Well, I don't really have any tragic stories, any extreme blunders, or spectacularly embarrassing moments to tell, but basically my first day of school was boring, even more boring than my German course school in Aarau for the past three days.
In that school I was with fourteen other exchange students who came here without knowing one word of German. The lessons were boring because I already knew the stuff, and I have actually tested out of going there anymore. Even though half of the kids spoke Spanish, everyone knew English, and they were fun to hang out with. Yesterday I even got to play my violin with a guy from Indonesia. So awesome. Everyone came from everywhere: China, Japan, Chile, Iceland, Columbia, Brazil, and several other countries, but today all of us went to our own respective Kantonsschule for the first time.
Here is what I expected from what others have told me: Strict teachers, focused students, absolutely no phones, lots of clocks, lots of note-taking, no goofing around, a prompt bell schedule, and uncomfortable chairs that force you to sit up straight.
Ha. Right.
Honestly, I was very surprised. My host mom drove me to school, and a man who is probably the equivalent of a principal went over my schedule with me. In Warwick, my American school, our schedule is exactly the same everyday, but my schedule here is really weird.
My first class was Geschichte (History). Actually my first class would have been Gym, but thankfully I got
out of that. I introduced myself a little to my Klasse (the class that shares all the core subjects), surprising everyone with my superb German skills (or rather not so superb). Then I sort of sat in the corner for the duration of the class, and I didn't really understand the lecture at all. For classwork/homework, we had to read several pages from the textbook. It was like reading a foreign language. Oh, wait...
After that my Klasse went to French, but I don't speak French, so obviously I didn't have a class for that period. Therefore, I found my way to the Mediothek (Library). Two girls were really nice and told me that they would come find me to take me to the next class, but until then I had an entire hour to kill. Every class is 45 minutes long, but there are also "Pauses" between every class, so it was very long. I tried to read the History pages, but that was hopeless. Then I doodled a little, and then I read a magazine (in English!!). The girls stayed true to their word and saved me from my boredom by taking me to Wirtschaft (Economy).
Both of my first two teachers were men and very laid-back. Students talked while they talked, slouched, goofed around, even texted, and the teachers didn't really care. There are fifteen boys and nine girls, and I've discovered that no matter what country you are in, boys will still be boys. What a universal truth.
I've never had Economy, so I understood nothing, but then I had lunch, and I ate by myself because the nice girls went back home for lunch. I slowly ate my packed lunch, savoring every bite, drinking my Rivella soda sip-by-sip, and by the time I finished, I had only 50 more minutes until my next class. I was quite annoyed. At Warwick, lunch is only half an hour, and that includes the time it takes to walk to the cafeteria, wait in line, and eat.
After another lonely, exceedingly long session of doodling in the library, I went to Deutsch (German) class. That one lasted for one and a half hours. The students all had to do some sort of presentation, and then the teacher (this time a woman) gave us a book to read (in German) and another project. Two boys invited me into their group, and they asked me lots of questions about America. I think that we were actually supposed to be doing something, but we didn't really do anything.
Then we all went to Kunst Geschichte (Art History), and that was a little more interesting because I could look at pictures of art and understand that the teacher was most likely talking about them.
Finally the class was over (not that I would have known because there were few clocks in the building), and I took the bus home. Did I mention that it rained?
The first thing I did when I got home was eat comfort food: chocolate.
My bedroom. No carpet as you can see.
My desk and my balcony.
This is my very first train ride in Switzerland.
My new friend from Iceland. We rode the same trains to Aarau.
My new Indonesian friend who also plays the violin.
Please keep me in your prayers, and hopefully my school day tomorrow is substantially better. :)
No comments:
Post a Comment