My second day of school

Yesterday was my second day in school. First we had in our homeroom and after that we had every class over the time of 45 minutes. Math is really boring because the most things I did before. They use the same calculator as we used in Germany! Foods is really interesting. We have to work on our own and have a few weeks for one theme. In ELA we started to read a novel called 'the curious incident of the dog in the night-time'. The questions of our teacher are not demanding at all! And in Art we had to do Art Cards. Our teacher gave us the size for the cards (in inches; usually they have meters AND inches). We had to rip something out of magazines and next week we have to stick that on the card. Art every single day...that is another thing I have to get used to.
But yesterday I found the rooms better. That is an advantage when there is only one staircase you can use and when you only have four rooms you have to find. :D And I never thought that I understand the teachers; but I understood nearly everything they told us. :) We can eat during the classes and I saw some pupils ate chewing gum during the lessons and the teachers did not say anything...But we have no 'big' breaks. Between two periods are only 5 minutes to change the room. How to go to the washroom then?!
Everyone has got his own table and they are really small. But all students only have a pen and a file on their tables (except me :D). The papers have 3 holes, not 2 or 4 like in Germany...That is really stupid!
The teachers do not let us go before the bell rings; but they also do not teach us after the bell rang.
In every subject we write 8 exams (or something like that). The Canadians have to collect credits for their classes because they can only graduate when they have at least 100 credits (over 3 years). Fortunately, I do not have to look after that. :) The marks are in percent. And all teachers want to know our marks from last year. And when you got the best mark in Germany, you theoretically would have 100% in Canada, I think. But I do not think that you can do it like this. :D So I made a question mark...
Everyone always tells us: Be respectful (concerning class mates, teachers and the building)! And the building is really clean! And as the school has a very good repetition all over Calgary every teacher tells us not to break any rules. When you are absent without saying it then you have to speak with the teachers and they phone your parents, and so on...
Every time you leave the school during the lessons (I have to do that for the Rotary meetings) you have to sign out in the main office. And for fees etc. there is the business office...a huge school!
And they say us what we are allowed to wear to school - clothes must cover underwear, skirts/dresses no shorter than mid tight, shirts/tops long enough to cover navel, no low cut fronts, shirts/tops/dresses must have shoulder straps; and we are not allowed to wear clothes that discriminate others...and we are not allowed to play cards! That is soo strange.
I do not like Canadian TV shows. They have no content at all...Television advertising is shorter, but they are more often.^^
Here in Calgary are a lot of squirrels. That is what I recognized yesterday on my way home for the umpteenth time. ;)

My first day of school

Today was my first day of school. We start school at 9am and can go home at 3.39pm. Every day we have four periods (subjects) and every period is 86 minutes. Do not ask why it is so strange...I do not know. From 12.02pm to 12.37 we have lunch break. At the moment I have Math, Foods, ELA (that is English) and Art. And the next semester which will start in February I have my other four classes (Design, Social, Science and PE). We have every class every day. I think that will be really demanding. -.- But the teachers are all really nice! Every teacher has his own room and you go there. They all have their own concepts and the seating plan is different everywhere. Every day before school you can meet your teachers for tutorials. That means that you can ask them concerning the subject and they help you (and there is only you!). And they all use laptops so blackboards do not really exist. The are pretty strict with attendance and punctuality. When you miss at an examen without giving any reason then you get a zero. Every examen has to be written later when you missed it!
Today we only had each period for the time of 30 minutes. So the day was not that long, but every teacher told us the same and what they expect and so on. That was kind of boring. And we had hamburger for lunch (what the called 'Welcome BBQ' :D).
The school is so huge and so confusing. There is the basement, 1st floor, 2nd floor and 3rd floor. And not every room in one floor can be reached by the same stairs. So you have to be careful not to miss the right ones. And then you have to go up and down and through lots of corridors.
The doors of the classrooms are always open (even during the lessons). Each teacher has his/her own room and you have to go there. You get a home room, but I never have there any of my classes...I do not understand this system and I guess I have to get used to it little by little. At the moment I prefer the German school system... Today in the morning we had our assembly and there was only grade 10 today. Tomorrow all grades will come to school. It is all so exciting. I share my locker with a grade 11 girl. And going to school is much more expensive than in Germany.
I am still confused and I am still overtaxed with these impressions!

Photos of Calgary

Downtown

Calgary Tower

Calgary Tower

Stephen Avenue

Banker's Hall

I love this architecture!

City Hall

Olympic Plaza

The Famous 5 (2 of them) - Women are persons...

