GERMAN HIGH SCHOOL CULTURE SHOCKS | American Reacts!

Thank you for watching me, a humble American, react to these German high school culture shocks. This was very interesting!
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[@schnelma605]

3:45 It's mixed. In the classroom typically math, German English, history, social studies, geography. Typically, in special rooms: physics, chemistry, biology, sports, music, art.

[@simsch97]

Yes. At my school religion/philosophy usually was also in a different room as classes get mixed a bit. In the last three years when everyone chooses their majors and the other subjects for graduation there is one major subject that is counted as your first major subject and the group of people you are taking that class with usually have a very similar profile of subjects. Similar but not 100% the same and so you usually change rooms for the different courses. Some stay in the room for their next one and some change rooms. So it gets mixed up a bit more as everyone focuses on different subjects.

[@Osiris81x]

Was the same at my school, because we needed special equipment in physics and chemistry for little experiments. It was the area for all natural sciences.

[@iron_side5674]

Aye, i was about to comment that as well.

[@wigglywuf5982]

wait us kids don´t have their own desks? i spend hours to cut a fine piece of art into mine ... in the last row of course

[@simsch97]

@@wigglywuf5982 :D almost everyone did that. Those old tables are just a piece of art.

[@josyakagwen]

we DO have cafetierias, it just really depends on the school :)

[@hanin1609]

Ja isso hab aber nh Mensa

[@Praecantetia]

Mine didn't. We had a bread stand

[@sylviav6900]

My former schools, now, also have a cafeteria/mensa. Back in the days, we only had a stand. That had changed, when they introduced more afternoon classes. That also involved the need to offer a better provision of food.

[@susibacka1228]

same there

[@gwendolynsnyder463]

Our school had a lunch room, no idea how the Mensa is called in English. The food there was high quality, I only hated the food because I hate onions. Nowadays, I take my own sandwiches everywhere, because I don't trust the cooks about washing their hands before touching my food. I just need my food hella clean in order to not have diarrhea all the time. But that's not a typical German thing, that's a me thing.

[@tosa2522]

We don't have AC, but schools can decide to have "Hitzefrei" a heat-free period and send students home. But as more and more parents complain about school cancellations, heat-free days are given less and less frequently.

[@aphextwin5712]

In some areas in the U.S. there such a thing as a snow day, something I’ve never experienced in Germany. “Hitzefrei” is sort of the equivalent at the opposite end of the temperature scale. But it only applied to the younger students, maybe grade 1 through 8. Higher grades had to tough it out, with all windows wide open in summer. Having fewer classes in the afternoon helped with that. As much as I remember, afternoon classes often were the less intellectually challenging ones (sports/PE, arts, music) where being distracted by the heat was less of an issue.

[@Osiris81x]

@aphex twin You're right 👍

[@peterlustig2143]

@@aphextwin5712 of course we have snow free days in Germany 😅. The rule is: if the Bus Not drives and you had no other Option to come or you dont live only a walking distance away from school, you can Stay at home

[@aphextwin5712]

@@peterlustig2143 That happened in my 13 years of schooling exactly once. And even then it just meant a delay of about two hours (ie, there was a bus a bit later). Snow days in the U.S. sometimes mean that already a forecast of heavy snowfall leads to a wholesale closure of schools for a day.

[@EmmaHope88]

@@aphextwin5712 There have been times where bad weather was expected and you were allowed to keep your kids home if you wanted, especially if you had to take trains and busses.

[@kompaktbremse]

In my school back in the day they introduced a „double period“ system. So you would always have 90 minutes for each subject. No official break within these classes and in between the 90 minutes blocks you would have a 20 minutes break. Lunch break would be 45 minutes. I really liked this double period thing because you actually would get stuff done. and teachers could plan their classes completely differently and could fit much more in these 90 minutes

[@skylinwinter5970]

That’s how I have school in Germany. I guess it depends which state you’re from

[@kreativuntermdach7351]

@@skylinwinter5970 it depends on the school director. Our elementary school has this System even for first class, which is bonkers because no 7-year old straight from kita can sit that long. They do have huge Problems with hyper-active children wanting to run around and going in circles in the class room.

[@kompaktbremse]

We got this system in 7th grade or so

[@vHindenburg]

@@kreativuntermdach7351 Wow I never have a non poltitian seen using the word Kita instead of Kindergarten.

[@kreativuntermdach7351]

@@vHindenburg then you are quite clearly not from the area of Berlin and/or Brandenburg i am from ;-)

[@leDespicable]

Some German schools have a system similar to the US where the students switch rooms, but even in those cases it's not the teachers that have a fixed room, the rooms are just dedicated to one specific subject and all teachers teaching that subject use it, depending on what the schedule for the school term looked like. My school had this system for a few years to test it out, but went back to the traditional German classroom model when I was in 10th grade.

[@swanpride]

The "Switching the room" mostly happens once you are in the Oberstufe. At this point, the class structure mostly falls apart since every decides to take different courses.

[@lodriguez]

@@swanpride it depends, it's quite common to have special rooms for natural science or art classes in "Mittelschule".

[@beageler]

I just realised a giant difference. In Germany bilingual means that one speaks two languages fluently, probably even on a first language level. Having language classes doesn't make one bi- or tri- or whatever-lingual. If language classes by themselves make a school multilingual, most elementary schools are multilingual and a fair number of Kindergärten (which are daycare for the kids to play and very restrained learning from the age of three to six, here) are, too. In German a multilingual school means a school where normal classes are in multiple languages.

[@GeeShocker]

You choose your seat at the beginning of the year. Switching around was not common back when i went to school. There are also specified rooms for certain classes, like PE, chemistry, art, music and some others. It varies from school to school.

[@lingred975]

it was the same in Spain

[@j.vdubois5074]

The same in Slovakia. Although the seating was basically let up for kids to decide. You always have “head teacher” for each class who would be in role of an adult to follow each kids needs or to mediate disputes or put forward any complaints of studend’s parents to school management. I had very good head techers who would force sitting- e.g. moving “bad” student to front row in order to manage the class dynamics. Head teacher is great responsibility and in my case I had a pleasure to meet mine in our 20 year class reunion recently.

[@hikariyumi9441]

Same for me. Except some teachers had their own seating systems (like rolling over the seating rows or putting troublemakers in the front) so you had to switch for a class.

[@PeyloBeauty]

yes, i never knew that there was schools that also had biology and stuff like that being taught in their classroom

[@lingred975]

@@PeyloBeauty we used to study biology in the same classroom, and go to a dedicated lab on days that we needed to do something practical. Those days that was only explaining things over the book, we stayed in our class (if I remember well)

[@marylacken4016]

As a teacher I would love having my own room at school. So now I have to carry all the stuf I need from classroom to classroom. But the students need their breaks and go out to have some fresh air.

