Today was my first day in the German school system and I have to say, it was very different from the minute I walked into the school. At this school the Elementary, Middle, and High school (Gymnasium) are all surrounding each other, it was hard to tell which child belonged there. The school is huge and very modern. When the students walked into the classroom they immediately took their shoes off and began talking and playing games with each other, which never happens at schools I've been to in America. After having about 20 minutes to talk with each other, the teacher brought them to the carpet with a good morning song on the guitar. The children sang "Good Morning" to each other and went around the circle telling how they were feeling. Side note: This is a 1st grade English Immersion classroom where the teachers talk to the students in English and they understand, but most of the students reply back in German. The Immersion program begins in 1st grade at this school.
Back to the routine, after the "morning meeting" they had a long breakfast break where they ate breakfast and listened to the teacher read Pippy Long stocking in German. They then had 30 minutes of German lessons then switched back to English. They have 1.5 hour lunch break where they are free to do whatever they want. The students are held very accountable at this school, at lunch they choose if they want to play outside, do an extracurricular class, or just hang out around the school with their friends. After this they had math in English, where I surprisingly had to do a subtraction lesson. They understood what I was saying but they would reply to me in German, which made things very difficult because I do not speak German. The students are involved in a lot of kinesthetic learning activities. They practice spelling with different parts of the body, jumping on number squares to spell the word, and by going on, under, or beside the table to show where the sound in a word is. They also have freedom in choosing the activities they work on in math. The school culture here is also very different because of German culture. They like to be really close to you, especially the students, which is really frowned upon in America. Here if someone is walking 2 inches behind you or standing in your face to talk, it is completely normal. Being in Germany is definitely a culture shock for various reasons, but I am beginning to pick up on a few things and learning my way around the culture and the town a little more! I have finally arrived in Germany after being forced to the airport and enduring a long flight, almost missing the one to Hamburg. When I first signed up for this trip I was hesitant, not because I did not want the experience, but because I have never been this far from home by myself. Yesterday, as my family took me to the airport, all I could think about was turning around and going back home. It was so hard to leave my husband and our two dogs. Although I am used to my husband being gone because of his job in the Army, I am not used to being the one leaving and going to a place where I know no one.
The trip started off a little crazy. Our plane had to taxi for 55 minutes before we could take off. Then, when we arrived over New Jersey, we had to fly in circles for at least 30 minutes before we could land. All of these setbacks caused us to almost miss our flight. We had about 10 minutes to travel from one terminal to another to make it on our next flight. As we were running down the terminal they kept calling our names over the intercoms, it was kind of crazy. The flight from New Jersey to Germany was long but good. Once I arrived in Hamburg I got my first stamp in my passport and was on my way, not knowing at all what to expect. As soon as I walked out of the airport we got on a subway then a bus to go home. This was quite different for me because in NC we travel by car, but here most people either bike or use the public transportation. The town looked very different than what I expected. There are lots of apartments, or flats, and I have seen very few houses. The architecture is also very different. This will be a great learning experience and I'm sure I will encounter many interesting things along the way! |