Today I got a first class look into the life of the German teenage student. My host family and I had breakfast at 635 am this morning. Early? Yes. Delicious? Hell yea! I can't remember a time when I was treated with homemade everything. And I mean everything: jam, honey, more jam, butter, rolls, pretzels, you name it. The only thing that wasn't homemade was the coffee, and even that was as smooth and hot as Peet's from back home. And to think I was nervous about leaving California ... I should have left earlier because Germany is my kind of country. I got on the bus with Michael and the other German kids (still dark outside) and rode up the mountain to get to Gymnasium Untergriesbach at 7am. These kids have true grit; I cannot imagine doing this in high school. If I had to, I'm sure I'd miss the bus at least twice a day. All I can say is thank God that we had cars in California.
Upon arriving at the Gymnasium, I met with the director of the school. Mr. Brunner ended up being exactly who I pictured a German director would be like. This man had a smile complete with mustache that could light up a dark cave full of trapped miners, and he wore this outrageous yellow turtleneck that matched his car. What a boss. I was greeted with an onslaught of names I couldn't remember or pronounce and shook hands with many teachers before running into the guy that was going to help me. Mr. Sterhn (I'm guessing that's how he spells it) then proceeded to tell me that I would be giving lessons to the same class of kids for 5 hours! I was pretty shocked, I don't think I've ever talked for 5 hours straight. I don't know any kids that are capable of paying attention to the same person for that long! Luckily the work I did on the plane payed off. My lesson plans were ready to go, and all I could do was wait for my pupils to show up.
The kids were great. I had a class of 23 9th graders sitting and looking at me like I was a teacher, taking notes and doing their best to understand my English. 5 hours of lecture is a feat for even seasoned college students. I have no idea how they coped. I asked them if they had questions, and I received a wave of blank stares. This one girl kept rolling her eyes whenever I asked for questions. I guess that means that they didn't get it at all. I'm sure she was thinking: "Doesn't he realize I have no idea what the hell he's saying?" Yet there were moments of clarity! When I asked them the difference between purines and pyrimidines, they flipped through their notes and answered correctly! Other times I would have to choose victims instead of volunteers to come to the board and test their knowledge of base pairing rules. The victims knew exactly what to do. They were then greeted with rousing applause from their peers. So I tend to think at least I brought some energy into the room and that the kids might have left with some knowledge. And in English too!
But no matter where you go in the world, high school kids are mostly the same. There were the girls that asked to go to the bathroom a couple times within 20 minutes of their last trip. I watched this kid steal another girl's pencil pouch; she went on to take his notes and rip them into pieces until he gave her pencils back. Hilarious. My guess is he had a little crushy poo on the girl. All in all, I was extremely impressed with their attention spans and patience. Their efforts to comprehend me were admirable. I am sad that I probably won't get to teach them again; I am, however, extremely excited to do it again tomorrow for a different group of students. Pretty damn good day if you ask me.
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