop near the old part of Bremen that sells various beads. You can either buy pre-made jewelry, or make your own bracelet. We went for the self-made kind. It was a lot of fun trying to figure out just the perfect combination, and it took a while, but I had fun. After that, we went to Starbucks. It was either the second or third I've seen in all of Germany, and my first time in one since long before I left. It was strange to have everything in German, but it all tasted just as good. Then I went home (after being there for 8 hours), had dinner and baked muffins for Sunday.
On Sunday, there was a fall meeting with YFU. All the exchange students in the Bremen area came and brought a food from their homeland (my muffins had cranberries, which are a product of Wisconsin!). We also had delivery pizza, but everything I had was good! Of course, we didn't just eat while we were there. We also talked about how things are going with our families, school and making friends (in German). Afterward, I had to stay for 2 extra hours. It wasn't too bad because there was a former exchange student who waited there with me. We talked the whole time. In German. Yeah, I'm pretty proud of myself!
Yesterday, after school, my hostmom and I went to Osterholz-Scharmbeck to visit the Herbstmarkt going on. It was like a mini version of a county fair. There were animals (sheep, horses, chickens, etc), rides (merry-go-round, bumper cars), games, foodstands and booths. It was nice and felt familiar. My hostmom and I ate these sort of pancake-ball things with butter and powdered sugar. They come from Holland and were delicous! We also had icecream, which is always good. We weren't there for too long. My hostmom had to go to a parent night at my hostbrother's school, but it was enough. It was a fun thing to see.
In my next post, I'll talk more about school. For now, I think this is enough of an update. Keep making suggestions for what topics I should use for my comparison post!
Bis später!
Monday, September 12, 2011
Krankheit
Since Friday, I've had a bit of a cold. It sucks, but I'm surviving. Hopefully, I'll get over it soon.
On Saturday, my hostsister and I went to this mall in Bremen called Waterfront (yes, it has an English name). It's pretty cool. It sits right along the Weser and is in the shape of a triangle. It was fun to spend a bit of time with my hostsister, and I bought some new clothes, which is always nice. However, part of the way there was not so fun.
The weather was pretty warm that day, and for part of the trip, we had to ride the bus. The bus was packed with nowhere to sit. It even warmer than outside and had no fresh air. I had to hold on to handles on either side just to not fall because there was a lot of starting and stopping and sharp turns. Eventually, that all got to me. It started to be a bit hard to see, hear and concentrate. Thankfully, my hostsister looked after me and got me into a more open area. Once we got off the bus and onto the street train where I could sit, things got better. I'm really glad my hostsister was there to help me (Danke!)!
On Sunday, my hostparents and I went to this nearby town where there was a small festival going on. This festival was showing how life was like living on the moor. It was really pretty interesting. There were some reconstructed buildings from the time and a lot of artifacts, too. There were also demonstrations of how some work was done then (washing clothes, smithing, baking, etc). Under the main tent, live music was being played. The whole atmosphere of it reminded me so much of our little Oktoberfest. I'm a bit sad I have to miss that this year, but I think getting the chance to live in Germany for a year is worth it!
Sunday night, I skyped with my family in the States. They were at my grandma's place. It was such a nice surprise to get to see her again! I had fun catching up with them, and it was nice to see that not too much has changed, yet. However, I did notice that it was kind of hard to think of how to say something in English. A couple of times, I thought of the reply in German first, couldn't figure out how to say it in English, and just went with the literal translation. I don't think they really noticed.
Today, I stayed home from school. A combination of a bit of homesickness, being sick and really not wanting to do gym (which has so far involved just a ton of running) when it's already hard to breathe made me really not want to go in. My hostmom was really understanding, which helped a lot. After I had breakfast, she took me on a walk to the postoffice. We took a path through a small woods and a field or two. Along the way, she helped to clarify some German grammar. She also told me I don't have a strong American accent, which is always nice to hear. After the postoffice, we bought some pastries, took a look at the town's cemetary (which is really different from any I've seen), and then headed home. We ate our pastries and then I listened to and read along with a children's audio book. After that, we ate lunch, and now I'm resting up a bit before dinner. Things are looking good!
I had the thought to either do a comparison between either Germany as a whole to the US, or between Niedersachsen (Lower Saxony) and Thüringen (Thuringia) in my next post. Let me know which you'd like to see and if you have an topic ideas.
Bis später!
On Saturday, my hostsister and I went to this mall in Bremen called Waterfront (yes, it has an English name). It's pretty cool. It sits right along the Weser and is in the shape of a triangle. It was fun to spend a bit of time with my hostsister, and I bought some new clothes, which is always nice. However, part of the way there was not so fun.
