School Sweden vs Germany: relationship between students and teachers

The relationship between students and teachers is so much better in Sweden. The teachers are asking the students how they are doing, every teacher wants their students to do good, to be happy, the students have a saying in when they want to have a test, and in postponing lessons to a time where it fits the students better (for example if another lesson is cancelled) Iit is a very nice environment. Saying that teachers and students are friends, is said too much, but sort of. I like most of my teachers in Sweden a lot. There are maybe one or two that I don’t like so much, but they’re great compared to most of my german teachers. In Germany it’s more like 2 teachers that I LIKE. And the rest I don’t. And the interesting thing is that these teachers have something significant in common. They took us serious. They treated us like grown ups and not like “stupid teenagers” that don’t deserve to be treated the same because of their lack of experience in life. (time spend on earth = important life experience (?) ) They respected us. And mutual respect is the most important thing in a relationship. It’s not working without mutual respect. I don’t like to interact with people that don’t respect me and don’t see me as a reflective human being, that is able to make her/his own decisions and to take responsibilities for her/his actions. Nobody does. MUTUAL respect, come on, it’s not that hard. In Sweden the teachers respect you, no matter how dumb you might be. They see the strenghts of every student and support them. Which is definitely not the case in german schools. Sweden helps their students to build up self-confidence, apart from grades. If you fail a test, the teachers don’t tell you you should have studied more, but they ask you if you’re doing fine, why that happened and so on. They show that they care and want you to do good in school and feel good in general.

It’s not the case in german schools. The teachers don’t care if you’re stressed out because you have a couple of tests in a week. I have never heard my german teachers saying: Good job guys, I know you have really worked hard. I hear this every week here. Instead my german teachers said:”I have so much work to do. I work so hard.” And they just don’t see that we have worked hard. The teachers get their encouragement through their salary. We don’t get any. We want our hard work to be appreciated.

Everyone is so stressed out, teachers don’t respect their students, so students have a hard time respecting their teachers, there is no good relationship. It’s simply a cold and bad atmosphere in our schools and I really don’t look forward to going back.

Ask any student in Germany if they like school, the answer will never be yes. In Sweden it is different. Most people like school. It’s a nice environment. You don’t only go there to learn, but they educate you in so many ways, they actually have an impact on you and your personal growth.

A row of posts about school coming up, and here are some winter wonderland pictures

I notice more and more that I feel the need to write about the school systems in Sweden and Germany. Because it is an issue that really makes me angry. And I think that I've gained so interesting and valuable insights into the swedish school system, that I really want to share with you and give my opinion on.
It is sad that I can only reach so little people. But thank you for reading this and feel blessed ;)
I want to make a couple of posts about this. Because I think it is such an important issue, and it would be more structured than in one single post.



And in general I'm doing fine. The snow came back and transformed everything into a winter wonderland again. Only this time it's nicer, cause it's actually -2°C and not -15°C and there is much more daylight and also some sun. I have had a good weekend which, like every weekend, went by too fast. On friday after having a big italian test, that I have been studying for quite a lot during the week, I was at Uppsalas climbing center with my dear friends Anni and Noemi (exchange students from Germany and Hungary). It was fun, we want to do it more often. I haven't exercised in a while, because I was fighting with a cold for one week (still am unfortunately).

On saturday I slept in and Noemi came in the afternoon and we had a sleepover. We were watching a movie and Melodifestivalen in the evening (I should really write about Melodifestivalen some day). Sunday morning we went to church, where my hostfather and I were performing two songs that he has made. He is really good at playing the guitar and the piano (and singing as well). I was singing with him. And I haven't done anything like that before, singing in front of an audience. So I was super nervous. But it was fun. Having a cold made it a little harder for me though and it didn't sound the way I wanted it to. But I guess it was alright. After church Noemi and I went for a walk in the snow and took a lot of pictures, because seriously, it looks amazing. I felt like I'm in Narnia. I spent the rest of the day watching some videos and writing.

