Ein Jahr in Deutschland

   Hey everyone, I’m back again. Once again it’s a post about my trip to Greece, which I will finish up with one more post coming soon. I hope you like the blog!    So, after our lazy Tuesday on the beach we made plans to go to Matala, a small town on the other side of Crete, famous for its caves. These caves have been inhabited from the Neolithic age, and most recently by groups of hippies in the 1960s, most famously Jim Morrison and Joni Mitchell. Even today you can see the small rooms carved into the cliff face, with stone beds and tiny living chambers. So Wednesday morning we headed across the island to Matala, driving through the mountainous region of the island, passing by an enormous herd of sheep on the way. On the other side we found ourselves in Matala, with a beautiful beach and the cliff towering above it.      We sat down by the beach for a bit, while the adults enjoyed a coffee, and then we headed to t...

    Hallo ihr alle! Sorry for the short hiatus, as you’ll see I’ve been up to quite a bit recently and haven’t had a lot of time to write any blog posts. But now that I’ve got a fairly normal weekend I have some time to get a few posted. So here we go, Greece Pt. 1!    I’ll pick up the Monday after my great weekend in Amsterdam (see previous post), and the beginning of “Abi Woche.” Abi Woche is the final week before the 12th Grade takes their Abitur exams, which are pretty much the equivalent of the SAT and ACT in the US. Because they are about to take such a big step in their school career, they theme every day in the final week before, and dress accordingly. For example, at my school the themes were childhood, vacation, casino, and halloween. (This is just a random picture of my school because I'm not allowed to take pictures inside).     Friday was the final day, when they did their big senior prank. It star...

    Hallo jeder! Here’s my weekend post for last weekend, April 1-2. I’ve been busy this week, so it’s a bit late, but I hope you enjoy it nonetheless!     After my trip to Essen (see previous post), I had a mostly normal uneventful school week. The end of March/beginning of April is time for mid-semester exams in Germany, and I took my English exam on Wednesday. English class in Germany is pretty interesting, because it shows you what it’s like to learn your own native language, and what some of the most difficult nuances are. It’s also a nice course to have because it’s very easy, of course. But it’s definitely not a beginner’s course. In Germany, English is a mandatory course, and they begin very early in elementary school. By 10th grade, which I’m in, most students are already very proficient, and have no trouble speaking English. It’s generally a very different method than in the US, where foreign language courses often are not so ...