[@indiramichaelahealey5156]

What I noticed having lived in Germany and the US is: not every school is the same neither in the US nor in Germany. In the Gymnasium I went to there was a big Cafeteria where they served 3 different kind of meals (you book which meal you want one week earlier) or you bring your own. The school I went to was one of the biggest in Germany (about 2000 pupils). In the Gymnasium I went to the younger pupils stayed in their classrooms, the older ones who chose a lot of their subjects moved to different rooms and science classes were always in designated rooms. Usually pupils 16 and older as well as teachers were allowed to smoke in designated areas only.

[@wantedtoshare]

I feel like foreigners would also be shocked about our policies for free periods (coming from Nrw). Basically, if the teachers sick, you only get a substitute up until a specific age/grade. Once you're in the "Oberstufe", so grades 10 - 12 or 13, when the teacher's sick, you're informed early through Apps like Untis Mobile and you would either go home early/for the period or just roam around school grounds and outside. Some use that time for study, some might go to the grocery store and get some snacks. Those free periods are sometimes also included in our timetables by design (I, for example have a free period in the 3. lesson of Wednesday; every week) and it's really nice hanging around with friends during that time. That's also the reason why we sometimes have to get up later (if you have free periods for the 1. and/or 2. lesson) or go home early.

[@malwinaarncken]

Yes we definitely know English xD Most of the time I am not even aware that you speak in another language and only whenever you mention it i'd be like oh, yeah, that's not even German... I really enjoy your reactions :D

[@Salzbuckel]

There are some language issues to consider: In german a"class" is the constant community of pupils over mostly several years, for example the whole primary school, and the the next period , which may last from 5th to 10th Grade you would say, and then from 11th to13th; and we would also not name it grade, but "class" .And every class at school has its own and steady classroom. And that class in its own classroom has a fixed schedule for each day with different "hours or lessons" For instance 1 hour math, second history, third biology, fourth german, with french, and so on. They would not be named "classes". Also , they are no students , but "Schüler" as they are going to school ( Schule). A student is someone who is going to university which here are called high schools and seriously study there. And any real student in that case would find it being a bit compromising calling him being in a classroom there. Thats something kids would do at school. In Universities you would listen to lectures in more ore less huge auditoriums with up to a few hundred students and then participate smaller specialized seminars with tutors, lectures ,and figuring out problems in groups or practicing , for example microscoping or doing experiments or working on philosophical problems. What the guys at school do is named learning.. What yo name high school in the US here is just the last 3 years of gymnasium as a pupil. When you pass that successfully in the last exam which is called "Abitur" ( which is latin and means being gone in the passive form ( from school)) you have acquired the maturity to go and become a student at a real high school or university. I Germany we could find it ridiculous to name someone who is at kindergarden, primary school, or even the following years of school "students". I at school learned the UK-english and then those were called pupils coming from the latin word "discipuli"

[@deinauge7894]

fixed classes in 11th to 13th year? Never heard of that. Everyone took different courses at my school. We had 2 or 3 subjects we specialized more and got 5 hours per week, plus ~9 subjects with 2 or 3 hours per week. Everyone chose their subjects and which ones they wanted to specialize, and then the teachers had to make a plan that fits to all these wishes... not an easy task i believe :)

[@yourlocalfolkloregirlie]

at my highschool,both the teachers and the students change rooms. at the beginning of the school year,a 'class' is built,where the same people have the same classes. but at my school,we students change rooms and so do our teachers. it's a bit confusing but you'll get it if you're there for like a week.

[@Microtubui]

after 6 years you get kind of friends with youre classmates. they is some kind of rivalry between the classes rather then rivalry in the own class

[@timefliesaway999]

4:15 yea, you stay with the same people pretty long. - Primary school: 4 years. - Secondary school: - Gymnasium - 6 + 2 years - Realschule - 2 + 4 years - Hauptschule - idk if you switch, but overall it’s 5 or 6 years - third school: either 2 or 3 years, depending what you do (gymnasium/FOS/Ausbildung) - university: depending how many semesters

[@denisdrumm971]

To the topic of breaks: When I was in school, the "short" breaks were 5mins, the "big" break was 20mins and the lunch break was 1 hour. Oh and don't get confused if someone says "my school ends at XY" or "I was at school for 7 hours". That doesn't always mean they have lessons for 7 hours. The maximum lessons per week are defined by the grade you are in. It is just a matter how to distribute all these lessons during a week. For example, if you have 30 lessons a week, you could just say, it is 6 hours straight everyday from 8am - 2pm (including breaks ofc). But that is often not the case, since classroom capacities are often exceeded at certain hours or certain subjects can only take place at special hours. So it can be that a school day ends at 5pm and started at 8am, but there were longer breaks in between and you technically only had 6 lessons, unevenly distributed throughout the day

[@kaidrache2395]

Finished Gymnasium in 1996. Back in the day we even had a designated smokers room where teachers and students met for a cigarette. Pretty beautiful atrium on the top floor with some trees and hand crafted benches and tables. And since we installed half a dozen coffee machines even a bunch of non-smokers joined the fray. Actually that was pretty good, because you could have private words with the teachers about non-school related topics which made the whole atmosphere far more relaxed. Even more unbelievable must sound that at least 1/3 of our school hours during classes 12 and 13 were spent in a cafe nearby including the teachers. Totally relaxed learning with a Latte Macchiato and a cigarette. Okay, to be fair these were mostly lessons in Sociology, Philosophy, English and other subjects that benefitted from an open discussion. But, nonetheless - some of these lessons taught me far more than some of the "standard" lessons. Sadly, things have changed. School nowadays is more of a streamlined matter.

[@wanderwurst8358]

The good old times. 😥 We hat no atrium, but a smokers corner with a direkt walkway to backdoor of the next pub, 10 m away from the school ground. We needed no cafeteria. 🍺😅

[@JohnHazelwood58]

@@wanderwurst8358 Yeah! Same at my Gymnasium back then. We were allowed to smoke and as were old enough, we were even allowed to drink alcohol at school. Sometimes I miss those times. I really liked to go to school ...

[@lukasgrothaus7466]

My Gymnasium used to have a smokers’ corner too in the early 2000’s, which was the only place where smoking was allowed on school grounds. But when the purchasing age for tobacco was raised from 16 to 18 in 2007, the smokers’ corner got closed off and smokers then used to meet near the bike racks, just outside of school grounds.

