Friday was my first day at my new German Gymnasium. The high school system is separated into three types of schools; Gymnasium, Realschule and Hauptschule. The Gymnasium is full of kids who passed a test after fourth grade and chose the path towards University, rather than vocational training. All CBYX students are placed in Gymnasiums because of the high standards of the program.
My school has around 1000 students, ranging from fifth to twelfth grade. This is a bit disconcerting, as I'm not used to watching for little kids when I walk between classes. For the first week, another CBYX student and I will be shown around the school by two 12th-grade mentors. We'll follow them to classes, to try everything before we decide on our schedules on Thursday. We started this last Friday. I was taken French, History and German classes. Needless to say, I had no idea what was going on in both History and German, although I was comfortable enough in French class.
I'm pretty sure the specific Gymnasium I am attending is different from the others, as everyone I've talked to previously has told me that everyone in the same grade takes the same classes, and actually stays in the same class room while the teachers move between classes. However, I found that my schedule will be quite similar to the one I had in Petaluma (specific classes for each student, with the student walking between classes at the end of each period,) with a few exceptions. The biggest of these is that each student takes 8 or 9 periods worth of classes, which are then spaced out on different days. In my Californian high school I only took 7 classes, and many of my friends in different schools had only 6.
I don't have a lot more to say at the moment, but I will continue to talk about school as it starts making more sense. For the time being I will follow German students to classes I don't understand and try to make my mind up about my schedule. Also, I will be sure to start taking pictures.
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