Training

Today I went to classes with Linda. She is a year older than Eva and that means that she picks 3 majors rather than taking all the usual classes for the same amount of time. This way, she has 7 hours a week for each of her major classes and 2 hours a week for her minors. She is majoring in Biology, French, and Health. Today for the first and second periods we were at the sports arena where the Trier soccer team plays for her sport training class. Today was their final exam day so they were being tested in different Track and Field sports. Rather than in America where you get points in gym for effort and participation, here you are literally being graded based on your physical ability to do something. For example, the first activity she did was the high jump. There was a certain height she had to jump over in order to get a 1 (they use numbers in Germany rather than letters so a 1 is the same as an A, 2=B, 3=C and so on. At the same time, it is a points system. 15 points is 1+, 14 points is 1, 13 points is 1-, 12 points is 2+, 11 points is 2, 10 points is 2-...). It's far from an easy A. Hardly anyone, even the most athletic of the bunch, scored 1s. I couldn't believe the expectations that had been set! It's also very competitive and self-driven. You get out of it what you put in. After we were done there, we went to Bio and French and then back to the arena once those classes were over (1pm) from 2-4pm for even more testing. I got to be teacher's assistant and hang out with the injured kids which was fun. Linda also explained the German school system to me today. After fourth grade, your teacher decides whether you should go to Realschule, Hauptschule, or Gymnasium (listed in order of least academic rigor to most). Basically the rest of your life is decided at the age of 10. Realschule goes through 9th grade and is for people who will most likely be doing manual labor or some kind of other job that doesn't require heavy thinking. Hauptschule goes through 11th grade and is for people who will have some kind of low-ranking desk job. Lastly, Gymnasium is a course that goes through 13th grade and is for management positions and other more mentally tough jobs. From Gymnasium, students have the choice to attend University, but it isn't like college in America where it is required to be able to have a good job. The amount who want to continue studying and those who do not is roughly half and half. You don't necessarily need to attend the university on order to get a really good job. Way different from America, as most things are here. I'm tired now. Goodnight!