[@sylviav6900]

Same finishing year here. 🤜 Before one turned 16, it was (and still is) illegal to smoke, so, yes, the smoking pupils would certainly hide away and, if found by the teachers (and the hiding places were well-known), they'd get a punishment, e.g. some social deed, having to do some sort of extra essay, or just writing lines (which is not permitted as a punishment anymore). From the age of 16 on, smoking is legal in Germany. So, yes, it occurred that pupils and teachers were standing together while having a cigarette. Overall, there are - by far - not as much smokers in Germany anymore as there were back then. And I think, that's a good development, we're taking. At the same time, unfortunately, other drugs seem to become more popular. Still not as much as in the US, and I think, there are good concepts around, such as the "Frankfurter Modell", if you want to look it up, to help drug addicts to get out of that swirl, but... yes, that is an issue, we also have to deal with.

[@samworld6052]

When I was in Genasium, I sometimes had school until 5pm or I had school until 5pm with maybe 2 hours inbetween, with no lessons. Or sometimes my school day started not at 7:45 am, but at 10 am

[@sabineausmg9543]

Ich lach mich schlapp! Du warst also im Gymnasium aber hast keinen Plan, wie das geschrieben wird?

[@andi4022]

When the kids stay in their classroom, there are a few positive things that come to my mind. - the kids keep "their room" cleaner, or it's easier to get the one who made the graffiti - they grow up together. Even if you are not the best friends, you know each other. If somebody changes his behaviour, maybe its easier to recognise it. So if the happy, curious boy turns to a quiet, shy guy, maybe some teacher or classmates will be "alerted" - even bullying is a bit harder, because usually there is at least one kid telling the teacher, when somebody is causing troubles. Well... Maybe... This are not facts... Just me brainfarting 😂

[@Apokalypse456]

I was caught defacing the walls of my school :p as punishment I stayed after school and painted over all graffitis in my classroom. and bullying is not harder. its propably easier as the cool kid that bullies the poor nerd has constant access.

[@voyance4elle]

so true!

[@Karpfenkroete]

- Classrooms are a lot more personalized. There's always some posters or similar stuff that this specific class created. And in my school there was always one student per class who took care of the plants.

[@gentlechaos5911]

@@Apokalypse456 Two students in my school were caught firing fireworks out of our classroom window, they had to give a talk to the whole school lmfao. I dont even remember what the talk was about (probably safety) but it was hilarious, even those 2 kids laghed about it in the end.

[@caracrabtree715]

A lot of US public schools remind me of prisons visually, even using the same barely nutritious cheap food companies the prisons use. The bell training, all work, dread, systematically cutting of things like art and music, creative thinking. Thinking more like training grounds for working or prison. The man who designed US public schools felt that there were enough doctors and lawyers and plans for schools to make them learn just enough to be factory workers.

[@Krokostad]

Yeah, and every day the same Routine...

[@lisabelw7782]

Oh god yes I remember there being barely any natural light in the classrooms of the Highschool I went to as a German exchange student. And you’d be stuck inside for almost the whole day without seeing any sunlight. Kinda depressing.

[@akcat11]

Because it literally is designed for this.

[@carlottaa_08]

so yk in my school i learn english, spanish, italian, french and latin (+german, my native language) so i think we do learn a ot of other languages but english is the most important one and we start learning it in kindergarden, to have a very huge amount of english knowlege at the end. its taken rly serious here

[@ulrichalbrecht9723]

3:40 that is not always the case in my school we had special classrooms for subjects you need a lot of equipment for. so we had for biology chemistry and physics art and music and of course sports an own room we only stayed in our main classroom for languages history politics and geografy

[@schnelma605]

7:50 School usually goes until about 1 p.m., so you can go home and eat there. All-day schools with canteens are slowly emerging

[@Osiris81x]

It always depends on the "Bundesland", the city and the school itself how they manage their schools. Of course the basic structure of our school system is the same all over Germany, but the details can change from Bundesland to Bundesland. For example when lessons begin or end. Normally around 8 o'clock. Sometimes 5 minutes before or after. When I was at school it wasn't common that schools have a cafeteria. Sometimes the facility manager or other pupils sold some milk products in special offered rooms. Cafeterias weren't necessary, because schools end at around 13 o'clock and most of the pupils went home. It was normal that the mother was at home to manage all the housework and the father earns the money for the whole family. That was the old traditional concept of families and schools, but society has changed the last 20, 30 years and the government had to adjust the system, too. Today it's normal that both parents work, because they have to earn enough money or the mother just wants to start her own business career. But someone have to care for their kids. So they built up the system of "Ganztagsschulen" (literally translated: "whole day schools") where the pupils stay at school till the afternoon having lessons, projects, help with their homework or sport activities. And of course the pupils need to lunch somewhere. So they built up cafeterias or Mensas (I don't know the word exists in english 😅) where the pupils can have their lunch. By the way I really like your channel. It is very interesting as a german to see how you (an american) react on different things here in Germany. 👍😉 It's funny to see your surprising when you hear things about Germany which are quite normal for me/us. And if someone would explain the background of all these things it will make more sense to you. 😂

[@rickyratte5643]

What I loved about school in germany is that we kids stayed together as group from Kindergarten until 10th grade. Every day, every lesson. They are still my friends 20 years later.

[@rickyratte5643]

@Nicky L probably🤷‍♀️ its hard to compere anyway. Germany is a smal country.

[@da-haste-pech686]

@Nicky L no not at all I think it’s very beneficial since you always have that group of people you can really trust and go to if you need help also in those years you spend together with these people your bond with them has the opportunity to get very strong

[@helloweener2007]

In higher classes, like 10, 11 12 and 13 you also oftens switch rooms. Especially when the pupils from one class get different courses. For classes like biology, chemistry, physics, astronomy or computer science we always swicthed classe necause of the dedicated rooms for this. For computer science in 10th grade we had even to go to another schoolbudiling on the other side of the town. (3 schools were merged into one and for the time of extending the building at one place the school used 3 different school buildings)

[@grishnakh0305]

In my school days (back in the 80´s in West-Berlin) we had a cafeteria and a canteen. Nearly every class was in a different classroom. Most classes were double periods ( 2*50 minutes ), small breaks 2 minutes to change classrooms, longer breaks 30 minutes (if i remember correctly^^) and lunch break 50 minutes. School started at 8am and ended 4 times a week at 4.15pm. Only on Wednesday school ended allways on 1.30 pm.

[@lauramuller9749]

In our "Realschule" we had a cafeteria and could buy food there. There was also a kiosk where you could buy "healthy sweets". 1-2 times a week we were able to buy freshly baked goods from the mothers of some of the children at the school. We ourselves sold "Schokokuss" rolls. so we always had something to eat. "Gymnasium" is probably not better in everything.

