Comparison: School

Since today is a good example of one of the main differences between my school here and my school in the States, I figured today would be a good day for this post.

School in the States:
School starts at 7:20am and ends at 2:22pm. Everyone has 7 class periods a day. Many have a study hall period in which they can work on homework, read, sleep (depending on the teacher), etc. Students have the same 7 classes, in the same order, every day, for half the school year. There are 5 minutes between each period that students have to change classrooms, change books at their lockers, use the restroom, talk, etc. If you're not in the classroom by the time the bell rings, you have to go down to the office and get a tardy slip. Some teachers are nice and don't make you do this. Some. Then there is a 30-minute lunch break. There are three different time slots for lunch, but students have no choice which they get. I've forgotten exactly when each lunch period it, but it's 10-something, 11-something and 12-something.

If a teacher calls in sick, a substitute teacher (sub) is called in. Typically, such class periods are a waste of time, because said sub doesn't know the subject or the lesson plan and can't teach further. Therefore, the students receive the dreaded busy work. No one likes busy work. It's pointless and a waste of time. However, it's typically better than having to listen to the teacher drone on and on or getting real work.

If you are sick, your parent needs to call you in in the morning the day of. The next day you're in school, your parent needs to call in and send you in with a signed slip stating that you were sick (I believe a doctor's note is necessary for extended periods). Then you take this note to the attendance office. They look at it, fill out a little yellow slip, and send you on your way. You then have to show this slip to all the teachers so they can mark you as "excused absent".

If you're a junior or senior and have your driver's license, you can buy a parking permit. With that, you receive an assigned spot in the school's parking lot and get to drive yourself and as many other people as your car fits (and license allows). Otherwise, you take the big yellow bus that picks you up at your door (or prety close). The prized spots are the parallel parking slots either at the very front, very back or by the cross walk. Those are easiest to get in and out of, and there's very little traffic. Trying to get out of the parking lot after school is insane. Teen drivers have no patience. Everyone wants to be first and no one wants to wait. I was lucky last year and my locker and last class were close together. So, I was always one of the first ones out.

My school has no such thing as open campus, except on exam days. Once you're at school, you can't leave school without getting a permission slip from the attendance office (which requires a signed note from your parents). When you're returning later that day, you also need to pick up a slip that lets you back in. Most of the time, you can get that with your first slip. Otherwise, if you're not allowed to leave. If you're caught once, it's not such a big deal. More than once, and it starts to be a problem, but I don't have any experience there.

In class, students are quiet, when it comes to participating. You rarely see someone raise their hand to give their answer or volunteer to read. It's like pulling teeth. Therefore, most teachers go down the rows of students and each reads a paragraph or gives and answer. When it comes time to give presentations, typically, names are drawn from a hat or numbers, and the person chosen has to pick a day and time. People seem to tend to be fairly shy or self-conscious here.



School in Germany:
School starts at 8:00 and ends at either 13:10 or 14:20, depending on how many periods that day. I have either 6 or 7 class periods with a different schedule each day, but the same each week. Class periods are 45 minutes, but sometimes you get treated to a double-period of 90. After the second and sixth periods, there's a 25-minute break; 15 minutes after the fourth. Otherwise, you have 5 minutes between each class (I believe). There's one lunch period, but I'm not sure when it is because I don't eat lunch there. I believe it's more for the younger students who have to be there longer.

If a teacher calls in and can't come in, or doesn't show up for 15 minutes after the period begins, you can go home. Or, if you know in advanced, you don't have to show up at all, like today. I would have only had a double-period of French, but it didn't make sense to make the roughly 2 hour round trip and pay about 5 euros to get my there and back. So, I stayed home.

When you don't go to school, your parent needs to call you in. The next time you have those classes, you need to bring in your excuse-book with a written and signed excuse. You present this to the teacher so he or she can sign it and mark you excused. When you're 18, you can write these yourself.

