Jule's Schooling: In and Out of Classroom

A big difference between American and German school is the length of the school day.  Jule's classes begin at 8:25 a.m. and end at 3:45 p.m.  Her classes are 50 minutes long each.  In Germany, her days are sometimes as short as 7:45 to just after 1 p.m.  (Depends on the day, she says.)  I remember thinking when I lived there that the kids were skipping school, since I saw them on the streets in the early afternoon.  Nope.  Just out early.

Here are pictures of Jule's schools.

Sylvan Hills High School in Sherwood, Arkansas, USA

You may see the full campus of Jule's American school here.

And below is Jule's school in Germany...

Ernst-Barlach-Gymnasium in Unna, Germany

During this LONG American school day, the students are exposed to both serious (hard) classes like Geometry, American History, English, etc but also fun classes.  I had to take a guess at which  "fun" classes Jule would like to take.  I put her in one called Housing.  This is her first class of the day and covers things like interior design, running a household, etc.  So far I believe that she likes it.  I also put her in a arts, crafts and pottery class.  As I mentioned in an earlier blog, she has already brought home Oragami.  (Apparently she helps some of the boys in the class because they just don't "get it.")   :)

To give Jule the real "Arkansas experience" I have recently tried to explain to her what a "redneck" is.  It's hard to put into words, I have found.  I tell her that she'll know one when she sees one.  But for her German friends and family, here is an example of how a "Redneck" looks:

This is something that we make jokes about in America, but these people really do exist in small towns in the southern United States.  We have comedians who do nothing more than make fun of Rednecks.  Rednecks have their own way of speaking English.  For instance, instead of "everyone" they say "y'all" ("you all", as Jule now knows after she asked me what "y'all" means.)  Here's an example of how a Redneck would speak differently:

"My brother from Jawjuh bard my pickup truck, and I aint herd from him in munts."

=

My brother from Georgia borrowed my truck and I haven't heard from him in months."

or

"I cudnt unnerstand a wurd he sed ... must be from some farn cuntry."

=

I could not understand a word that he said.  He must be from some foreign country."

If you don't speak English as your first language, you probably could not understand what these people are saying.  We have trouble sometimes.  In fact, if we have television shows featuring "rednecks" then almost always there must be captions.

In order to give her the real Arkansas Redneck experience, we are attending the Redneck Games of Arkansas.  She and I need to start training.  It would be GREAT if we could bring home a prize.