More Schule

Hello again,

So, there are only two more entries left before I am back in the present, and I have to admit that it feels pretty good the out of the woods there. Apologies again for not writing on time, but I was pretty busy over the past couple of weeks with soccer, rotary trips, and a few school things. In fact, I can tell you guys in advance that i will be going dark again for the last week of October because i will be on a Berlin tour with my fellow exchange students here in District 1841 (Bavaria). So, for the first time, here is some advance warning that there is no point in checking the blog for that week, because I will probably not be writing.

Now, as promised, a couple of things about school has begun for me. I think that the best way to do this is to go through each of my classes in order of how they appear in the week and then describe essentially any differences between them and the Canadian courses.

First thing on Monday, I have Grade 11 art class (Kunzt). Those of you who know me can stop laughing now. It is true that I have not taken an art class since Grade 7, when I wrote on my grade 8 electives selection form "Please do not put me in art" no less than 6 times. However, it is a good opportunity for me to meet students, and it also has the added bonuses of not being an academic course and fitting into my timetable, so there you have it; I am in Art Class. I am also in a Grade 10 Chemistry (Chemie), and French (Französich). Unlike in Canada, the division of Subjects begins mud earlier, so by Grade 10 the students have been taking separate Chemistry, Biology, and Physics classes. French begins in Grade 10 here, so I am taking French from the very beginning. However, the pace of learning has been so fast that I think that we will have caught up to my French level by Christmas. It is like this with all classes here, since the school is a Gymnasium. I am also in Grade 11 English, grade 9 and 12 History (Geschichte) and grade 10 Geography. Here, History from grade 9 to 11 focuses entirely on the 20th century, while Grade 12 focuses on the Abiteur (which I will get to later). Geography is a very technical course, even in Grade 10, requiring a lot of thought and memorization which you do not see in a geography class in Canada (I really enjoy geography if and when I know whats going on). I am also in a Math 11 class and two PE classes, one of which is a soccer class, the other of which is a swimming class. However, although these classes have specific topics, no more training occurs in these classes than you would have in a normal PE class in Canada.

Finally, I have the Seminars. These are massive projects, which take a year and a half to complete. beginning in Grade 11, students can choose a school subject and perform a project related to that topic. This takes two different forms, an a practical real life application of a project (for example, in my math based seminar, the class is constructing a math app for use on smartphones) or a theoretical massive research paper (for example, in my geography centric seminar, the students have to write a paper on the sustainability of a city of their choosing). these projects change every year, so there is no guarantee of exactly what you will doing from year to year. However, these projects result in you gaining important life skills for the future, such as how to properly write an informative paper and/or organization, resource management, and team cooperation. I'm sure no student in Canada wants more work to do, but I think that these courses should be introduced to the British Columbian education system.

Thirdly, and finally, the Abiteur. This is the Gigantic pre-graduation final exam that all students in grade 12 must take to graduate. This test covers all curriculum that you have learned in the Gymnasium and is controlled and administered by the state of Bavaria. For those of you from Revelstoke, imagine a challenging provincial exam on everything you learned in High School that you are required to pass to graduate. For the most part, the entire Grade 12 year is spent preparing for this exam, and after the exam, much like Graduation in Canada, the class will sometimes go on an "Abi-Trip" which is typically a vacation to a sunny resort somewhere in the Mediterranean. There are brochures for two different trips available to look at in the school, and at some point in the year the Grade 12's decide which they would rather go on.

That is all for my school description this time. Once again, if you guys have any questions about the education system in Germany or recommendations for future articles, please post them in the comments below and I will get working on them right away. My pile of draft ideas for blogs is dwindling, and I would very much like to fill it up with new ideas. Again, thank you for reading, and I'll be back with some mountain adventures very soon.