I should have paid more attention in AP Statistics

My first week of school is officially over. It was exhausting, kidding. My week started on Tuesday. The school wanted the exchange students to come on Tuesday instead of Monday so we could get acquainted with the school and get our student plans. Because I'm eighteen, I was placed in the 12th grade. I chose to be in class A. This means my schedule is more focused on art and language, which I love. I only have one science and one math class. Originally I was to have Biology and Chemistry, but I was forced to choose between Spanish and Chemistry so I obviously chose Spanish. I was also given the choice between philosophy and religion. Luckily I wanted the religion class, because the philosophy class turned out to be full.  Lotta Kallio, an exchange student from Finland is also in class 12a and we have every single class together. We chose our classes and then toured the school. There are many differences between the Goethe Schule and NHS.

1st: One bathroom per gender for the entire school, and they're outside. Yay for winter...
2nd: They have four floors of classes so there are many many staircases.
3rd: The school has two buildings, one is across the street.
4th: Students stay with the same class (students) all day.
5th: Both the students and teachers move from classroom to classroom.
6th: The cafeteria maybe seats twenty people. Lunch costs 2,50 Euros and there is one choice. You can      order other small snacks too.
7th: After every two periods students have a fifteen minute break. Then between the 6th and 7th period there is a forty five minute break for lunch. Needless to say kids don't need to inhale their food like in Northfield.
8th: Only boys have backpacks. There are a select few girls who use them, but overall girls use purses to carry their school supplies, etc.
9th: No sweatpants, ever!
10th: Because the German school system recently changed, some students have to finish school in a shorter time period. This means that grade twelve has ages 15-18.

Mein Studentinplan

Time	Period	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
7:45-8:30	1	Art	English	Spanish	History	Deutsch
8:35-9:20	2	Art	English	Spanish	History	Deutsch
15 Minute Pause
9:35-10:20	3	Biology	Math	Music	English	Spanish
10:20-11:05	4	Biology	Math	Music	English	Spanish
15 Minute Pause
11:20-12:05	5	Religion	Deutsch	SEM	Art	Sport
12:10-12:55	6	Religion	Deutsch	SEM	Art	Sport
45 Minute Lunch
13:40-14:25	7		Politics	Biology*	Math
14:25-15:05	8		Politics	Biology*	Math

*Wednesdays are kind of tricky. Every other week I have biology in periods 7 and 8. The first week I didn't have biology, but the second week I will. I have 8 periods on even numbered weeks. SEM stands for some theater art project thing. I'm not quite sure what it is, and every time I ask I get a vague answer.

Wednesday was the first day I had classes.My first class was Spanish 1 with Herr Leiner. There I met the majority of my classmates (some take French instead). The first person I talked to was an exchange student to Tennessee last year. She was really nice and answered many of my questions. I introduced myself to my classmates and then a fifteen minute question time ensued. Herr Leiner is the teacher in the school responsible for the exchange students, so he made sure that Lotta and I got to know our classmates right away. All of my classmates are super nice and understanding. They all try to speak English with me, and help me understand what's going on in class. One of the girls looks a lot like Jennifer Lawrence. Of course, me being the awkward person I am, introduced myself like, "Hi my name is Mari. You look exactly like Jennifer Lawrence!" I don't think I even waited for her name (Julia). Luckily, she is also super cool and there was only a small awkward moment. Like the other students, she and I have grown to be good acquaintances.

After the first day of school, Anna (former exchange student) and her friend Lisa invited Lotta and I along to a café. We met up with two of their friends from another class, Daniela and Emily. Even though I didn't understand most of what was said, I had a great time. I was grateful to be invited and I got to listen to them talk in German.

I only understand three of my classes so far - English, Spanish, and Math. I thought Art would be understandable, but so far the class has been more art history/appreciation than actual drawing. I don't think I will understand too much in Politics, Bio, and Religion either. I plan to take the tests in the three subjects I currently understand. Maybe as time goes by and I learn more German, more classes will be added to this list.

English Class:

SUPER EASY, DUH. However, they teach British english.

Spanish Class:

Also easy. They speak Castilian spanish instead of Latin America spanish. This means they use vosotros instead of ustedes and the accent is slightly different, like US english and British english.

Math:

I was not expecting to excel in this class at all. I assumed it would be easier because it's just numbers, but I did not expect to already know the material. Right now we are learning Probability and Statistics. Good thing I had a year of AP Probability and Statistics last year. Too bad I didn't always pay attention.

Dear Ms. Hoffelt,

I should have paid more attention in class.

Sincerely,
Mari