[@voyance4elle]

This is very interesting to me aswell. I think I am your generation. I am 31. Depending on what schools you go to we have about 5 to 9 years of english classes here and then at least one other language is added, sometimes even more. For example I started learning english in 5th grade when I was 10 years old at the Gymnasium. Two years later we started french class. I took both classes up until I graduated in 13th grade therefor I had studied 8 years of english and 6 years of french. Friends of mine took the opportunity to take latin lessons in 8th grade and continued for two years, others started to learn spanish in 11th grade and did that for 1, 2 or 3 years. In some german schools you can learn italian aswell or russian. And also many kids who speak already a different language at home (for example polish, turkish, arabic and so on) because their parents are from a different country, they are even more multi-lingual, than the average German. So yes, everyone who is young and school is not that long ago should understand you :)

[@brick_n_heim9552]

Yes, in normal you have a fix classroom. But it really depends on the school you are in. We had languages, math, social studies, on the other we had special rooms for history, geography, physics, chemistry, biology, sports, music, art. Double Classes are 2 school hours in a row this was common at my school in the 11th to 13th grade, we also had al little longer to stay in school, on 2 days we school to 5:30pm starting 8am and the other 3 days to 3:30pm. Smoking is really common in school, we had an own smoking room in school for the students, but my school times are long ago.

[@ralfsstuff]

That fixed classroom doesn't have to be the case. Many schools still have students change rooms all day, with each one having it's own seating plan. So you could sit next to your friends or strategically choose to sit next to the best people of each class. Mostly to copy off them, I imagine.😂

[@simsch97]

At my school the times were like this: Start at 7:50am. 90 minute block of one subject. 20 minute brake from 9:20am to 9:40am. 90 minute block of one subject. 20 minute brake from 11:10am to 11:30am. 45 minute single lesson until 12:15pm. 5 minute brake until 12:20pm. 45 minute single lesson until 1:05pm. (Those two 45 minute lessons usually were the same subject so like a 90 minute block with 5 minutes in between but also could be seperated in two different subjects if I remember correctly) 10 minute brake until 1:15pm. 45 minute single lesson until 2:00pm. 15 minute brake until 2:15pm. 90 minute block until 3:45pm. The last 90 minute block was usually something like sports or orchestra or project courses so nothing too serious anymore and we had classes until 3:45pm only like 2 or 3 times per week and it could happen that you had no classes in the 1:15pm - 2:00pm block before so you had a brake of about 1 hour. I think I got everything right in terms of the times. It is so long ago already. Finished school 7 years ago.

[@peterlustig2143]

of course we have snow free days in Germany either 😅. The rule is: if the Bus Not drives and you had no other Option to come or you dont live only a walking distance away from school, you can Stay at home

[@laura_gieger]

The open the windows thing... I remember during a semester at university (I'm from Austria and go to uni in Klagenfurt, a bigger town in Carinthia close to the Slovenian border) where we had to open the window in every lecture because it was one of our methods to battle Covid. I remember watching tons of videos on TikTok about how our solution to the pandemic was just airing out the classrooms lol Edit: I remember in middle school here in Asutria we also had a designated classroom and would only occasionally leave it for art, physics/chemistry and IT classes. But in high school we did have a designated class room but we moved around the school a lot more, depending on the room and class and if the room was available. In Junior and Senior year we mostly stayed in the same room but not exclusively. But yeah, we definitely did move around a lot in high school. No matter the designated home room. If we stayed in the same room two classes in a row it was actually a surprise. Even history and geography were in different rooms so it was just at random. But we were two schools in one building though. Edit 2: We had fifty minute lessons, with five minute breaks in between. And a ten minute lunch break between third and fourth period. We did get a like 40 minute lunch break after 6th period (school usually ended after 6th period, it was what we considered a normal day.) but I did have times where I had ten classes a day. My school day ended at 5:30 pm in that case and let me tell you, that was rough in Winter. Because I wouldn't get home until around seven pm and if you were expected to do homework for the next day you were just too tired to do it. Edit 3: I don't know about other Austrian schools because they're different everywhere but we had a small shop where you could buy stuff like different kinds of bread rolls, sandwiches, pretzels, all kinds of different drinks, sweets, muffins, donuts, sandwiches, even pizza slices. As I mentioned earlier we were two schools in one building and one of those schools (the HTLs) offered lunch for us. It was because their students have cooking classes so once a week the HTL would cook for both of our schools for the big lunch break and we could sign up for it beforehand.

[@skylinwinter5970]

8:00 I don’t know why her school doesn’t have it but normally we have a cafeteria too called Mensa where you can also buy real meals but oftentimes these meals are not really liked so many students just stick to the baked things or go to a bakery in town during break. At least from my experience

[@christophhanke6627]

You mostly stay with your class/your group of pupils for about 5 years straight in school. So you will become friends with some of These people over time. Courses in the Gymnasium mostly start in the final two/three years of school with more clasroom switching

[@sandrahenning6307]

Here in Germany, you have to learn English at school from the age of 8/9. It is compulsory education.

[@petebeatminister]

Back in my school days, schools out was at 13.20h every day (unless a teacher was ill or so). So there was no need for a school lunch or cafeteria or whatever, since you could go home and have lunch there. This changing classrooms system really sucks - whats the point in doing this? Must be total mayhem is everybody has do get to a different room at the same time. Ok, if a lesson needs special equipment, like chenistry, sports, music ect., thats different. But for all the standard lessons it makes no sense.

[@lingred975]

same (in Spain). Same classmates for years (few changes here and there). Same desk all year. I studied 5 min walking from home, I'd finish school and go home to eat. and that was it. There was the option of evening classes though (for some people that couldn't study regular morning hours).

[@christineperez7562]

I agree. Also they give the poor kids 5 minutes to get to your next class. They do not pay attention to how far your class can be from the next. If you are late you get a detention. It doesn't matter if a school has 3-5 floors. They will give you a class on floor 1 and the next be on floor 5. America makes no sense.

[@bunterregenbogen108]

4:10 yes same room with same people same table. No Problem if friend but Problem if enemy. Sometimes different room, like Music Physics English or sports.

[@SieggurtzuSpeyer]

In school in Germany you can choose your seat/table to the beginning of each Semester (we call it "Schulhalbjahr") you stay in that seat until the next (unless you and your neighbour start to become a disturbence during class, then the teacher may make you switch seats with someone). one desk usually gives room for two students. And you are responsible for your desks condition: if it gets filthy, you are expected to whipe it etc. at the end of the Semester the desk gets inspected and if it is damaged to the point where it is rendered unuseble before it has reached a certain age, the one responsible is required to pay for the damages.

