Today was my first day of school, and it definitely had it's ups and downs. It started off with me taking FOREVER to wake up. My jet lag is almost gone (wohooo!) but not quite yet. Imagine waking up at 11pm to go to school... Odd. But, I threw some clothes on, had a piece of toast, and hopped on the bus with my little host sister! I am so grateful for her help, but I can imagine how embarrassing it is for her to have to tell a weirdly tall, 17-year-old foreigner (that speaks broken Deutsch) where the bus stop is. I feel bad, but If I could do it on my own, I would! So, anyhow, I arrived at school not knowing what to expect. Luckily, the school is nowhere near as big or confusing as my high school, so I have (almost) no problem navigating it.
Next, I went to the secretary to figure out what the heck I was going to do for the day. Turns out, I don't have to be in tenth grade! I am in eleventh.. Haha! It is much better because I know my second host sister is eleventh! So I met the woman who is in charge of the exchange students, and she is great! I also met the other exchange student, who was also nervous, and quite nice.
Then I went to my first class (my 'homeroom', I think). Luckily I only made a semi-fool of myself when I introduced myself. Luckily, due to Mock Trial, I can work under pressure. Sometimes. That went well, but then we had to wait forever for the teacher so there was this awkward moment when everyone knew each other except me. And, unfortunately, it wasn't the good and interesting unknown. It was the bad, left in the corner unknown. Which, for now, I am more comfortable with. Haha. On a side note I just realized how many modifiers I have been using. Ms. Cary would be so mad. :) Anyhow. That happened. And it was not so bad. Then we had to move tables and such. Boring for you to read. So.
Later in the day we had introductions. I could make out the idea of what the teacher was saying from what my teachers usually say. Here is the syllabus, don't act like a fool, blah blah blah. But for the most part, my first teacher speaks very fast, and is also that "funny" teacher, so he cracks jokes and uses german idioms that I don't understand. Yet. Then he did attendance but my name wasn't on the list, so after class I told him that my name wasn't there and he had me write it down. But I think that I wasn't supposed to and that he was just humoring me so he didn't have to explain it. Haha!
Then was the difficult part of the day. Figuring out what comes after Homeroom. I mean, I had NO idea. So I walked around until I found someone, and it was Christian (my host brother). I felt bad because he was only at school to visit friends (he is leaving for America on Wednesday), and I had to have him help me to the teachers lounge to find the exchange student helper.
Ms. Dalhauser (only a guess at her name. :P) told me some things and I thought I understood so I nodded. Turns out I didn't. Two things. 1) It is really hard to not just smile and nod, and actually ask for help. Because it is both embarrassing, and bothersome to the person who then has to explain. But I really, really, try not to do that. 2) The names here are surprisingly different, mostly because of the accent and such. So when someone says a name, I sometimes think it is a new word, and I get confused... :P. So it turns out the thing she was bringing me to was a person! Not a class. For this week I will basically follow around this girl for one week while the administration lets me figure out which classes I want to take, and where they can make room for me. I feel like a weird little puppy following here around, but she seems pretty understanding. I actually like her a lot because she always tells me when I have said something wrong. Wohoo!! :D
So, then I had math, which was awesome! It was super easy so I actually could learn some German in it! Then I had History which was okay, but harder to learn in because I had no context for what he was talking about. It's a pretty broad subject, ya know. Then I was all prepared for another class, but school was over! At only 12:45! So crazy.
School here is a lot different. You don't have the same classes everyday, and you don't end at the same time every day. It is a lot more like college, and I like it! Although it would be nice to only have 4 classes each day, :P. For this week, I have a really intense schedule. I will post my really schedule later, but now I have 9 classes! Wow!
My mom had asked me about the people here, so I will briefly tell you about my interactions:
I like old people. Plain and simple. They always seem to have time to spare and will chat with you and be understanding when you mess up. Or at least the older people I have met here. Most adults, anyway. Especially my teachers, which I was NOT expecting. Teenagers are... interesting. They all seem to be pretty nice, but they definitely don't have time for me. Past and future exchange students will talk to me because they understand my position. New students will talk to me because they know I am new too. And some nice kids will have the courage to talk to me, but most just kinda stare. It is a new experience being the new kid. But I think it is good for me. I get embarrassed easily and am usually not the one to be all loud and outgoing. Expect in orchestra class. :D So it is good. People are nice. All is good.
My last little note. People here dress differently than I expected. From reading other exchange students' blogs, I saw that, at school, people wear much nicer clothes and such. But here, it is not too fancy or anything. It is a lot like the US! Which is good. That means I don't have to buy too many more clothes. :D Well. All is good. Immer gut! Immer müde! Immer glücklich. (The three things I ALWAYS tell my host-mom. :D)
Mit besten Grüßen,
Beth Macnab
