school

Hey again. I already wanted to upload this post yesterday but something got in between.



Monday 31.08.

It's hard to find time. Right now it's monday, 8:45 am and I'm on my way to school. I've been in school for a week now. My first day of school was good. The following days weren't. But it's alright. Things will get easier, I guess. Everything is different from Germany. They have a year of preschool in the swedish school system. Elementary school is until 6th grade. Then you change school until grade 9. So everyone learns on the same level. After that, you change school again and go in "gymnasiet" for 3 years. So 2nd graders in gymnasiet are as old as 12th graders in germany. And I'm in grade 2 here. In gymnasiet you can choose different programs. Like science, social studies (politics and psychology), social science (sociology or media), and on very few schools also a language program. There are so many programs and I have no idea what the others are, because I just know the ones heard about. I am in social science. I couldn't choose and it's not what I would have chosen, but maybe I can change it. I'll just have to try.

The school does not begin nor ends at the same time everyday. The lessons aren't 45 minutes,but about 1 hour. Actually that's different from lesson to lesson. When you're at school at 8:30am you can get free coffee. Lunch in the cafeteria is free also. Sadly the cafeteria is far away from my school. It's 2 stations with the bus.
You don't pay for schoolbooks, and you get a laptop which you can buy for 750 SKR (about 75€).
Swede's get paid for going to school. And not too less... They get about 1500SKR (=150€) But I don't. Because I'm an exchange student. And they normally also pay for the bus and train tickets.
I wondered how they can afford all this. My hostbrother and me did a research and found out Sweden invests  13% of all taxes in education. Germany uses 5%. That is for too little. We don't even have white boards... Dear german politicians, it is time fo change. We even have free WIFI in school!
School spirit is different from german schools, It is not strange to carry a bag with your school logo. Maybe that's because Uppsala is a big city and you really choose your school instead of just going to the nearest school.
The teachers are very nice. It's a relaxed atmosphere betweeen students and teachers. And the teachers really prepare their lessons. And yes, it's right that we call them by their first name. And that they thank the students for the lesson.
Everything is perfect except for...the students. They are very diifferent from what I used to. I can just talk about my program, because I don't now what the other programs are like. But I have the impression that they care much more about their looks than about school. My program is very easy compared to science. And that's the problem I think. Most people probably chose social science because it's easy. And I am much more ambitious than they are. So I don't really fit in.