[@darajeeling]

there are class changes in German schools as well - like for sciences there are usually special classrooms. And you change to those. We have classes that consist out of around like 25 students and they stay together (from grade 5-10) so you get to know your classmates well. That can be nice - but if you are bullied it can also be a problem, since you see the others alsmost all of your day. There is the occasional switch - like in my "gmynasium" we could choose in between 3 languages starting in grade 5 (english, french and latin) and we would change class for those - because not everyone took the same language. But the "core" classes (which for us are German, Maths, History, Sciences (biology, chemistry, physics, geography)) and some others (like religious education, music, all kinds of sports, arts and some other classes that depend on the school) we have the basics year round and some of the others change - I remember no music in 9th grade no art in 10th. Sciences also change - chemistry used to start in 7th grade I hated changes in between "language" classes - 90 minutes french and then witch to enlish or the other way round It was harder, since at the beginning I heard a sentence in the foreign language - transleted it, looked for a german answer and then translated it (all in my head). It got easier once I got better and had enough vocabulary to think in the foreign language. Today kids usually start with ehglish in elementary school 3rd grade - even earlier then we did (but then there is the problem with non germa speaking kids, or even kids wo grew up with tho languages already and then in 3rd grade (kids are like 7-9) they get their third different language. Also... you asked, why Americans are so dumb - I would not call it dumb - it's just... Your school system allows for people to study "american history" - and ONLY american history. As said history is one of our core subjects, that means once in 5th grade you have at least 90 minutes of history on your schedule (until yyear 9) and we go through all kinds of history . ancient - egyptian, greece, rome - but also french revolution, independence declaration of the USA - colonial stuff and LOTS of WW2 and WW2 so we can not choose what we want to learn. Same for all the other subjects. No choosing - itÄs more like there is a schedule for each subjects and that is usually covering a lot more. I remmeber during my high school stay in America I had this remark on my schedule "if two scieneces are to difficult, see me immediatly" and I was like ??? I used to have like 3 at home AND I could not choose preferences. To be honest "human biology" was a tad boring - becuase it covered thinsg we had had years ago (including sexual eductaion which we had in 6th and 9th grade) and so it was really just repetitive. German test are usually not multiple choice - way to simple! So yeah... Like I loved my high schoo experience - but I guess if I had stayed for a longer time I might have had trouble catching up when being back in Germany. Although it was nice no to bother with anything maths for a year *coughs* AND my german grade was always excellent *coughs again*

[@helloweener2007]

Smoking is allowed when you are 18 since 2014. Before that it was 16 and you had designated smoking areas on the schoolyard.

[@mikaschnee]

The classroom thing: you have your own class you get assigned to at the start of school, its put in a b c and d, and then for every grade the name changes (like 3a, 4a, 5a etc) The people in your class are the ones that will be with you until the end of school basically. You also get a Klassenlehrer (class teacher) who's your main teacher and has more classes than other teachers w your class. Until there are choosable Kurse, so Courses - you chose a fourth main subject next to German, English and math to cater to your interests (French, Social, Music/Arts, Biology etc) and only there are the classes mixed. (Five people from 8a with a couple of people from 8b, 8c and 8d for example). It doesn't get "overwhelming" perse, its just the people you've grown to over time. The seating does change, depending on the way the class behaves or if we just want to change (most of the time it's done in everY 4-5 months since we can choose where we sit and are happy there). We do have our main classroom where we stay, but special subjects like Chemistry, Bio, Physics, PE, Swimming, Music and Art are in different rooms. And for the Cafeteria: this really depends on the school. My highschool had a separate one story building on the Schoolyard where the cafeteria was. It had a big room with lots of tables and chairs but people rarely ate lunch there, it was mostly used in free periods or just to chat. The food is mostly bread, like Schnitzelbrötchen (Schnitzel on bread with cabbage and sauce), Croissants, Muffins, Pretzels and snacks.

[@veladarney]

When I was in school, first day of the new term, there always would be that HUGE rush for the best seats in the classroom cos, unless the teachers decided they wanted you to sit somewhere else (cos, e.g. you'd constantly talk with your buddy during class and not paying attention or something like that), you usually were stuck with that seat in that specific classroom for the entire school year. Bit different for the "specialized" rooms (for science, art, music) - I don't remember having a specific assigned seat in any of those. But those, too, were a first come first serve kind of thing - you get there early, you pick the best seats.

[@Saturday6981]

I was also in a Gymnasium, and we also had it like this basically... 7th-10th grade 3 days: 08:00-13:30 (6 school hours) 2 days: 08:00-15:20 (8 school hours) 11th-12th grade 1 day: 08:00-13:30 (6 school hours) 3 days: 08:00-15:20 (8 school hours) 1 day: 08:00-17:00 (10 school hours)

[@panther7748]

The no school cafeteria thing is mostly a "western" phenomenon though. In eastern Germany (the former GDR), we have school canteens who offer warm meals and sell snacks etc. I think the lack of this kind of thing in many parts of western Germany is caused by the old "housewive mom will cook lunch for you" idea. I'm not sure though.

[@2kReels]

Coming also from the east, I did not know that this is a thing in west germany school. And to be honest...its unthinkable for me that my child would not get a warm meal at lunchtime. I'm glad the school of my son offers not only a designated area to eat, but also 3-4 meals daily the kids can chose from (ordering one day in advance though) edit: Coming to think of it...in my recent schoolyears, we also did not have any school lunch, so it might just be a age thing. At least since grade 8, I did not have any lunch at school.

[@xetinc5356]

Still depends on which school you go/went. Small cafeteria from class 5to 10 and none from 11to13. And what we call a cafeteria here is knot what it is in the USA.

[@persephoneaconite4125]

Most schools in the west have a cafeteria if the school is big enough (400 to 500 students +). I'm a teacher from Baden-Württemberger, who studied in Bavaria and I went to/taught at 10 schools and each one had a cafeteria. Only the really small schools with around 300 students or less had no cafeteria.

[@schnelma605]

8:39 At first glance, this looks normal. But the school doesn't seem to have a system with 5-minute breaks and a long break between the 3rd and 4th hour, nor a real double-hour system MA: mathematics PHY: physics SK: social studies (Sozialkunde) GE: history (Geschichte) SPA: Spanish (presumably optional or compulsory choice due to the unusual time) Reli: religion EK: geography (Erdkunde) EN: English BIO: biology FR: French CH: chemistry DE: German (Deutsch) BK: Fine arts (Bildene Kunst) SP: sports MU: music

[@tanktv6565]

Timecode +/-5 min the Two klass System is to support the week students and give more/harder stuff for the strong students. (yes im from germany)

[@sebastianderien5823]

In elementary school you usually stay with the same mates from 1st grade to the last grade of that school. Later in the high-school you do the same but in the last years you can pick your own special courses so that is when you don't have the same mates all the time.