My first two weeks

August 8 we were at the airport in Hanover to check in. The next morning at 7.30am I left Hanover and started in the direction of Calgary. 12 hours later I landed in Calgary. In order to get my visa I had to pass the immigration. Because the computer system broke down they had to send it to me. My host mum Rosemary picked me up from the airport and I was so tired. It was only 12.30pm because of the time zones (so we are 8 hours later than Germany). At the beginning I had to get used to the time change, and now I am. She showed me her home. I live near downtown so it takes me 20 minutes to walk there. Calgary has about 1,000,000 inhabitants and I really like its architecture. :) It is subdivided in four areas (Northwest, Northeast, Southwest and Southeast) and I live in the SW. The Rocky Mountains are only 80km away and on a clear day you can even see them! Downtown was really confusing the first time. But...the streets all have numbers so that you can find your way really easy. And the people of Calgary made a great invention! All buildings in downtown are connected with bridges, the so called +15, so that in winter you do not have to go outside! Luckily, the last two weeks were sunny and I did not use it a lot. That is the most confusing ever. The streets are really clean and all people are so nice and helpful.
My room is blue and really cute. Opposite of our house is the Elbow River and you can have a nice walk down to Stanley Park. My host mum is so nice and has got a cat that is called Sox. That is a pretty friendly cat! So Rosemary is my counselor and I will move to my host family at the beginning of September. They live near her and they have two sons.
The first days I was thirsty all the time because the air is dry in Calgary. But I get used to it little by little.
My first school day is on August 27 and I am really excited to go there. My school is Western Canada High School and it has about 2000 students. That's quite a lot! It is in downtown so I can walk there. Yesterday I registered at school (I go to grade 10) and I chose my classes - English, Social, Science, PE, Maths, Design, Foods and Arts (if one course is full my alternatives are Drama and French). And I hope joining the basketball team. I will get my schedule on Thursday. I already know a girl from grade 11 and a girl from grade 10. I hope to get to know lots of new people during the school year.
Every week I have to go to the Rotary meetings. My host club is the RC of Calgary (downtown) and it has about 280 members. That is a lot! I had to say something on the podium. We meet for lunch at 12pm until 13.30pm and several people give a talk. At the beginning I had problems to understand the speakers. Anyway, now I get the red file. :) As well, speaking is not that difficult as I thought. And everyone asks the same questions (Where are you from?, Where do you go to school?, Do you enjoy Canada?,), so I do not have to think about the answers. And sometimes I think: ‘The last sentences I thought in English.’ And yesterday I wanted to count something and then I recognized that I had count in English. :D I already watched two movies in English and I read ‘The Time Traveler’s Wife’. That is a really good book! The Canadians have kind of American Accent and some words are different from what I have learned (in school we learn more British English). For Example the Canadians say ‘sidewalk’ and the British say ‘pavement’. But I like that they only have one word for ‘Sie’ and ‘Du’. That makes it so much easier! ;)
Everything is bigger here; so like malls, cars, buildings, …
When you buy something you have to be aware that the taxes are not included in the price. So when you pay at the cashes you have a strange experience. :D So did I the first times. But fortunately the taxes are ‘only’ 5%. And in a supermarket the cashier put your items in a bag! Electric stuff is cheaper than in Germany but foods are so much more expensive…And 1€ is $1.45.
The food is not that different from German food. Only that they eat meat more often. Usually Canadians do not use their knifes and then the left hand is under the table. And do not forget to put the serviette on your lap! In the morning we eat cereal and we have our warm meal in the evening at about 6 o'clock. You can get the water from the fridge (Canadians usually drink water without gas). In a restaurant you get as much water as you want for free! I really like that because I have to drink a lot when I eat. :D And you write down how much tip you give on the receipt. Once I cooked Schnitzel for my host mum and on Sunday I tried bison/buffalo. I do not like that flavor…but I gained from that experience.

Most Canadians travel to South America, Asia or Europe because they would pay the same price for traveling within Canada.
In Alberta you are allowed to do your driver’s license at the age of 14 and you can drive on your own at the age of 16. That is pretty early. But I am not allowed to do mine because I am an exchange student. The drivers here are really friendly to pedestrians. :) Drivers are always allowed to turn to the right and every of them keeps in the speed limit! Everyone who was to Germany says to me: 'It is so much fun to drive on the Autobahn' because here you are not allowed to drive that far.

August 14 to August 16 I was in Kamp Kiwanis and I met all the other exchange students from Rotary who come from all over the world (Switzerland, The Netherlands, 2x France, Norway, Sweden, 2x Finland, Hungary, Russia, Turkey, India, Thailand, Japan, Taiwan, Mexico, 3x Brazil). We learned Country Dance and were at Heritage Park in Calgary. That was so much fun. The Canadians do not have a long history but it was quite interesting.
I went to Calgary Tower to see the city. That was amazing!
On Sunday Night I was at Global Fest 2009 with the student from Taiwan. That is a firework competition and I enjoyed it a lot. So that time it was Mexico's turn. It was so gorgeous!!
And then I was in downtown several times and just enjoyed the day and the architecture.
Some Rotarians asked me to go hiking with them and I am looking forward to do that.

Because of this great deal of impressions it seems to me not like two weeks, but like an eternity!