Schule Update und Reise nach Wien

Hallo! Another week is gone and a busy week is ahead of me, so now is a good time to update my blog. I bet some people are curious as to what I'm doing in school, so I'll go through class by class and talk about what we're learning and the progress in German that I've made.

Biologie (Biology)

For those who know me, you know I'm not the biggest biology fan. Although I still don't see the application of what we're doing in my future, I am understanding most of the material. The teacher, Herr Irmer, appears to the naked eye as a pretty straight-laced man, but he has a funny dry sense of humor. Right now we are learning about DNA, RNA and all of that fun stuff. 

Deutsch (German)

Tenth grade German class for an American is not fun. Right now, my class, excluding me, is reading Minna von Barnhelm by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing. It is practically Germany's Shakespeare. It's the type of book that even if German was my mother tongue, I don't think I would be able to read it. Our teacher, Frau Proenza is very understanding of my difficulties and has even given me basic German worksheets to do. I hope to be able to contribute more later on this school year.

Englisch (English)

Ah...English, my favorite subject. I wonder why that is? Overall, I'm pretty impressed by my classmates' English. Of course they aren't perfect, but they speak better English than anyone in my class in Vermont speaks German. Naturally, I am the English guru and help out when there is a question whether something is right or not. My teacher, Frau Danz, is a very good teacher, but every once in a while she says something that isn't quite right. That makes me wonder if our language teachers are saying some things incorrectly as well. Right now, we are talking about addiction to video games. 

Erdkunde (Geography)

In Geography we are studying the geography of the United States. What are the chances of that? So far my additions to this class have been noting that the "Corn Belt" of the United States is very boring and correcting my teacher about what the Erie Canal is. It's very strange hearing your home country being talked about as something very foreign. There are rumors that our teacher, Herr Knauer, will at one point during the course of the year lie on his desk to get our attention. I can't wait for that.

Geschichte (History)

In History we are studying World War 1. It's very interesting to hear everything I've learned in America about the war taught in Germany from a different perspective. It's also engaging because it's much more in depth than it was in the United States. Our teacher, Herr Kollbach, the stereotypical history teacher with his sweater vests and finely manicured white beard, even tells us stories his grandfather told him about fighting in the war. It's very engaging, at least for a history nerd like me. 

Kunst (Art)

A-R-T, the dreaded three letter word. I have managed to avoid all things arts and crafts-related since leaving the Waldorf School after the eighth grade. Art just isn't for me, especially if it is a double period, right after Sport, on the longest day of the week, during the last two periods. Believe it or not, my perspective drawings aren't too bad, but so far the best comment I've gotten out of Herr Kind, our teacher, is "It's okay, Michael." That's very reassuring! Who knows I might become good at this art thing. 

Latein (Latin)

Mrs. Morton, help me! I really enjoyed Latin instruction in America, but here it's my least favorite subject. Everyone in my Latin class has had Latin since fifth grade, so that's five years. In America I had Latin for three years. What they're working on in Latin is very difficult for me in English, but nearly impossible in German. I might not do well in the translation tests, but I got my first really good grade in Germany on a vocabulary quiz. Not too shabby.

Mathe (Math)

Math in German comes easy for me because a lot of the material we are being taught I learned last year. Also, math doesn't use too many words, just numbers and symbols. The one thing that irritates me in German math instruction is the pronunciation of Pi. Pi is pronounced like the dessert (think apple pie) in English, but in German the word is pronounced like the letter P. That adds a lot of confusion when you are talking about how to find the period (P) of a sin function. Our teacher, Herr Neumann, is also our class teacher who is in charge of dealing with everything from permission slips to school photos He is a very good teacher and keeps things interesting with jokes and an illusion he performs that looks like he is sticking chalk in his head and pulling it out of his mouth.

Musik (Music)

In Music we just finished writing in the lyrics to Handel's Hallelujah and are now examining this composer's life. The class is not my favorite because I'm not really a music guy, but it isn't a bad class at all. Herr Knauer teaches this class as well in addition to Geograph. He does know what he is talking about and has had lots of experience in Music. The only problem is keeping everyone quiet so he can teach...It gets pretty loud.

Physik (Physics)

My Physics class is pretty elementary. Right now we're going over the basic 2-D kinematics equations and completing question that have us calculating acceleration and drawing graphs. Similar to math, this class is relatively easy for me because it has more numbers than words. Frau Raddatz, our teacher, I'm still trying to figure out. She gives off a very strict appearance, but every time I talk to her she is very nice. I guess that's why they say don't judge a book by its cover.

Politik und Wirtschaft (Politics and Economics)

If we were in America, this probably would be my favorite class. It's still interesting in German, but Herr Wessel, one of my favorite teachers due to his engaging teaching style, talks way too fast for me to understand even half of what he's saying. We're talking about the structure of the German Government right now, but due to the speed and his horrendous handwriting, I can struggling to keep up. That will all change in a couple of months though when my German is better.

Sport (Physical Education)

Sport is a favorite of mine. We have thrown javelins, jumped on trampolines, played basketball, soccer, but primarily handball. Before coming to Germany I had never played or seen any handball, so this was completely new. The first couples times playing were tough for me as I struggled to learn the rules, but now I think I have the hang of this game. It's a combination of soccer and basketball pretty much. Herr Harms is our teacher and always likes trying to impress me with little phrases of English he knows. So far I am proving the stereotype of Americans true; I am very good at basketball compared to the others, but pretty pathetic in soccer. Before I leave I want so badly to score one goal on a German!

Werte und Normen (Values and Norms)

Values and Norms I'm having a hard time grasping what the class is actually about. This class is an alternate to Catholic or Evangelical Religion class, but what we're learning isn't anything close to a religion study class. What we've been learning about in the first month is luck. Frau Krause also is difficult for me to understand, so a lot of the material goes over my head unfortunately. Hopefully we'll finish up this unit on luck soon and move on to something that isn't so vague and philosophical.

Lastly, on Wednesday I heard about the opportunity to go on a school trip with part of the 12th grade to Wien (Vienna), Austria. I jumped on the chance, for obvious reasons. Tomorrow morning my train departs early from Celle. I have to catch a connecting train in München, but by the end of the day I'll be in one of the cultural capitals of Europe and the place that is ranked in the top three every year as "The Most Liveable City in the World". Due to the short notice, I'm not sure exactly what we'll be doing there, but it's a chance to see something new and make new friends. I'll be sure to take lots of pictures and update this blog when I return Friday. Right after this trip comes Herbst Ferien (Fall Vacation), so the next day I have school is November 5th. I wish they had breaks like these in Vermont! My break won't be entirely relaxing though. I signed up for a German course at the local community college that takes place everyday for four and a half hours during my break, but at least that's something I really want to learn. Tschüß!