[@nebucamv5524]

4:00 In my school (a Gymnasium in Northeast Germany) we WERE switching rooms, not for each subject, but definitely we didn't stay in just one room for all day, mostly because there were special rooms for some of the subjects (Chemistry, Physics, Biology, Geography, Art, Music).

[@ROARlikeDoggysDo]

Long ago in a land before time... nah, a bit over a decade ago when I was in shool, germany experimented with the classroom system. When I started we had a classroom where we had most classes like languages, history, politics, religion/philosophy and probably some more. We also had rooms dedicated to classes like biology, chemistry, art, sport and probably some more. To the end of my shool years they switched it to teachers having rooms. The seating: In the classroom the seating usually stays the same. The table arrangement stays the same and you sit next to the same ppl. Your classteacher orangizes the seating and table order with the class at the beginning of each year, which is also the time to switch places. Throughout the year you only switch places if you and your neighbor are distracting eachother from class, wether you get along to well, or to badly. You can ask your classteacher if you can switch places just because you want to. They usually approve. Cafeterias are uncommon in germany. If a new big shool gets built, they usually have a cafeteria. Old and small shools usually just have a little kiosks with snacks in case you forgot your lunch. When I went to shool the "cool kids" smoked secretly behind the shool. You have to be 18 befor you can openly smoke infront of teachers without getting into trouble. I guess you can have 18 year olds at the gymnasium.

[@ani2701]

7:45 There are schools, that have cafeterias of some sort. Mine certainly did, but the older the students got, the fewer of them got their lunch there, since it was considered much cooler to just leave the school grounds during lunch break and get food at a close by supermarket or Döner place or whatever. In Germany, you are allowed to leave the school grounds, if your parents write you a permit at the beginning of the school year (which they will) and so it is just a part of growing up to walk through town and find your own food during lunch break. Who needs a cafeteria under these circumstances? But still, most schools I know, would have a cafeteria, frequented mostly by the younger students but not exclusively. It would be used by students of all ages.

[@thefruitiest]

We always had school from 7:30 to 3 in the afternoon and 1 lesson was 80 minutes long, we had 4 breaks but they weren't that long And smoking really is common, almost everyone in my class smoked and sometimes the teachers even joined😂

[@alexamurawski4524]

in my school we haven't had a cafeteria, but as the others said usually the days weren't so long, and in higher grades/classes we were aloud to leave school for lunchbreak (to buy something at the grocery or to go to a cafe )

[@maximnoize8760]

I remember Smoking with the teachers while making abi, it was really refreshing sometimes to smalltalk with them😊.

[@HeinrichDerGrosse1298]

1st you still have like biology, computer, art and music rooms but most periods are at your class room and you always sit with the same people in a room until you make your „Abitur“ then you always have to switch rooms and the teacher stay 2nd most Gymnasiums have a cafeteria but not every

[@Dark_Flame_Master]

The smoking thing: In my schools and all the other schools I heard about, smoking is absolutely not allowed. We even had a cigarettes-and-other-drugs-are-bad-day/ anti-drug-day. But I know that some weird people smoke secretly in some corners or on the toilets and there are some drug dealers/sellers. But I have nothing to do with those people.

[@alwynemcintyre2184]

In Australia I think most public schools don't have cafeterias, usually have a canteen where you buy unhealthy foods unless you brought your own. No tables and chairs, usually just sat on the ground.

[@klauskruger6187]

2:25 In my german school we were having AC. That was 45 Years ago. But we were opening the windows anyway.

[@VoodooChild86]

Hey Rayn, in the schools i have been, we always had double-lessons. So Class was 1,5 hours and after that we had 15 minutes break. when school went until 4 pm after class 5+6 we had 45 minutes break

[@swanpride]

No, people usually stick to their desks. It is also not unusual that the pupils get to design the class room, from the way the desks are arranged to sometimes the wall colour (at least in my days "paint your classroom" was still a thing).

[@Feydn]

when i was at school in my german gymnasium (ca 10 years ago) many thing were different. 1.absoluty correct 2 girls weare very tight jeans, guys something like slim fit or straight 3 .absolutly no AC 4. you switch class rooms when ever possible. only basic stuff like language ore math are teached in your "class room" 5. at the gymnasium you only had 2xlessons. 1,5h and after that u had 10min break. 6. EVERY school in germany i ever saw had a cafeteria (good and hight quality meals) and realy good meals for cheap money. U had 2 breaks 4 eating. One in the morning and one around 12 a clock i think (früstückspause and mittagspause ) 7. School was from 7:47-13.35/17:00 (changed every day) 7.1 the only thing changed half a year was the PE lessons, were u switched between fe Handball, Swimming, Fiootball, Athletics,.... 8. U could use your phone when ever u wanted....but never while lessons. breaks, eating, .. no problem. If u used u phone in class it was taken by the school and your parents had to retreat it 24h after 9. Smoking is absolutly common. You are standing right beside your teachers and smoke. Sometimes teachers are renting some by the students and vise versa 10. yep

[@cadifan]

Those are long school days. In New Zealand schools typically start at 9am and finish at 3pm, and that's from 5 years old until you finish and start working.

[@alfredkugler3043]

What many Americans don't seem to understand in regards to AC is that Germany is as north as the southern part of Alaska. And has a much more mellow climate. When we get 35°C (95°F) that is usually the hottest day of the year. So, AC is by far not so prevalent here. In North America, even that far north, the climate is much more extreme. Winters are colder and snowier, and summers are hotter.

[@EmmaHope88]

Houses are also build very differently.

[@alfredkugler3043]

@@EmmaHope88 Yes, of course, but building houses so that they are better insulated is something everybody could do. Having a much more forgiving climate is just luck of the draw.

[@chrismoran8241]

None of my schools had a cafeteria... though the two main schools I went to in the 80'/90' each had a stand and a local baker stopping by in the main break selling bakery goods and sandwiches. Just nothing warm. I guess it depends how big the school is, huge city or small town...

[@KrK-EST]

Yep 3 languages is standard in my country for anyone who has finished middleschool and 4 by the end of 12th year/class. Many speak 5 or more(my older sister and mother, younger sister speaks over 10 including, Danish, Finnish, English, Italy, Spanish and so on)

[@KrK-EST]

NB I'm the dumb one, i only speak 2 languages fluently and 1 baddly and 2 i baddly understand and can reply a bit. I'm super bad in languages, but atleast i am good in maths, physics, sience and cridical thinking (includes chess and diagnostics).

[@claudiaernst6225]

Congrats! Which is your country?