To get to school, you can either bike (if you're close enough), drive (if you have your license), or take the bus. From one of my earlier posts, you can tell biking is a popular option. Not many people have their driver's license (let alone their own car). So, not many people drive to school. Those who do have to park in the public parking lot at the school. Taking the bus isn't too bad, when the bus isn't packed. Sometimes, the seats are taken or the only available seat is by some punk (or otherwise unfriendly-looking person), and so standing is the only option. Standing isn't horrible, unless it happens to be one of those days and the bus becomes a sardine can.

Open campus is a way of life here! Sometimes, people hop on their bikes and go to the nearby McDonald's during the longer breaks. Also, when a class is cancelled, that's the pretty typical thing to do. When I have free-time and the others have politics, I go for a walk into town. I love the feeling of just being able to go and not have people look at you funny or get in trouble for it. However, I'm still kind of getting used to the idea!

Students seem a lot more open here. Sure, they get a bit embarrassed when they make a mistake, but they don't dwell on it at all. They are much more ready to participate in class. They voluntarily give their answers, share their ideas, or read in fron of the class. Sure, there are some who are more shy, but oral notes are important here. I think they've gotten used to the idea of having to participate to get a good grade. So, it's not a big deal to them any more.


So, questions, concerns or comments? I know I didn't cover everything, but I think that's a pretty good overview (plus, I didn't want it to get too long!).



Also, this is totally unrelated, but I think I'm going to get fat when I get back to America based on the list I'm thinking up of all the foods I miss. For example: frozen custard from Robert's (double chocolate fudge, Bailey's irish cream, ultimate cookie dough, chocolate fudge oreo, mint chocolate chip...), mom's meatloaf, dad's lasanga, settler's stew from Fox and Hound, birthday cake, chocolate chip cookies (sorry Germany, but they're just not the same!), Jack's frozen pizza, Pizza Hut (again, it's just not the same) - suasage pizzas, for that matter - deep fried eggplant from Aldo's, pizza fries from Tina's, rootbeer floats, dreamsicles... Okay, I think you guys get the idea!

Bis später!

Comparison: Town

So, I guess I'll start doing comparison posts. I'll probably keep doing them by theme like this, but just don't expect me to start posting regularly!

My town here in Germany is a bit different from my hometown in the states. For starters, it's a bit smaller. There are only 5513 people compared to my hometown's 19750. There's only one set of traffic lights (that I'm aware of). In my hometown, there's one road that has six. Here there is a clear center of town. My hometown not so much. There is a pretty decent public transportation system (trains and buses) here that I can easily use to get around. Otherwise, if it's not too far, I can just hop on my bike and go. Living in my hometown doesn't work without a car.

However, they are also a bit the same. There are a lot of fields and pastures in and around both. The majority of people live in little suburbs (not all the houses here look identical, however). There's not much that goes on as far as nightlife, but both are fairly close to a larger town or two when you need to get out.

I guess that's all I have for now on that topic. I think the next comparison will be my life in general in both places.

Bis später!

Denmark and Birthdays

My visit to Denmark was amazing! Louise was an awesome hostess and took me to many amazing places. We were in Copenhagen, Tivoli, Rømø, Ribe, Legoland, and Kolding (where Jutland's biggest mall is).

My first weekend was spent in and around Copenhagen. We went to some pretty typical tourist-y places. First stop was the Little Mermaid statue. It's not really something too impressive (Louise warned me about that from the beginning), but it was kind of cool to see. Plus, seeing the expressions of the excitable tourists was fun. Later that evening, we went to the Tivoli amusement park. It was all decked out for Halloween (Denmark seems to be trying hard to adopt that holiday). It was really fun! The next day we went to the east coast before visiting a Cold War military base and heading home.

On Tuesday, we chanced the weather and took a trip to the island of Rømø. It was windy and cold, but the rain managed to hold off. It was really amazing! I saw a few (dead) jellyfish, and people were actually swimming in the water. I guess Wisconsinites aren't the only ones to like polarbearing! After that, we went to Ribe. We climbed the tower of an old cathedral and got an amazing view of the town!

Thursday was Legoland. Yeah, it's kind of aimed toward little kids (and there were a ton there, but we still had fun. It's kind of amazing what people can make with Legos!

