Enjoy! hmm so two days later and the video doesn't seem to be working... I might be able to get it up on my facebook for my friends and family but the rest of my readers will just need to wait until I get this figured out.
Friday, November 22, 2013
Bike Ride Through Bremerhaven
A few weeks ago on a decently warm and relatively dry Tuesday I went biking through the older part of Bremerhaven with my camera in search of some new sights. It was a fun couple hours of biking and at one point I pulled out a page from other exchange students books and decided to make a video. Videos are fun to take and fun to watch and I think people will enjoy hearing my voice as I take you on a tiny tour of Bremehaven. And no, there wasn't a script or any rehearsals, I really am just that good at improv.
Tuesday, November 19, 2013
School Schedule
So the way that school days here are set up is sorta like a college schedule in the way that it differs from day to day but it has another confusing addition in the fact that it also changes by week with a seperate schedule for even and odd weeks.
So on even weeks I have...
Monday German History
Tuesday Biology History Sport German
Wednesday Music English Math
Thursday Free Block History
Friday Free Block English Philosophy
And then my odd weeks, they are a bit heavier than the even week.
Monday German English
Tuesday Biology History Sport
Wednesday Music English Math Philosophy
Thursday Free Block History Biology
Friday Math English Philosophy
Every class lasts for 90 minutes and in between them there is a break of 25 minutes until you reach the third break which is only 15 minutes. The first class begins at 7:55 and depending on the day, I get out at either 11:20, 13:15, or 15:00. On Thursdays and every other Friday you might have noticed I have a free block for the first hour of school and so on those days, my classes begin at 9:50. I love Thursdays. As you might have noticed, there isn't a lunch break. There is a small cafeteria in the school but its more like a snack bar with a couple tables. Most people bring some sort of bread with them wrapped in tin foil that is eaten in the hall ways during the breaks. I was always so confused by the different times that I've gotten used to not eating at school most days. On my four hour days though I normally go out in the second block and buy something from the bakery truck that comes to my school. I have discovered I have a serious weak spot for chocolate croissants.
I should also add in that this is not considered a full school schedule, German students require at least one more class if not two or three more. Also if you took the time to read that whole schedule, you will notice that English and History show up more than the other classes as those are my Leistungskurses. The idea of a Leistungskurse is to focus yourself on this specific topic. In the last year of school you take your final exams called the Abitur on your two Leistungskurses as well as two other courses of your choice. I'm sure I could talk about this a whhole lot more (and hopefully I will! My new blogging resolution has been going really well so far aka for 2 days)
gute Nacht meine Lieben
~M
P.S. Did you know that in German, capitalization isn't just for the first word and proper nouns? You didn't? Well now you know, Germans capitalize EVERY SINGLE noun. Example: I ran out the Door and saw the Sun in the Sky and beneath that there was a Bird sitting in an Apple Tree eating a Worm. (note apple tree would be one word so I wasn't sure how to englesize that one...) I realize myself doing it to English words sometimes too but since we don't have a rule like that I tend to have a weird sort of capitalization frenzy that just explodes all over. Example: I ran Out the door and saw the Sun in The sky and beneath that there Was a bird sittiNg in An apple tree eating A worm. I think my little pinkies just get really itchy to hit the shift key and start to inappropriately capitalize. Maybe this is how people with Tourettes feel when they try to hold in a tick. It comes out no matter what you do, you just don't know when or how.
Okay so there was your German lesson of the day (brought to you because I realized that liebe and Liebe are seperate things, one is the verb "to love" and the other is "dear")
So goodnight my dears.
So on even weeks I have...
Monday German History
Tuesday Biology History Sport German
Wednesday Music English Math
Thursday Free Block History
Friday Free Block English Philosophy
And then my odd weeks, they are a bit heavier than the even week.
Monday German English
Tuesday Biology History Sport
Wednesday Music English Math Philosophy
Thursday Free Block History Biology
Friday Math English Philosophy
Every class lasts for 90 minutes and in between them there is a break of 25 minutes until you reach the third break which is only 15 minutes. The first class begins at 7:55 and depending on the day, I get out at either 11:20, 13:15, or 15:00. On Thursdays and every other Friday you might have noticed I have a free block for the first hour of school and so on those days, my classes begin at 9:50. I love Thursdays. As you might have noticed, there isn't a lunch break. There is a small cafeteria in the school but its more like a snack bar with a couple tables. Most people bring some sort of bread with them wrapped in tin foil that is eaten in the hall ways during the breaks. I was always so confused by the different times that I've gotten used to not eating at school most days. On my four hour days though I normally go out in the second block and buy something from the bakery truck that comes to my school. I have discovered I have a serious weak spot for chocolate croissants.