The weather was pretty warm that day, and for part of the trip, we had to ride the bus. The bus was packed with nowhere to sit. It even warmer than outside and had no fresh air. I had to hold on to handles on either side just to not fall because there was a lot of starting and stopping and sharp turns. Eventually, that all got to me. It started to be a bit hard to see, hear and concentrate. Thankfully, my hostsister looked after me and got me into a more open area. Once we got off the bus and onto the street train where I could sit, things got better. I'm really glad my hostsister was there to help me (Danke!)!
On Sunday, my hostparents and I went to this nearby town where there was a small festival going on. This festival was showing how life was like living on the moor. It was really pretty interesting. There were some reconstructed buildings from the time and a lot of artifacts, too. There were also demonstrations of how some work was done then (washing clothes, smithing, baking, etc). Under the main tent, live music was being played. The whole atmosphere of it reminded me so much of our little Oktoberfest. I'm a bit sad I have to miss that this year, but I think getting the chance to live in Germany for a year is worth it!
Sunday night, I skyped with my family in the States. They were at my grandma's place. It was such a nice surprise to get to see her again! I had fun catching up with them, and it was nice to see that not too much has changed, yet. However, I did notice that it was kind of hard to think of how to say something in English. A couple of times, I thought of the reply in German first, couldn't figure out how to say it in English, and just went with the literal translation. I don't think they really noticed.
Today, I stayed home from school. A combination of a bit of homesickness, being sick and really not wanting to do gym (which has so far involved just a ton of running) when it's already hard to breathe made me really not want to go in. My hostmom was really understanding, which helped a lot. After I had breakfast, she took me on a walk to the postoffice. We took a path through a small woods and a field or two. Along the way, she helped to clarify some German grammar. She also told me I don't have a strong American accent, which is always nice to hear. After the postoffice, we bought some pastries, took a look at the town's cemetary (which is really different from any I've seen), and then headed home. We ate our pastries and then I listened to and read along with a children's audio book. After that, we ate lunch, and now I'm resting up a bit before dinner. Things are looking good!
I had the thought to either do a comparison between either Germany as a whole to the US, or between Niedersachsen (Lower Saxony) and Thüringen (Thuringia) in my next post. Let me know which you'd like to see and if you have an topic ideas.
Bis später!
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Official Citizen
I got home from my Kennenlernfahrt (more on that in a bit) and I looked at my passport to find my hostmom had already taken care of getting me my visa. So, now I'm an official (temporary) citizen of Germany. How cool!
Now, back to my week so far. Our time in Rotenburg was pretty well split between working on a class project designed to help us get to know each other (but which was really more boring than worth it) and having time to just hang out with each other. The latter part was really quite cool. I was able to get to know a few friends better and feel more accepted among them. Plus, I met some really cool/fun new friends. I'd love to do something like that again, but minus the 3 hours each day to work on the project.
Tomorrow, I only have 3 hours of school. Then later that evening, I'm going to be hanging out with some of my German friends. I'm really looking forward to it!
Amber: Alles geht echt gut bei mir. Sorge dich nicht. Ich kann nicht zu viel Spaß haben. Ich muss zur Schule gehen. Ich hoffe, dass du jemals nach Bremen fahren kann. Ich bin sicher, dass es dir gefallen würde.
Louise: About my coming to visit you in October: I really can't wait for it! I'm so looking forward to being able to see your part of the world after you were able to see mine. I don't have much news to report about the trip except that I need to get an "invitation" from you to send to YFU at least a week before leaving. I think it just needs to be from your parents saying they know I'm coming and are okay with it. If it's in English, I'm sure that would be fine. I hope all's going well with you!
Now, back to my week so far. Our time in Rotenburg was pretty well split between working on a class project designed to help us get to know each other (but which was really more boring than worth it) and having time to just hang out with each other. The latter part was really quite cool. I was able to get to know a few friends better and feel more accepted among them. Plus, I met some really cool/fun new friends. I'd love to do something like that again, but minus the 3 hours each day to work on the project.
Tomorrow, I only have 3 hours of school. Then later that evening, I'm going to be hanging out with some of my German friends. I'm really looking forward to it!
Amber: Alles geht echt gut bei mir. Sorge dich nicht. Ich kann nicht zu viel Spaß haben. Ich muss zur Schule gehen. Ich hoffe, dass du jemals nach Bremen fahren kann. Ich bin sicher, dass es dir gefallen würde.
Louise: About my coming to visit you in October: I really can't wait for it! I'm so looking forward to being able to see your part of the world after you were able to see mine. I don't have much news to report about the trip except that I need to get an "invitation" from you to send to YFU at least a week before leaving. I think it just needs to be from your parents saying they know I'm coming and are okay with it. If it's in English, I'm sure that would be fine. I hope all's going well with you!
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