Today was the start of my second official week at school. The students in one of the classes I was with today are preparing presentations on the United States, so I got to walk around and help answer questions they had. Some of their posters were pretty amusing, plastered with pictures of McDonalds, fast food and celebrities like Beyonce, Vin Diesel and Jay-Z. I’m finding it difficult to answer some of the students’ questions because THE US IS SO BIG! It’s a really huge country, right? In geography class today we figured out that Germany could fit into the US almost 25 times, which is insane. So, when the students ask me questions I try to explain that it really is different depending on what state you’re in. And while I don’t like always giving such a general, “oh it depends wehre you are, etc” type of answer, it really is true. A student asked me what the culture is like in the US, and I honestly couldn’t answer. I tried breaking it down by regions, i.e the south, west coast, east coast, etc., but I didn’t want to confuse them + considering I’ve lived in Ohio my entire life there’s a limit to what I know about the other states.
Below is a picture of the white board after the students in an 8th grade class were asked to write what they thought of America or what they associated with the US. For an example of what I was talking about above, someone wrote ‘In-N-Out Burger’ on the board — definitely a staple of West Coast culture, but coming from Ohio, I’d bet some of the German students know the restaurant better than I do.
Highlights from some questions I was asked —
Q: Have I met any celebrities?
A: I couldn’t personally think of any, but my uncle was just on the same plane as Snoop Dogg, so I explained how he had 3 rows completely to just himself and his body guards (as told by my uncle) which thoroughly impressed the students. I also told them my cousin (who lives in LA) had met Will Ferrell (they found that cool), James Marsden (I got blank stares) and Sue (Jane Lynch) from Glee (some of the girls squealed excitedly).
Q: What age do people start dating in the US?
A: I really had no idea, so I just said age 15 or 16, and tried to explain that the US tends to be a little bit more private and reserved than German culture, i.e. we don’t have naked co-ed saunas here like I’ve experienced in Germany… or we also don’t have (or at least don’t allow) students to make-out with each other during school, which I saw on my very first day at school here… you get the idea!
There was one question about guns, but since the students I was talking with are in 8th grade it wasn’t anything elaborate, I think just someone asking if everyone in the US has a gun… to which I explained that statistically speaking for every 100 people in the US, there are 88 guns, which was followed by gasps. I then quickly tried to explain that that doesn’t mean 88% of people have a gun...nbut either way it’s still a high number!
Oh, someone wrote “Victoria’s Secret” on the board so I told them the man who made the company what it is today, Les Wexner, lives in my town, which the girls in the class were super excited to hear.
So far I’m really enjoying working as an English assistant - it’s a good mix of helping, listening, and standing up in front of the class talking. The only downside is that because I’m working at a school with lots of educated, intelligent people, that means most of them speak great English. And because I’m basically ONLY working with the English department, they all speak fluent English! … so that’s not so great for the German language aspect, but I’m working on it. However, I did meet a student teacher today who said she doesn’t like speaking English/isn't very good at it… needless to say, I need to become friends with her asap! :)
Below is a picture of the white board after the students in an 8th grade class were asked to write what they thought of America or what they associated with the US. For an example of what I was talking about above, someone wrote ‘In-N-Out Burger’ on the board — definitely a staple of West Coast culture, but coming from Ohio, I’d bet some of the German students know the restaurant better than I do.
Highlights from some questions I was asked —
Q: Have I met any celebrities?
A: I couldn’t personally think of any, but my uncle was just on the same plane as Snoop Dogg, so I explained how he had 3 rows completely to just himself and his body guards (as told by my uncle) which thoroughly impressed the students. I also told them my cousin (who lives in LA) had met Will Ferrell (they found that cool), James Marsden (I got blank stares) and Sue (Jane Lynch) from Glee (some of the girls squealed excitedly).
Q: What age do people start dating in the US?
A: I really had no idea, so I just said age 15 or 16, and tried to explain that the US tends to be a little bit more private and reserved than German culture, i.e. we don’t have naked co-ed saunas here like I’ve experienced in Germany… or we also don’t have (or at least don’t allow) students to make-out with each other during school, which I saw on my very first day at school here… you get the idea!
There was one question about guns, but since the students I was talking with are in 8th grade it wasn’t anything elaborate, I think just someone asking if everyone in the US has a gun… to which I explained that statistically speaking for every 100 people in the US, there are 88 guns, which was followed by gasps. I then quickly tried to explain that that doesn’t mean 88% of people have a gun...nbut either way it’s still a high number!
Oh, someone wrote “Victoria’s Secret” on the board so I told them the man who made the company what it is today, Les Wexner, lives in my town, which the girls in the class were super excited to hear.
So far I’m really enjoying working as an English assistant - it’s a good mix of helping, listening, and standing up in front of the class talking. The only downside is that because I’m working at a school with lots of educated, intelligent people, that means most of them speak great English. And because I’m basically ONLY working with the English department, they all speak fluent English! … so that’s not so great for the German language aspect, but I’m working on it. However, I did meet a student teacher today who said she doesn’t like speaking English/isn't very good at it… needless to say, I need to become friends with her asap! :)