Rotary Meeting. It was a blast. I first got on a train to Munich, which is soo big. And the train station is giant. Next I hopped on a train to Augsberg. There when I got off I immediately met a bunch of other exchange students, and from that point on it was the funnest time I have had here yet. Exchange Students are pretty much your best friends, and it takes no time at all to get comfortable with them. You instantly have the connection of just being exchange students. We all wondered around Augsburg for a good hour until we finally found the school we were having the meeting at. There it was alright, but it is always funner out in public. At the Orientation we had some meetings to discuss rules and etc. and also we played some get-to-know-eachother games. It was fun, but after was much funner. We then headed to the train stop, but we had to wait an hour for the train. What do about 20 exchange students do at a train stop for an hour? about anything you can Imagine. Pushing people around in a shopping cart, listening to really loud latino music, taking pictures laying on the traintracks when theres no train coming, Climbing on top of the train stop thing, climbing on top of everything, Jumping Rope with an electrical cord being really loud and obnoxious obviously, and yeah thats all I can remember. And of course all the local people just sit there and stare at us and look at us like we are crazy, but thats all the fun. On the actual train we had music playing and some of the exchange students were dancing and singing and I think every one on the train was staring at us, and were mad that we were being so loud, but oh well. Some that were right next to us thought it was pretty entertaining. But how many times do students from Mexico, Venezuela, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, France, United States, Finland, Italy, Australia, and New Zealand all get together? Only Rotary of course. Oktoberfest starts this weekend, I think I will go on Friday and Sunday next weekend, should be fun. :)
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| On top of train stop (USA, Mexico, Finland) |
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While I am at it, I might as well write about school, This is going to turn out to be one long post.
School comparison. To start this is only after one day of school and I will to an update post to this, but I know some people really want me to write about this so I will. I am going to Write all I know about school in Germany and throw in comparisons here and there with American schools.
The Layout of Schools in Germany is similar yet different to America. Here in Rosenheim (pop 60,000) there are 3 different schools. All of these are the Gymnasiums which is the school you go to if you want to go to college. I know very little about the other two types of schools and if there are any in Rosenheim. But Gymnasium is the top level of school. School goes to 12 grade here. Same as America. But all the kids from little kids all the way to 12th grade all go to one school. That is different than US. In my school here there is about 1000 kids, but that is for all the ages. In my highschool in the US, there is 1200 kids for ages 14-18. The school class rooms are similar in the way they look, except that the technology here is very dated. It may simply just be my school here, but all of my classrooms are the classic blackboard and chalk and nothing else. In US. most classrooms, have whiteboards, projectors, and computers in every room. It is a little different but it does not make a difference in how you learn. I did not really learn anything today, because Ich spreche kein deutsch. But it was ok, I have englisch class tomorrow and I cant wait.
Here in Germany you have a class, like elementary. exactly like elementary. You have a set of like 20 classmates, and you have all your classes with those 20 people all day. Most of your classes are in the same room, and the teachers switch rooms. But for specialty classes like Chemistry, Musik, and Art, you go to a different room. I really dont like this part of German schools. Not that I dont like the people in my class, but I feel so limited to only those people, and there is so many people at the school, and your stuck with the same people all day. In US we switch every class to a different class room with all different people. I prefer this system, and I think I always will. Also here in Germany, every class room is set up with tables for 2 people, and basically everyone travels in groups of 2 and they sit by the same person all day long. The groups of 2 obviously join up with bigger groups when traveling in the school, but it is always an even number of people. I notice this because I am by myself and I am the 21st person in my class. So I either have to make a group of three in classes where possible or I go by myself. I do not like this, it seems very militaristic like to me, to have everything so coordinated. As far as the question goes which school is harder? American vs German, I will not have much of a bias in judging this and it will be ongoing, but I finished grade 10 in US and i am in grade 10 here. But after one day, American school is soo much harder. I couldnt really understand most my classes here, but the Math which is universal, was math that I did in 8th grade and they are doing it in 10th. I am actually suppose to be in 12th grade math at home, so this feels very essential to me. And as far as homework goes, here they give you something, and they say ohhh its due in like a week or two, In the US, its the always due the next day. So the judgement as of today is American schools are much more rigorous than German.
Lunch here is much different than in the US. Here you get an hour break and you can leave and go anywhere you want to eat, and there are many bakeries and restaurants within walking distance. You can still bring cold lunch but I find it much more interesting to leave and explore the city. In the US you obviously eat in the cafeterias and thats the only option you get.
Schedules are much different here than in the US. In the US you have the same classes every day in the same order. Here you have different classes every day and different order, and you finish at different times. Today i have to go to school from 7.45 until 3.45. But tomorrow I am done at 1. it varies everyday and so does your classes. I like this aspect of German schools as well. You only have Chem and Bio once a week! You get a great deal of variety of classes here vs the US. Here I am in, I want to say over 15 different classes, but in America you are stuck with 8.
Overall School is just the way i thought it would be, this from hearing from other former exchange students. But it is good so far. Life is good in general. You should be looking forward to seeing my mountain shot soon, It snowed last night on the mountains, and I am waiting for a day to get a perfect view of them from my house. Until then
Auf Weidersehen
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