                          

One more week of school and then we have holidays. My hostfamily and I will go to Dalarna for a week, visit some people, go skiing (first time in my life), and do some other things. We haven't planned what exactly yet.

I hope you're all doing fine. Have a good week.


Franzi

rulla i snö & badtunna / rolling through the snow and hot bath tub

A couple of weeks ago, we did something really fun and very swedish. My hostfather's cousin has a hot bath tub (badtunna). You can use it in summer and in winter as well. One one side there is some kind of oven that heats the bath tub up. One the other side, there is space for people to sit in it. You put bathing clothes on and a hat, so your wet hair won't turn to ice and break (because of the cold). And when it gets too hot, you climb out of the tub and roll through the snow. It's thrilling. Afterwards you feel clearer again. And you have to drink a lot before the bath because your body looses so much water.

We ate tacos that evening. There is nothing better than tacokväll!:) [tacoevening, traditionally on fridays in Sweden] There was a boy, who had gone on exchange to Germany last year, and it was very funny and interesting to talk about the cultural differencies and our opinions. It was a pleasure to speak german again. Face to face, not on the telephone.

Here you can see a photo of a hot bath tub

It is definitely on the list of my top 3 experiences in Sweden. 

The weather has been less... bad. During the last week we had degrees above 0°C. Which was very nice. First the snow was melting. So there was a lot of water and uhm slush. So when the temperature fell below zero in the night again, it transformed the sidewalks into a skating rink. And if I wasn't running late for school already, I could have gone to the busstation on ice skates. In PE lesson, the teacher told us we could decide whether we want to do some strength inside or go for a walk to Uppsalas castle and back. In Germany that would not have been allowed. Because of all the insurance stuff. We are not even allowed to have lass anywhere else than in the classroom. Sad. My friends and me decided to go for a walk. First I thought we would just take a walk to ICA (supermarket ;) ) but we actually went to the castle and took some pictures as proof. We were sliding on the ice the whole way. It became difficult though, when we had to go on a hill. It was a lot of fun, but I almost fell 3 times because the ice was so slippery. When I'm scared, like really really scared, I scream so loud and terrible out of panick, that it sounds like someone just murdered me. I remember 4 times this happened here in Sweden. The first time was in summer when I saw a spider, and I was really not expecting to see one. The second time was a couple of months ago, when we I was filling up a bottle of water and my friend sneaked up behind me and said: buh. We were actually plannng on studying in the room. But this was really embarassing so we went somewhere else after I screamed in panic. The 3rd time was last weekend. We were having a sleepover with friends and she did the exact same thing. And I think she learned her lesson, to NOT scare me, because this always ends badly. I have to say, we were lucky nobody called the police after that. The 4th time was when I slipped on the ice. And I literally thought: "This is my end." But I managed to catch someone's shoulder, so I didn't fall. 

There was another fun thing that happened. Many people were skipping italian class and the teacher saw on the phone of a girl that was in class, that the girl that was skipping class had sent her a snap on snapchat. So he took a picture of himself, where he looks angry, with the girls phone and sent it to the other girl. It was hilarious. We need more teachers like that in Germany. 

It is a good feeling to know, that winter is coming to an end. There are so many things you can't do when it is cold outside and so little things you actually can do. Like: the other day, I wanted to go for a run in the forest. But the running path was icy and slushy, and it was dark. And I figured running on an icy, slushy path through the dark forest isn't the smartest thing to do. Plus I was a little afraid that I might meet animals that I don't want to meet. 

But right now the weather is quite nice. It's like spring, but the scent of flowers in the air is missing . 

You guys have a great time and enjoy the first rays of sunlight, that we have been missing for so long. 

And have a great Carnival my german friends! Next year I will celebrate it with you again. 

Heute in einer Woche ist Rosenmontag!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4LdGG4BzLA

So, I'll keep in touch. Ha det bra guys!

Franzi