I'm not sure how widespread this is, but at my school there are students who started Gymnasium in the 5th grade because they are deemed "the smartest" in elementary school. I put it in quotes because when it was explained to me, both students (one from that class and one from my class) both used air quotes and slightly rolled their eyes. I found this really interesting that this strong of a division of children was made at such a young age.
One thing I learned at language camp about things to expect at school was that I would stay in the same classroom with the same group of kids all day while the teachers changed classroom. However, that isn't really how it is at my school, luckily. We have the 12th grade with classes A, B, and L. I am in 12A, and L indicates that the class started in 5th grade. Each class has math, German, and English together and all the other subjects have students from all three classes. The 12th grade is super small with only 50-60 students, which is half the amount the 11th grade has. There are about 600 students at my school, although walk through the halls during passing period and it feels like many more. I was so relieved when I realized that what I was told at language camp was not true in my case because it means opportunity to make friends with more people!
In terms of school behaviors, I was told teachers are super strict, students are really serious, and to not ever be late to class. My experiences are a little different, though. The teachers are really nice and friendly, although it probably isn't a good idea to get on their bad side because grading is more subjective than it is in the USA. The sense I get is that the student knows what is expected by the teacher, student fufills those expectations, and then school becomes a more enjoyable place to be.
I have a personal goal for my time at school here and it is that people don't perceive me as incompetent simply because sometimes I can't form coherent sentences in German. It was funny because in the first two weeks, people who I hadn't spoken to but were in my class kind of just looked like me with a quizzative "is she even alive?" look because the most I could was pretty much sit there and pretend to follow what was going on even when it was obvious I wasn't following. It doesn't happen anymore, though. I'm really trying to participate in class because that will help with my aforementioned goal, and it will make class more enjoyable for me.
My favorite classes are history, French, music, and German.
My history teacher always tells me that if I ever want to raise my hand and say something, to be not be afraid, especially since we're learning American history. Finally, two weeks ago not only did I answer a question he asked, but I even gave an opinion about a topic. He was very happy, and I like the class because I'm learning a lot and I appreciate him including me in the class. I also took the test! Well what really happened was he handed me the test and said its not for a grade, he just wants me to try to write something. I wrote approximately half a page (most people had at least two pages), but at least it's something!
French is cool because it's laid back and I'm learning French vocabulary and even some German vocabulary. The teacher always has someone say the word in French, then someone says it in German, then she has me say it in English, which is funny because then she always mocks my accent... For some reason I can't figure out, I have a fun time in that class and I look forward to it.
I still don't really get homework to do, so instead I have my German lessons teacher give me a ton of work to do to keep me busy.
School has been overall a wonderful experience, and has exceeded all my expectations. Nothing has really surprised me here about the educational system, though, because most of the differences I already knew about before coming here. For example, no school spirit/sports/comraderie and no multiple choice tests.
Here's an interesting piece of information, people here use legitimate fountain pens to write. And pencil is seldom used. I feel inadequate with my ballpoint pen. Imagine the cursive and the way to "correctly hold a pen" lessons we all learned in second grade and that is pretty much how every boy and teacher writes. I've seen a lot of girls write in print or a loopy handwriting style, though.
There will be no blog post next week because I will be on a bus to Brussels. Fun fact, it's takes approximately the same amount of time to get from Sacramento to Los Angeles as it does Berlin to Brussels.
Shannon
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