Wo ist sie denn, die Neue aus Australien?

Stimmt, da war doch dieses hübsche Mädchen aus der Q 11, die auf einmal nach den Herbstferien bei uns war und jetzt sehe ich sie nicht mehr. Falls du dich das fragst, hier ist der Hintergrund:

Zwei Monate in einem anderen Kontinent zur Schule gehen

Brittney ist in den weit entfernten Kontinent Europa gereist, um dort das typische deutsche Alltags- (Schul-)Leben in Günzburg kennenzulernen. Ihre Reisebegleiterin war Lina Proksche, Dossi-Schülerin in der Q 11 und Brittneys Austauschpartnerin. Sie war direkt zuvor für drei Monate in Australien zu Gast. Solch ein Programm ist für Dossi-Schüler möglich, wenn die Noten keinen Grund zur Sorge geben. In Deutschland lebte Brittney für zwei Monate bei den Proksches in Günzburg. Und das Geniale dabei ist, dass sie manchmal sogar im Englischunterricht als „assistant teacher“ mithalf und dann war es richtig cool. So z. B. in der Klasse 7 C, die richtig Spaß mit Brittney hatte. Mittlerweile ist sie leider schon wieder zurück in Australien, aber vielleicht treffen wir sie irgendwann irgendwo wieder.

Hier sind ein paar von Brittneys Eindrücken über unser Leben in Deutschland und über das, was ihr an der Schule auffiel – natürlich unverfälscht, also in ihrer Muttersprache:

Brittneys thoughts

I left Australia on Thursday the 21st of November for my first flight without my family by my side. Saying goodbye was the hardest thing I have had to face because I have never spent more than a couple days away from my family.

The exchange program I am on is 10 weeks long and it is an experience to grow as a person, to understand a different culture and help you enhance the language you may be studying. There are 51 students from Victoria, 20 from South Australia and 20 from New Zealand in Bavaria from the 21st of November 2019 to the 27th of January 2020. Leaving the Aussie summer and arriving in the German winter was quite a shock. I have been to the snow in Australia before but the cold there does not compare to it here. Bavaria has so many old buildings that give it, its beautiful culture whereas Melbourne has a lot of Highrise buildings in the city and only a few old buildings. In Australia the majority of people will not take their shoes off at the door nor hang their jackets/coats up at the entrance, everything that is yours will go back up to your own room or if it’s really dirty you will leave it outside. You also notice that in local German areas everyone says “Hello” or “Good morning” whether you know the person or not but in Australia and especially Melbourne you usually will only talk or greet the people you know personally.

School is also very different in Germany. Compared to Australia high school in Australia runs from around 8:30 am to 3:00 pm every day. So you spend lunch at school every day and you are not allowed to leave; you must pack a lunch. The school layout themselves are quite different too, in Australia you will typically see a lot of buildings for a specific subject, but the majority of German school have one multi-story building for all subjects and classes. The lessons in Germany are shorter than the ones in Australia but you learn a lot more in each and finish the topic quicker. Australian high schools allow more selection in topics though to benefit you in what career you want to do after school finishes. German schools don’t wear a school uniform, but Australian do. The schools there want to refrain students from competition and maybe they want to give the school a neater look.