Upon arrival, I was scared that no one would like me, that all would pick on me for being an American and only speaking English. However, all were nice to me and 4 kids in my grade even spoke English! That was cool. But speaking German, that was hard. Most kids in my class would try and speak slow to me. Now, I understand most of it and even speak some German! The teachers however, speak to fast and I do not understand everything they say. What I found surprising is that kids are allowed to run around wild and that some of the elder kids are allowed to smoke during their breaks! In my former schools in the States this was not allowed, let alone smoking! In Holland school starts one hour earlier than the USA. In the USA we write with pencils and no one speaks a second language. Neither did we use real schoolbooks as they do here, we have handouts in the USA.
Initially I was alone during breaktime, but now I have friends.
Tatia
With permission of the Deutsche Schule Den Haag, Netherlands
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