"Are sweatpants really not a thing here?"

Alright, so remember how I said I was going to make a post all about school about a month ago? Yea, I finally just got around to it….SORRY. 

So, first day of school….Deutsch Schule…that was an experience...

First of all let me give you guys a run down of my initial schedule (I say initial cause we chopped and screwed when I started my language lessons so that I wouldn't be too overwhelmed with work, per se. and then I also switched out of some classes):

Mondays:

8:00-9:35: Mathematik

9:50-11:25: Deutsch 12 (it's the equivalent of English class in America)

11:50-1:15: Deutsch 6A (Because nonexistent German language skills)

13:55-15:25: Sport (Swimming! [Badminton in the second semester])

Tuesdays:

8:00-9:35: Politics 

9:50-11:25: Englisch (it's the equivalent of a foreign language class in America)

11:50-12:25: Deutsch 6A

13:55-15:25: Biologie (in English) 

Wednesdays:

8:00-9:35: Mathematik

9:50-11:25: Chemie

15:25-[I actually have no clue when it ends]: Englisch (every other week)

Thursdays:

8:00-9:35: Kunst (Art)

9:50-11:25: Deutsch 12

15:25: Politics

15:35: Biologie (in English)

Fridays:

8:00-9:35: Politics

9:50-11:25: Deutsch 6A

(So when my language classes started, I limited the number of classes down to only 4 classes [only classes I have in the morning]; Math, Deutsch 6A, English and Art.)

Alright, so first day of school. Let me first mention that I have never been "the new kid in school" since 2nd grade when I moved to Jersey, and in second grade everyone is nice and they like the new kid. With that being said, after my first day of school here, I feel for everyone that has ever been a new kid at a school during their adolescent years because it is sort of one of the worst feelings in the world (I know I'm being melodramatic, but let's not focus on my over dramatization of events, okay?). Anyway, being a new kid in a German School is 100x worse than being a new kid in an American school though. The students here have literally been going to school with the same people since 5th grade or perhaps longer, so they already have their group of friends and they're very tight knit and exclusive. So, let's time travel back a bit to the D.C preparation days: In D.C, we were kind of told that in most schools, exchange students usually have a somewhat easy time making friends because they're exchange students from a different country and that's exciting to people. Granted that we weren't told that it was easy for all but still that proved to be a big let down. [Alright, back to "present" time now]. No body at MLS was excited about "the new girl from America" because basically everybody, EVERYBODY, in Marburg has been abroad. Also, there have been lots of exchange students that have been to MLS; there's even a 'guidance counselor' that basically deals with Exchange Students. They even have an exchange program deal with an organization in Ireland and students come from Ireland each year to MLS for a while and students from MLS go to Ireland. Thus, having a new exchange student from America literally means nothing to the students here so no one "flocked over to the new student and instantly wanted to know more about where [I] came from and [my] life".

[I feel like that paragraph made me sound like I'm the type of person that expects everyone to approach me and I sound a bit spoiled or something of the sort, and I swear I'm not so, if I do, then just erase everything I said in that paragraph out of your memory, sorry]

However, not all of the German students are like cold hearted beasts. I actually meet some pretty cool people from this party that I went to during my second weekend in Marburg. I feel bad cause I think I've actually only attempted to talk to like 2 of the cool/nice people that I meet there (for instance, sorry Batur, Jasmine[I finally remembered your name!] and others, you were genuinely cool people, I'm just awkward about re-approaching people!). Also, none of the kids here wear sweatpants to school, like E V E R. In Jersey, everyone was entitled to having at least one bummy day per week where they could wear sweatpants. I live for bummy days, but I can never have a bummy day at school here and that's a bit saddening. 

But the first class on the first day isn't really a class, it's basically just an information session. and I only stayed up until the end of the first period because I had to leave and sign up for my language classes at Volkshoschule. But I did have to go to school for the rest of the day, because I came back before my second class started. When I say that I'm not cut out for these nearly 2 hour classes, I mean it. Back home, my classes are only 45 minutes long and then we have 5 minutes in between to get to the next class, which is a different subject. However, here, the classes are in total basically 1 hour and 50 minutes long, but they're broken up into 45 minute segments with 5 minutes in between. You might be thinking that it's not that bad but I'm not used to having the same subject taught back to back. Also, the stereotypical American trait that I embody is that I have a short attention span so having classes that are taught in a language that I don't understand for long periods of time is not the best time. However, I do like how I don't have the same classes every single day, it's basically like a preparation for college (especially since the German curriculum is 100x harder than the American curriculum [they're learning AP Calculus here and I have never even taken Pre-Calculus so…worst math headache ever]). Additionally, when I first heard that I could swimming as my sport course, I was instantaneously excited because I love swimming, but after my first experience of a German swimming sport class, I realized how out of shape I am after not swimming in years, and I also wish that I decided to take dance instead, I really wish I took dance instead. 

Now let's talk about my favorite classes though. Obviously English is in my top favorite classes. We're learning about America this year, so it has to be the easiest class I have ever taken. But my absolute favorite class HAS to be my German 6 class! They are so tiny and they're like little balls of utter adorableness! And they're so nice! They actually try to help me in class and they're funny and they're cool and they're just awesome; I'm sure if I was their age, they would actually be my best friends.

   

First Picture: Emily and Johanna 

Second Picture: Adrian, Emily and Johanna

Picture Time:

  

First Picture: Sofia (my liaison who also goes to MLS)

Second Picture: Lara (aka only person who actually talked to me on the first day of math)

         

Room where we had math the first day actually turned out to be the same place I have Bio. 

Alright, end of the post song:

I heard this song the first time that I went out into "the German nightlife scene" and it was stuck in my head ever since [I went the second weekend I was here]. So, here's Mindestens in 1000 Jahren by Frittenbude!