Then on Friday, we went shopping! Despite the near-fiasco with Louise's bag, we had a lot of fun. Maybe we could have spent a bit less money, but we didn't go totally overboard. It's a good thing I wasn't there alone. I would have gotten so turned around!

In between those days, we carved pumpkins, went to a relative's birthday party, to a small get-together and even just relaxed a bit.

Sunday morning, I was woken up by a group of crazy Danes, singing to me in their language that I don't understand. They wished me a happy birthday and gave me gifts. I got some traditional Danish things made by Danish companies. They're going to be really great keepsakes! After that was breakfast (scrambled eggs, bacon and toast) before relaxing, repacking and heading off.

My trip back to Germany went smoothly. I made all my connections in time and had no troubles with my bags. When I got back to my hostfamily's house, my hostmom told me to set down my bags and go in the kitchen. I knew something was up. I opened the door to find my hostdad, hostsiblings and hostsister's friend sitting at the table with a cheesecake, champagne and gifts. They wished me a happy birthday and we all sat down together. We ate some cake, drank some champagne and I opened my gifts. I told a bit about my trip to Denmark and gave them hard candies made to look like the Danish flag. In all, it was a really nice welcome.

So, that was my first week of Herbstferien. It was amazing! Thank you Louise and her family for taking me in and being such great hosts! Thank you hostfamily for a great evening!

Bis später!

Ab Nach Dänemark!!

... gleich. In less than two hours, I'll be on my way to Denmark! Not much to say at this point except that my bags are packed (I think I'm starting to become a pro at this packing business!) and I'm ready to go!

I'm really looking forward to this trip for a number of reasons. First of all, I'll be getting to see one of my best friends again, in her country, in her hometown. Second, Denmark will be the second foreign country I've set foot in. And third, I think it will help me to get over this week. This past week has been a pretty rough one for me. It will be nice to get a change of pace.

Here's to a sure-to-be-awesome week!

Bis später!

Der bester Hund

I started writing this post and it turned into a novel. I've decided to condense it. To keep it simple and short and to the point. So, here goes.

My dog was put down yesterday. He was old and developing problems. There was nothing to be done for him. My family decided it would be best for him to let him go. I'd give almost anything to have been there. It kills me to know he's gone. The last time I saw him, pet him was early on July 18th. It sucks. I miss him. I can't imagine coming home and having him not be there. That will probably be even harder than what I've gone through the past couple of days in terms of dealing with this loss. These have been the worst few days of my life. All I can say is that I am so grateful for the network of friends and family I have in both countries. They're there for me, even if they're an ocean away or across the language barrier. They care about me and want me to feel better. I couldn't ask for more at this point. I just need support. I know I'll get over this, thanks to these amazing people.

So, thank you to those who have been there for me and continue to be there for me. I don't know what I'd do without you.

Here's to the memory of Kingsford, King, Ferd, Ferdy, Bird, Bear, Bearford, Grampa Bear, Lumpy, and all the other insane names I called him (and he responded to). He was the best at catching pizza crusts, hogging balls and failing to jump ditches. He was a good Grampa Bear, always the protector, though he never truly had a masculine bark. He was always a good one for warming couches and beds (even on my dad's side of my parents' bed, the side he never should have been on). He was a chicken when it came to the vacuum cleaner or the dead cyote skin, but he always held his own when it came down to it. Toward the end, he might have started slowing down, but you could never get a tennis ball past him. He even knew there was a stash in the desk drawer. He found the ones I had in my suitcase to give my hostdogs.

You might think your dog's pretty great, but there's a reason mine was named King.

I'll miss him.

My School is a Biker Gang's Hangout

Okay, not really. However, saying there's a ton of bikes at my school everyday is an understatement. Here are some pictures to prove my point.






There's even a bike rack area I didn't see when I took these.



What can I say? Germans love to bike. They don't just do it because it's ecofriendly and good for one's health. They do it because they can. It's just more practical to hop on the bike than wait for a bus or start up the car. I can't say I don't love it!

Oh yeah, my school has a mini skate park, too. Be jealous! Now, if only I knew how to skateboard...





Bis später!

In der Schule

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.