Geschwister-Scholl-Gymnasium: My First Week of School
Instead of writing about the first day of school like originally planned, I quickly realized that with German schools it would be much more appropriate to write about the whole first week. This is because everyday we have a different schedule with different classes but every week is the same. School starts at 7:20 every morning (which has proven to be quite difficult for me lol), but depending on your schedule ends at different times. You are also in one class, and stay with that same class throughout the school day.
Monday Is not only my easiest, but shortest day. I have “four” classes and get out at around 1pm. While the rest of the week is all strictly academics and classes get out later in the day, sometimes around 2, sometimes around 3. Wednesday I have an extra class of Spanish that is more or less optional for me and would technically be considered “after-school.” This class doesn’t start until pretty late and gets out at like 4-something (I actually don’t know because I don’t really pay attention to the times of when class starts and ends, I just go 😗✌🏽).
School is pretty good for me so far, however I barely understand what the teachers are ever saying. My classmates all seem really nice and cool. They have done a really good job welcoming me into their class and are planning to have a welcoming party for me on an upcoming Friday so I can get to know everyone better. One thing that I have noticed is that most students speak even the slightest bit of English. They are forced to learn different languages (which I think is amazing, unlike America). Throughout the week we technically have four different language classes which include German, English, French, and Spanish. These students being able to speak English has been very helpful for me, especially during class when I need things translated. However making close friends is obviously a little harder if you don’t speak German.
My school itself is really nice, there are so many things that are different, even if they are small. One of the biggest ones that has been the biggest adjustment for me is the lack of technology. Here we do not use computers, phones are not allowed in almost all classes, and they still use chalk boards instead of the Smart boards, like we use in the USA. The projectors they do have are the very old ones that I remember my teacher using back in like 3rd grade where you had to write everything down on a clear plastic sheet to then put on the board. This has been quite difficult for me to adjust to, epically with my phone, because I am used to using it all the time at school. On one of the days I subconsciously put my phone down on my desk during class and when I wanted to check how to spell as word, got it out. The teacher was not very happy (but still understanding since it was my first we and I am an exchange student) with me and told me that students are not allowed to use their phones in class and to please put it away after.
We also don’t have a “lunch” here, instead every hour or so we have breaks that range from 30 minutes to 10 minutes where kids can go socialize with others, eat breakfast/lunch, go to the bathroom/ locker, etc. I haven’t decided which schedule I like more yet, because also in America we are usually allowed to snack in every class. However, I do think I like these small breaks better because I don’t have to wait until late in the day to eat lunch.
I could go on and on about the differences here at school, but that would just be way too many things. I just wanted to update you guys and let you know how German school is going & that everything is well over here!
