School has been alright, I have figured out that school, no matter what language, is going to be boring. But for me it has been really, really boring. I opted to not be graded, figuring it would seriously help with stress (worry about my grades on top of everything else would probably do me in). So, I sit in class and pretty much stare at the wall, while the teachers lecture in German. They don't even hand me any work, or expect me to do homework xD. Most of the time I will write down into my notebook everything they write on the board, and they appreciate that I am putting forth effort. I understand all of the math really well, and can do the work for the most part until they start talking about different ways to do the problem in German, at which point I am lost once again. Biology though I like because even though labeling parts of the cell is in German, I at least know what he is talking about, so now I can label the cell in German..haha. I love all of the breaks they
take, and they start school earlier, but get out earlier too. I have made a lot of friends, and we hang as much as possible. So that always makes school better. ^ Everyone rides their bikes to school. If they live too far away they take the city bus.
My school is to the right. There are two gymnasium high schools here. At the end of your time in middle school you receive your placement. Depending on how well you did decides what Gymnasium you will go to. Winkelmann is the Gymnasium I attend, then there is Hildebrand, as far as I have been told Winkelmann is the better of the two. The students have to work very hard, their grade points go towards one huge test called the Abitur. That test at the end of their high school determines where they can study and what they can study. Not like the U.S. if you don't do so well on the SAT/ACT (which is kinda like an equivalent) you can still be a doctor. Here if you don't do well you cannot study to be a doctor, you are given no second chance to be a doctor, just at a different college, you don't do well, you have no choice. So it is very stressful, the amount of work and studying they do. And I thought my school was bad. Ha.
This is my school schedule. (click on the picture to enlarge it) They don't have the same classes every day, or every-other-day. What classes they have on Monday will always be on a Monday and so forth. I am fortunate because I get a lot of free time, whereas normal students will maybe have one free time space. In high school the students you are placed with will be the same students for the rest of you High School career, as a result everyone becomes really close. Not all of my classes are with the same people, but German, History, Math, and English are all with those same people.
Last Friday I was invited to go to a "Disco", and my first reaction was " Why would I want to go to a disco?" I immediately thought of the '70's and thought no. Turns out their "disco" is our version of club. I went with my friends and it turned out to be a ton of fun. The club was a lot smaller than I had thought, but it got really crowded, and everyone there was around my age. Stendal only has 4 clubs, but I found out that I am allowed to travel around in my district and will definitely be going to other cities to check out fun sites there.
Here's a bit of cool history. While on our way to Giforn we were driving through a wooded area, and every 50 yards or so there were signs. I couldn't understand the signs, but I figured it must have been something important. Later my host dad said that no one was allowed in the woods there because there were still active Russian land mines, and explosives all throughout the area. I also got to see where the wall separating East Germany from West Germany was put up as I traveled to another state.
And last but not least, I had my first inbound orientation this past Saturday. I got to meet all of the other exchange student from around the world who would be in Germany for a year just like me! We had some people from: Mexico, Colombia, Argentina, Brazil, USA, Canada, India, Taiwan, Japan, Australia and Chile. It was super cool to be in a room with so many nationalities. My district has so much planned for us, it will be so exciting and fun. I won't say all that we will be doing, because I will blog about them later in more detail.
My second week was pretty cool, I am hoping to top it next week!
Until then
~Amanda
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