[@PiratePawsLive]

Some Infos about my school experience in a German Hauptschule (you go there if you are not attending Realschule or Gymnasium starting at grade 5. And they tend to have a bit of a social stigma as the school type where "dumb"/lazy/delinquent kids go back in my schooldays, no clue how it is now). We were between 25-30 kids per class and had our homeroom teacher. There always were 2 parallel classes (Parallelklassen) for each of the grades with the added letter of A or B respectively. For example in grade 5 you were in class A, so it is called 5A. Most of the time if we did not have a subject our homeroom teacher taught then he/she would leave and the teacher for the subject comes to us and were allowed to switch chairs for those classes but had to stick to them for the rest of the year. With the exception of subjects which required special equipment, facilities or were elective classes (we had to take all 3 in 7th grade, in 8th we could drop one and in 9th drop one again wich would be part of the school leaving exam) like PE (mandatory), IT (elective), housekeeping (everything about cooking and nutrition)(elective), woodworking (elective) and so on.

[@Karpfenkroete]

I don't know if that's a thing in the US as well but we have some kind of main teacher (="Klassenlehrer"). That teacher is responsible for his class and organizes upcoming events or handles problems within the class.

[@jokermorningstar5816]

at the start of high school your class is formed and it mostly stays that way until graduation, exept or a few classes. as for seating, in the first few classes the (class)teacher decides who stits where. after a few years it kinda doesn´t really matter.

[@noy4tek450]

The caefteria Depends on the Schhol when i was going to school (Gesamtschule-comprehensive School) we got 2 breaks the first was 1/2 hour long and the second 1 Hour and normal schhol day was from 8am-4pm the School were i was going got a Cafeteria and a Kiosk. Comprehnisve Schools are Big with a lot of Pupils my School when i was there we got around 2000 Pupils from class 5-13

[@janaenespana123]

Usually you stay on your desk, its like your desk with another kid wich was your buddy normally... And you stayed the same class for like 1 or 2 or even 4 years so your classmates become your Friends or at least some of them 😅

[@MichaelFMeyer-lz5fv]

smoking was much more popular when i was at the gymnasium in the 90´s, my students in later days smoked less.

[@izzafizza339]

AAAA COOL VIDEOSSS

[@crazy_annihilator6961]

in 3 Days i'm going to be in the 12th grade and to the thing with the classrooms and people i have to say that at first it was weird to have new people around but after 6 years spend together in one room (most of the time) the whole class kinda became friends with each other. ofc you know some people better then others but in our "class" there's no one that''s hostile toward another student or smt like that.

[@amayavalkyria1187]

When I was still in school (Realschule - I'll be 30 next year) smoking was forbidden on the school grounds. But if you wanted to be one of the cool kids, you smoked. Because it was considered cool among the students. For this purpose, the students met in "secret" places outside the school grounds to smoke during the break. Sometimes I'm glad I didn't slip into those groups.

[@PeyloBeauty]

in germany you do not always stay in the same classroom. we also go to our biology and science rooms but for most subjects such as math englisch german or history you stay in the same room since every class has their own classroom that is basically theirs. other courses for other classes can happen in there but that room will still be known as the classroom of class X. It's different in uni of course.

[@seorsamaclately4294]

When I went to Gymnasium (1968-1977) we had a varying number of classes every day. From 5th to 9th grade it were 4 (minimum) to 6, from 11th to 13th it were 6 classes from Monday to Friday, and 4 on Saturday. Double classes were the main topics (German, 1st foreign language (English or French), Math, Physics, Chemistry, and Biology). The second language started in 7th (?) and ended in 10th grade. In 10th grade you could choose to go on with Chemistry or Biology, and choose between Art and Music).

[@prody666]

By being with the same people in the same class, you will end up getting close to some of them and becoming friends. I live in Europe, I've been in the same class with some people until the end of high-school (not the same school, of course). As you can imagine, there is a bond you form with someone who has been your colleague for 12 year.

[@MellonVegan]

When I was in school (over 10 years ago), we had a cafeteria but they didn't have full meals and more snacks, like she said. A student favourite was pizza toast (literally toast topped with tomato sauce, salami and cheese) but most didn't get or buy anything and the place wasn't very big. People would maybe bring fruit or sandwiches from home but not all. But yeah, that's mainly about the hours. I don't remember precisely but I wanna say we had maybe 4-6 "hours" of school per day (basically the same as at uni, although that decreased over the years, too), sometimes with 2.5h long breaks in between (depending on which subjects people chose). Monday tended to be a long day and Friday a very short day, for some odd reason. But yeah, if school starts at 8 AM and is done by 2 PM, you don't need lunch at school.

[@blondkatze3547]

When i was still going to school in 1976 from the 1st to the 4th grade we had four hours of lessons every two weeks on Saturday from the 5th to the 10th grade we had every weekend off that all changed later had every weekend off only english was spoken in english classes no german every girl or boy got an english firstname with which we always had to address each other my name was Anne my sister Nelly`s name our english teacher wasn`t married and didn`t have any children the funny thing was she always dressed like an older english woman blouse checked skirt shoes and a cap on her head😅🤣😂she also traveled to england every school holiday that was her passion mean while she passed away.Good morning boys and girls good morning Miss .... we must always answer.🤗

[@sebahabu]

because the teacher change and not the room ... or students are divided on differnt rooms or teachers, you have a real strong community in class usually that grows over the years... usually there is a speaker of the class elected since the first grade every year... speakers of the class elect a students speaker that represent the students in severals decicions by the board of teachers...

[@LythaWausW]

This explains a lot about why Germans are difficult to befriend. They aren't forced to make new friends on a regular basis except in some cases.

[@sebahabu]

@@LythaWausW true.... there are longlasting deep friendships founded that may last into business life.... not lightly "friends"

[@Raffael-Tausend]

When anyone smokes in my gymnasium, I go report them to the teachers and they get detention, so that is very different across schools.

[@xxdomixx1085]

In high school I was in the same class with the same people for all of my 5 years. Every year we got a new room. In that room we had about 90 % of our lessons. Only Biology and Italian was in different rooms. And sports of course. Usually we had the same seat for the entire year. The teachers only changed the seat-order if someone talked all the time. Then you would be seated next to other people for a few weeks until you really behaved, then you could change back.

[@jokermorningstar5816]

so to paint a picture of my school days (alltough that was 8 years ago) Schhool started at 8am we then had 5 periodes of 45min then a 2 h pause and then 2 another periods the "important" classes like math, english, or german were always 2 combined periodes the "less important" ones were always only 1 period so one day for example would be as follows: 8am 2periodes of math 20 minute break 2 periodes of english 20 minute break 1 periode of geography 2 hour break 2 periodes of german 4pm in the 2h break you could eat in the cafeteria or play footbal or go to the library etc.

