I started class bright and early the next morning with Sara. I worked with her 9th grade English classes for the day. As soon as I introduced myself as an American, they all freaked out. There was one boy in particular in the front row who just stared at me... for 45 minutes straight. I must say, his eye contact was impressive! Something I noticed as I went from class to class was that at least one student in each class, if not more, was wearing something with the American flag on it -- be it an American flag scarf, t-shirt or even shoes. It always surprises me how ubiquitous the American culture is. The school is much larger than I originally thought -- it is the only school in the area so it has between 1500-2000 students with 120 teachers. My mentor told me that many of the teachers are young -- so much so that 8 of them were pregnant last year! Whoa!
The school is comprised of students in Gymnasium, Hauptschule and Realschule. Germany divides their schools differently than in America-- sorting the students into programs best suited to their strengths. They start this process very early on in Germany so that by the time they reach high school they are either on track to go to university or to go into vocational training.
One thing I noticed throughout my first day was that all of the teachers were either referring to me as Frau or Mrs. Krauter. At first I thought I was just misunderstanding their accent and then I thought maybe this was because I wear a gold band on my right ring-finger (many Europeans wear wedding rings on their right ring-fingers instead of left). After the third or fourth time this happened, I told them that actually, even though I'm wearing a gold band (which is actually a rosary ring I bought from a nun in the Vatican) I am not married so that means I am "Miss" not "Mrs." Krauter-- as MRS implies marriage. Of course, this is a huge difference in Germany where they have almost completely gotten rid of their term for Miss (fräulein) so as to be more politically correct. Even women who are single are still referred to as Frau/Mrs. Oh cultural differences! Always a source for entertainment!
After working at the school for two days, it is obvious that the students will need a bit of time to get used to my presence. I tend to make every one nervous because I am a native speaker and they are all learning a foreign language which can be very intimidating and scary at times -- especially when you have an expert in the room! The funniest thing that has happened so far was in one of the 8th grade classes-- a student asked me if I had ever seen any "stars." I had to think for a second and then remembered that during the Super Bowl in Indy I saw Neil Patrick Harris. As soon as I said this, you would have thought I had just offered them all free front row tickets/VIP passes to the next Justin Bieber concert. Who knew German middle schoolers were such huge fans of Neil Patrick Harris?!
On a different note, Rotenburg an der Fulda is beautiful! All of the buildings in the innenstadt look like a set from Disney World -- the fact that some of the foundations are crooked just add to its charm! I feel like if I were to walk up to one of them and push they would all collapse. The river that runs through the town, the Fulda, adds even more to this town's charm. I am a bit sad I will be moving to Kassel to live with fellow college students in a month, but take comfort in the fact that I will still be working here every day. Oh life! How exciting you are! Feeling especially blessed on this chilly fall night.
ps... my apartment is located in the "suburb" area, surrounded by families and is right next door to a little park that is always full of very, very energetic children... who enjoy ding-dong ditching. I'm more impressed that this is an international pass-time! Once again, who knew?
This reads like a fireside chat over a glass of wine...ER...bier!
AntwortenLöschenI am definitely agog!
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