Different Schools

Hey guys,

In this blog I will compare my school back in Germany with the school that I am going to right now.

Size 

My current school here in America has about 100 Students in the High School, meanwhile at my school in Germany we have about 700 students in the High School.

The Structure of the School Day 

At my school in Germany, the school day begins usually at 8:10 a.m. and typically ends between 1 and 3 p.m. The time school ends is not consistent because students have different classes, in different orders each day of the week. 

For example, we might have math for two hours Monday morning, but we would not have it at all on Tuesdays, other students may start their Mondays with biology instead. Here in America every single day is the same, that means that your schedule does not change at all and that you have that subject every day. And if a teacher get's sick and the school can not find a substitute teacher, we get in most cases those hours free.

Time Spent in School


In the United States, students go to school for extended periods of time, sometimes coming home from a regular school day as late at 4 p.m or later if you do any sports. Lunches are scheduled into the day as a regular feature. At my current school every students has his own number which charges the food to them, in germany you pay for  your meal before you eat.The lunch break at my American School is about 30 minutes long. In contrast, my school in Germany has a one hour lunch break, where you can eat lunch at school or eat lunch off campus, but to be able leave school during lunch you have to be at least in High School otherwise you must stay on campus. 

Holidays

Summer vacation functions differently in Germany and in the U.S. American students have about 12 weeks of summer vacation, while German students have only six weeks off. The reason why German students have only six weeks of break is because we have spring break that is two weeks, an autumn break that is one week, and a Christmas break that is two weeks long.

After School


When Americans leave the school, they typically use the schools busses, drive them selves or their parents pick them up to get home. If you do any sports you leave school later due to practices and when you get home you still have to get your homework done, therefore, there is not much time left until bedtime. In contrast to America, it feels like that students have more personal and free time after school.  Usually they walk home or most of them use the public transportation to get home.

  

Conclusion

The German and American school systems both have their pros and cons, and each produces well-rounded students. While the two systems do certainly have their differences, any student would be lucky to attend either.

                                                 

My trip to New York City

Hey,

(Still in New York)
The next morning i woke up around 6.15 a.m. and took a shower. After I took a shower, I brushed my teeth and went to breakfast. There was a bunch of food and I ate an egg with toast and orange juice. We were supposed to have breakfast with our groups, so I looked for my group and sat with them. After breakfast our group went with our leader, Kathrine, into a classroom. In the classroom, we talked about the trip to New York City. She told us that we will have a long day trip with a lot of walking and also showed us a plan of the route. Kathrine also instructed us to stay with at least two people from our group. After the introduction, all the groups (around 200 students) took several buses to New York City. The ride was about one and half hours long but it went by fast. During the ride, I was very fascinated by the very tall buildings and I had the feeling I was in a movie. The buses dropped us off next to the Central Park. We then headed to Central Park where we walked around and looked at the attraction. After that, we kept on walking and it got pretty warm. It was a super hot day. It was around 100 degrees. Then the trip started to get tough and exhausting. The whole group asked for a break, because we all were tired. So we were given a one hour break for lunch. After the break, we headed to Times Square. All in all it was a good day, but it was way too hot for me, and I wish we had a little bit more free time. I would say it was a nice experience, but I wouldn't do it again on such a hot day.


Now I'm going to tell you how you get the best experience as possible out of a exchange year.

1. Always be open and be open for new things.
When you get invited to a dance, don't say no because you are shy. Say yes, and go for it. Even if you end up in really strange situations, you will always have a good story to tell after wards.

My Friends back in Germany 

2. Don't spend too much time on your phone and with home.
When I say home, I mean home where you are actually from. It's normal to miss home but if you are too much on your phone and just text your friends back home, you will get homesick pretty fast.

That was my group

3. Make friends from your host country and with other exchange students.
To make some good local friends, it takes a whole lot of effort. The best way to engage with the local culture is to have some friends who are from there and can tell you about it. Maybe you will find friends for life.