[@janaenespana123]

😂 i smoked to in my lunchbreaks... i always would go with two other Girls to the older kids and we were next to them smoking and almost no teacher said a word about it😂

[@keltenbleich]

I had to start working at age 16, so I never went to high school. But as far as I understand, one has to be gifted to be in a Gymnasium. If middle school was too hard for me, I would never have passed the Gymnasium. You go there to later become a teacher, a doctor, or a lawyer, and I never wanted that. Our middle school is for people who later want to work as a secretary or a desk clerk in a hotel, and our Gymnasium is for those who will pursue a career. You need to have the skills for that. For others like me, working from a young age is the only solution. I became a secretary, and my job was answering the phone, making coffee, and writing letters on a regular typewriter.

[@ian.blackwoodgwent.walesgb5668]

I went to University in Germany (Bonn) and also spent some time at a German school. German schools ,as far as my experience is concerned, are better than here in the UK. There the teachers do not have to fuss about pupils wearing the correct school uniform and other useless stuff. The (Gymnasium ) school I visited near Stuttgart had good facilities, including a Mensa(canteen) . Regarding smoking, it was a bit of an issue, as cigarettes in Germany at the time were relatively cheap and there appeared to be cigarette machines on every street corner (though today you need ID to use them).. Another interesting video. Thanks Ryan... und Gruesse aus Wales.........34 Grad heute!☀😎

[@schnelma605]

4:30 The class normally stays together except for a) Sport: Boys and girls are separated from the 7th class b) Religion separately: evangelical, catholic and ethic for all others c) elective school subjects d) last two years of high school Seats are normally chosen at the beginning of the school year.

[@Anni-Ka93]

to a) never heard of gender seperated sports classes, wasn't the case in my school ( north germany)

[@Seamus.Harper]

We were separated in sports class... but that may be because it was a catholic and former monastery school... 🤔

[@schnelma605]

@@Sc4v3r c) :-)

[@aphextwin5712]

We got separated by gender in PE/sports at some point, maybe from 7th or 8th grade onwards.

[@katschaccc]

We had our designated class room, but we also switched lot of rooms because we had a designated physics room or for chemical lessons. There where days where we didn't went in our room at all.

[@maarius030]

So you got you’re classmates and you keep them during your whole time at school. There are usually 20-30 people in a class. You choose your seat at the beginning of the school year and you keep it! The teacher can make you switch it if he/she wants to. So if you talk a lot with the student besides you the teacher will say “go to another table”. Also you don’t have a table for yourself. A table usually has space for two people and oftenly these tables stand side by side so there are 4-6 students sitting together. Your classmates are usually you’re friends. From my experience most of the times you just “know” the people from your class. You know about people from other classes but most of the times all your friends are just from your class. I really never had good friend who was not from my class. As I know this was normal since the school system we know today started. We have classes with the same people for years so it’s easier for kids to make friends and so nobody gets left out but imo I would’ve wished that after elementary school you switch students and the room aswell when you switch classes like in the us because it’s pretty boring and you don’t get to know new people. I stayed with the same people for 4 years and I didn’t liked most of them and after these years I got to know new people from other classes which I wasn’t friends with before and I liked them more. So basically I didn’t had the chance to become friends with people outside my class

[@utredragnarson1704]

Smoking together with the Teachers definitely made you connect on a more personel level. Just talking casually at a smoking brake made you apriciate that they are just normal people, not just some authority figure

[@chrismoran8241]

Oh... and our year end pictures? They were pictures of the whole class plus your main teacher. Not single pictures of each student by themselves.😆

[@lauraclaire883]

For food you just get a Döner at lunch ;)

[@MichaelFMeyer-lz5fv]

the shirt fits perfect to his eyes today^

[@crusher1980]

Smoking for younger kids definately wasnt allowed at our school. There was a place for older people where they could smoke but its not like everyone was running around the school smoking. At least in my days you werent allowed to do that, only at a specific spot or little more away from the school and only if you were older already. I also never saw teachers smoking together with kids, teachers had their own restroom.

[@lorrainemoynehan6791]

OK, so I'm neither German or American - but I have worked in German and visited the States (yep, just one holiday so it probably hardly counts) but this may be an insight on the interesting paradox of smoking in europe versus USA. Americans (spoiler alert: massive generalisation) can be slightly puritanical and somewhat dogmatic and will rebel against rules for the greater good imposed by government, ie wearing masks, having a nipple revealed on national TV Europeans are much more use to rules, we live in more densely populated towns and cities, we have to be more socially responsible, if I bath late at night I leave the water in the bath overnight so the sound of draining water won't be heard by my downstairs neighbours. We adhere to sensible rules to the letter (drink-driving is a huge no no, there is no safe limit) but have spent a life time of bending rules. I had a school tie, I wore it, just not around my neck, there was no mention of that in the uniform requirement list. Smoking is banned just about everywhere in public places, so people congregate outside to smoke. It becomes a social thing, not an anti-social 'kill the witch' thing. Yes, everyone knows its additive and bad for health etc but it is doing no one any harm except the participant (passive smoking is unlikely just walking past a group outside a pub). I also have nothing at all to back up this argument! Oh, and btw, I don't smoke

[@jlpack62]

My high school also didn't have AC in the USA, but the school does now.

[@ClemensKindermann]

When I was at school here in Austria nearly every teacher and every student used to smoke not only outdoors but in the building. Otherwise we had to learn at least four languages, which I am thankful for. 👍

[@reinhard8053]

My school days (in Austria) are more in the past. In my class there was only a small minority who smoked. A bit more at the teachers. I don't remember if we had a smoking room but I think not. 4 languages would be quite uncommon. German is not to be counted. I started with English, then Latin and French. And I was in the "new language" class which had more of it than the others. The others had one language less. There were free after school activities for more. We had a group learning Italian. But that was not part of the general classes.

[@nixnix4100]

Guys in Germany also wear Baggy Jeans, its just your own choice and depends a bit on the region you live

[@Gaukh]

I gotta say, schedules/timetables are mixed though. We usually got 2 breaks, a 20 minute break after 1:30 hours and another 10 minute break 2 hours after the first break. Some schools have 15 minutes... Schools can start anywhere from 7:30 to 8:00 and perhaps even 8:15, that's what it was like for me in elementary school. We only had 5 hours before lunch break. and in the afternoon 2-3 more hours usually. In school the lunch break got shorter though to 45 minutes (12:05-12:55) as it was too long eventually with 1:15h (12:05 - 13:25) I think it was. Don't ask me why they gave another 5 minutes of break after the break to "go to your classrooms". As you already know an hour in school is 45 minutes here.

[@jokeaccount8739]

3 out of 5 days school (Gymnasium) starts at 7:50am and ends at 5:15pm for me