The Gymnasium

Second week of school=complete! I’ve now had four days with my own schedule. A German Gymnasium is completely different to a high school.  Instead of having a block schedule like I do in Colorado, it’s more of a compilation of classes placed randomly throughout the week. You have a certain amount of hours each week per class, and it changes based off of whether it’s a core class, like math or Deutsch, or an “elective,” like art or gym. Also, there is not a set lunchtime, but every two hours or so there is a twenty-five minute break where everyone hangs out and snacks on sandwiches from home. School technically goes to 6:00, but no one ever has that long a day. There are off blocks placed throughout the schedule where you can bike home.  When a teacher is sick or gone, you don’t have class. There is a board in the front of the school that you have to check to see if anything is cancelled. Here’s a look at my classes:

·      Deutsch: I actually have two German classes, both in 7^th grade. My counselor and I decided that this would be best for me to work on my grammar skills. The kids are adorable. It feels completely silly that I have no idea what the teachers saying half of the time and they have to help me. They remind of these kids I mentor at an elementary school near my high school for student council, it’s just that this time, instead of me mentoring them, they’re mentoring me.

·      Mathe: Well, I’m not exactly a math pro in English, and it’s about the same in Germany. I’m actually with 15-year olds, but the level is right about where I would be this year in America, in pre-calc. I really do like math though, because numbers don’t change with a language.  The teacher is super nice, and everyone in the class is always happy to help me out if I ever have problems. I think that within the next few weeks, I’ll begin to enjoy the class more and more.

·      Biologie: My favorite class in America is now my most difficult class in German. The first week when I was with Gesa we talked about DNA and Protein Synthesis, and I actually was quite aware of everything that was going on. Now I’m in a different class, with a completely different subject, something about Fluorescent Lighting and diagrams of the human eye. My second day in this last Friday we had a pop-quiz, and I literally had no idea what to do. Thankfully, the teacher is really patient and I know that once I get a better grasp on the language it is very likely that Biology will go back to being one of my favorite classes.

·      Geschichte: Boy did I luck out, they offer History in English! I figured I get enough German in my other classes, and since European history is a class that I need to graduate in America, I would rather have a full grasp of what is going on. I take this class with 12^th graders, and my older sister is in the class with me. They are all absolute geniuses. I’ve only had two short periods in the class, and next week they all have exams of what they learned before I arrived, but I can tell it will be a class that I will really enjoy. The class is small, allowing for a really hands-on environment. I find it really interesting to get history from another perspective. Right now we are discussing the Cold War, and because we had a big focus on this last year in American History, I am able to compare the way Germany saw America and the rest of the world in the Cold War to how America had seen everything. Absolutely loving it.

·      Englisch: The class where my brain can breathe. I was surprised to walk in the first day and discuss British Politics, but now that I’m accustomed to how amazing everyone here is at English, it is a class I really enjoy. I’m even going to London in November with my class for a few days! After English Culture comes discussing American Life and the American Dream, can’t wait.

·      Spanisch: My school offers Spanish as more of a club; we don’t get grades but twice a week we get together for 45 minutes and practice. It’s really easy for me because I’ve had three years of Spanish in school and all we’ve really done so far is conjugate simple verbs. Nevertheless, I don’t want to forget Spanish while I’m here and even just hearing the teacher talk reminds me of everything I’ve learned. I felt so accomplished after the first class, I didn’t speak a work of English the entire period, and I still had a full grasp of everything the teacher said and what was going on! It was really weird feeling getting Spanish and German at the same time, and learning Spanish from a German perspective rather than an English one.

·      Kunst: A.k.a. Art. Right now were working on clay models of a representation of a verb, I’m doing “changing,” with several leaves on a circular thing. Art has been a good way to relax and allow my mind to take a break from overwhelming amounts of German.

·      Sport: Right now were playing badminton, and before that we were doing spear throwing. It’s a fun class, and a good way to get to know everyone. I’m still not entirely sure where I’m supposed to go for class everyday because it’s always in a different spot, but thankfully I have the class with my sister so she gives me a hand. J

So that’s what I do during the day! It feels like I got here yesterday, we stay so busy! I take a painting class at an Art school near my house on Fridays, and I’m painting a picture of mountains right now. I made a few friends and am really enjoying it. Art is it’s own form of communication, and language does not get in the way. On Monday I’m going to try out a swim team and I’ll have to decide if that’s something I want to peruse here. I wasn’t surprised, but there aren’t any diving teams near where I live, so swimming is the next best thing. We went shopping yesterday in Essen. It was so much fun walking through such a big city. They have one of the biggest malls in Germany there; it was absolutely, unbelievably huge! Last night I went to a birthday party for a girl that I met in my history class with my older sister, and had a ton of fun dancing around and getting to know everyone. Things are going really well, I couldn’t ask for a better family, and everything is falling into place.