I should also add in that this is not considered a full school schedule, German students require at least one more class if not two or three more. Also if you took the time to read that whole schedule, you will notice that English and History show up more than the other classes as those are my Leistungskurses. The idea of a Leistungskurse is to focus yourself on this specific topic. In the last year of school you take your final exams called the Abitur on your two Leistungskurses as well as two other courses of your choice. I'm sure I could talk about this a whhole lot more (and hopefully I will! My new blogging resolution has been going really well so far aka for 2 days)
gute Nacht meine Lieben
~M
P.S. Did you know that in German, capitalization isn't just for the first word and proper nouns? You didn't? Well now you know, Germans capitalize EVERY SINGLE noun. Example: I ran out the Door and saw the Sun in the Sky and beneath that there was a Bird sitting in an Apple Tree eating a Worm. (note apple tree would be one word so I wasn't sure how to englesize that one...) I realize myself doing it to English words sometimes too but since we don't have a rule like that I tend to have a weird sort of capitalization frenzy that just explodes all over. Example: I ran Out the door and saw the Sun in The sky and beneath that there Was a bird sittiNg in An apple tree eating A worm. I think my little pinkies just get really itchy to hit the shift key and start to inappropriately capitalize. Maybe this is how people with Tourettes feel when they try to hold in a tick. It comes out no matter what you do, you just don't know when or how.
Okay so there was your German lesson of the day (brought to you because I realized that liebe and Liebe are seperate things, one is the verb "to love" and the other is "dear")
So goodnight my dears.
German High School
So this is something I've been meaning to write for quite a long time now but alwas avoided just because at this point, it seems so normal I don't even care to write about it. For the rest of you reading though, I think you will be interested by the German school system.
So first off there are seperate levels of high school that the students are split into in 4th grade. At the top is the Gymnasium, which prepares students to study in college. That's where I am so remember all personal anecdotes are Gymnasium based. Next comes the Realschule which prepares students to enter into the work world but usually seems to include some sort of internship and the education throughout the Realschule is rather broad. The last traditional school option is the Hauptschule which is purely to prepares students for work directly after high school and is more specialized toward a line of work than the Realschule. I know the system isn't completely rigid though because my host sister told me her school didn't fit any of these categories. Before she left for Chile, she explained that her school had all three put in one building and through extra testing it was possible to swap up to the next type of school. It isn't gaurenteed that you will stay in the school that you start in anywhere though because if your grades aren't high enough, you get booted down the ladder to the next school. Truthfully it seems rather frightening and unforgiving to me. I know plenty of people back in the states who didn't care about school until high school and if they were here in Germany they would have a very small chance of going on to college. Which by the way, is wayyy cheaper here. It's sorta like the reward you get for making it all the way through the system of high schools. Okay so I'm tired now but very soon I will finally get you my schedule too, it's pretty funky.
Tschüss!
~M
So first off there are seperate levels of high school that the students are split into in 4th grade. At the top is the Gymnasium, which prepares students to study in college. That's where I am so remember all personal anecdotes are Gymnasium based. Next comes the Realschule which prepares students to enter into the work world but usually seems to include some sort of internship and the education throughout the Realschule is rather broad. The last traditional school option is the Hauptschule which is purely to prepares students for work directly after high school and is more specialized toward a line of work than the Realschule. I know the system isn't completely rigid though because my host sister told me her school didn't fit any of these categories. Before she left for Chile, she explained that her school had all three put in one building and through extra testing it was possible to swap up to the next type of school. It isn't gaurenteed that you will stay in the school that you start in anywhere though because if your grades aren't high enough, you get booted down the ladder to the next school. Truthfully it seems rather frightening and unforgiving to me. I know plenty of people back in the states who didn't care about school until high school and if they were here in Germany they would have a very small chance of going on to college. Which by the way, is wayyy cheaper here. It's sorta like the reward you get for making it all the way through the system of high schools. Okay so I'm tired now but very soon I will finally get you my schedule too, it's pretty funky.
Tschüss!
~M
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