My host Brothers Garrett and Miles, and me are cruising with the Golf Cart 

4. In case of problems always talk about them
It's always good to talk about problems, because it makes you feel better. In case of a problem, try to talk to your host parents or to your organization, or if it is a very bad issue then talk to your parents. But that's the last option.

Oskar from Sweden and I walking through New York City 

5. Never give up 
This is a once in a lifetime experience, so make the best of it, and don't give up and just go home.
Try to enjoy the exchange year.

A picture of me in the central park of New York City 

First time in New York

Hey,

My first night in New York was good. I slept good and deeply.
I thought i will have problems with the time differences of 6 hours, but i fall asleep directly.
In the next morning all students had breakfast together. The Cafeteria was huge and had enough space for all exchange students.
The food was good and i met many nice people from all over the world.
After we ate, we were divided in groups. In my group i had the exchange students which were going to Colorado, New Mexico and Kansas.
In this group, i met the first time my host brother from Sweden. His name is Oskar.
Then we had 6 more exchange students (we were the smallest group) Jonas (Switzerland), Jan-Niklas (Germany), Niklas (Germany), Sasy (Thailand), Gia (Italy), Oskar (Sweden), a boy from japan whose name i forgot and then me.
Our group leader Katharine, is 25 years old and from Colorado.
So when we went in our classrooms, everyone had to tell something about his life and why we were exited for our 10 month exchange. After that, we played many games, to get to know us. The first game was, we had to choose one partner from a different country (if possible) and then we had to sit back to back. One of them had to hold a blanket piece of paper with a pen and the other one had to hold a picture and had to describe what the picture was look like.
We didn't only played games. She also taught us how Americans are and some differences between America and home. For example, American don't like to ask for help, so we should ask them or that we couldn't wear to short clothes and she also told us that we have to follow the rules of our host parents. At all, she taught us about the basic stuff.
The first three hours, i really enjoyed the games and had fun too, but after that it just started to get boring.
After a long day of games and class we left to have dinner in the cafeteria.
They had a big selection of food, so even picky people could find what they like.
Our group sat together and we talked about everything and just had a awesome night.
And i really liked the atmosphere, even that i knew those people since a few hours.
After dinner my friends and I we sat in the lounge and talked about our flight and how excited we are for the one day trip on the next day to New York City.

Leaving home

Hey,

This is probably one of the hardest things I’ve ever dealt with in my life. Saying goodbye to someone so special to you.

My name is Karim and I'm a 17 year-old boy from Hamburg, Germany.  I'm participating in a high school exchange year in Colorado, USA. In this blog I will write about my life in the USA.


It all started like this...

It was noon on a Wednesday and I was sitting in my room just thinking about everything.
I just realized that I'll be away from my family, friends, school and my hometown for 10 months.
Then my mom came in and asked me if I have my passport and everything important for the flight, and I said, "yes". My mind was going crazy, I felt nervous, exited, and sad at the same time. I've never had that feeling before. I was standing in my room with a smile and tears in my eyes when my mom told me that it was time to go. Then, I carried my bag to the car and we picked up two other friends.
When we arrived at the airport my whole family and friends were waiting for me. There were around 15 people. After I checked my bag in, it was time to say goodbye. 
I had promised myself not to cry, because its not masculine, but I had tears in my eyes. 
I was not flying alone. I was in a small group with other German exchange students. We took the plane from Hamburg to London and had a 2 hour transit. In London, we met other exchange students from all over the world. We all took the plane to New York City. It was an 8 hour flight which was pretty comfortable and funny too. While on the flight I was listening to music and watched like 4 films. After we left the plane, we waited like 2 hours to get out of the airport, because the lines were so long.
After we finally passed the passport control, people from my organization, EF (Education First), were waiting outside to welcome us. We introduced ourselves and had some funny conversations. At approximately 7 pm we headed out to our stay. The bus ride was about 2 1/2 hours and we saw a lot of
New York City. When we arrived in our stay, I just unpacked my bag and finally (after many hours without sleep) went 
to bed.