In September 2017 I started to study a grammar school in Germany. I wasn´t sure if it was a good idea because all of my friends stayed in the Czech Republic so I thought it would be difficult to study here. I was very nervous on the very first lesson and I was only hoping it wouldn´t be bad, but all my worries disappeared soon.
As we were arriving to school on the first day, I was totally amazed by the sight that occurs to me. The school building built in a very modern style rose in front of us. The walls of the school are made of glass and only the frames, which are around the window-wall and are supporting the whole building, are metal.
On contrary, I could pick our school in the Czech Republic, where you can clearly on the first sight see that it´s very old. So is, surprisingly, the building in Germany too, but it´s not seen on the first sight and not so obvious. The surrounding nature is very different too. My Czech grammar school is set among high family houses, and block of flats, there is not much space for nature. It´s simply in the very centre of the city. Germany´s grammar school, on the other hand, stays under a huge hill, which is covered with thick forest and on the highest point there is a magnificent church named Kreutzberg. You would probably not expect such a thing standing in the middle of the city. I have to tell you it´s really this way. The hill is in the middle of Schwandorf and family houses, shops and restaurants are situated around it.
Anyway, this impressive impression was totally destroyed as I entered my class room. 20 young students were staring at me and nobody said a word. Only the nice – looking teacher smiled at me and introduced me to the others with many kind words. Then she told me about the school year. All the time she was nice to me. Surprisingly, she was very calm and sweet, just as it was absolutely normal to behave like this around the pupils in this way. (Later I got to know it was normal not only for her, but for all the teachers). In Germany, teachers have very close relationships with students. Sometime, when some of the pupils are sad, a teacher cut the lesson off and just speaks with the student. We exactly know when the teacher´s birthday is and they know when we have birthdays. At the beginning of the exchange I had some hard times and talking with my teachers, especially with the music teacher (who´s the closest one to me, because I spent a lot of time in music classes, when I was practicing my piano skills) really helped me. I felt like it´s possible to find a friend even in such a strange country, I gained more self-assurance. This I something very different from the Czech Republic.
In the Czech Republic some teachers talk about their life but most of them are closed to the pupils. They only teach them and don´t care much about the student´s life and feelings, sometimes they don´t even greet you in a school corridor. It isn´t only a fault of the teachers, it´s more because of the society, which isn´t used to sharing many personal feelings with others at school or at work. Older students don´t communicate with younger ones, like they do in Germany. Which is a pity, because the younger students could learn something new from older students and vice versa.
Sadly, to our position, it´s very obvious that Germany invests much more money to their schools, because the school equipment is on much better level than ours. Everything is digital, technical, interiors of the school are so colourful, full of beautiful paintings and pictures, there are many work things free for students to use, a school canteen has its own kitchen and a buffet has its own bakery.
It´s very sad that my Czech classmates will probably never get to know what´s the school system in Germany like, so they won´t desire to change anything in our school system. I only hope someday, my children will study in a school with comparable or even better school system like in Germany.
Martina Bosáková, sexta A
