Noten

It's been almost three weeks since the last post. About time to update, nay?

The last three weeks have been jam-packed. We had our AFS regional mid-stay camp on the 14-15th, and the week after my committee took us to the Haus der deutsche Geschichte (House of German History) in Bonn, for which they made me miss a children's concert with my blasorchester we've been working hard on for weeks. Barbara couldn't go ice skating with Sarah and I last Sunday, so Sarah and I saw "Herr der Diebe" (Thief Lord) in Wesel and then sat in a cafe to talk for a couple hours. Wednesday she lent me the book "Herr der Diebe," which is by the German author Cornelia Funke, because I was so impressed by the film. Thursday I had a cold and stayed home from school, so I ended up finishing the book in two days. Not bad for a 389 page German book. I finished up my application for United World College with crossed fingers. Now I have to finish cramming for the SAT I'm taking in Düsseldorf tomorrow. Sarah (USA) had a small departure party and flew back home a couple weeks ago. Jamie, an American with another program who went to KDG, flew home too for health issues, so I am again the only American in our school now.

Today I was back in school. Good thing, too, because we got our report cards today. We had two periods of classes (math, in which I was the only person who did the homework), then we went to the Aula and got our papers with those fateful numbers on it. The German grading scale is from 1 to 6, 1 being the equivalent of an American A (or A++++, because almost nobody gets 1s in my school, though supposedly it's one of the best in NRW), and 5 and 6 being failing grades. What does my report card say? Drum roll please.

German 4
English 2
Art **
Math 2
Physics 3
Biology 3
Geography 3
PE **

Good news: They're all passing! Ich freue mich darauf. And Herr Thomä gave me a 3 in physics, though I thought he said he was giving me a 4! I've never had physics before, especially not in German. Sometimes you can hear Herr Thomäs explanations whoosh right over my head (a lot of other people's too, apparently).

I don't know why my art and pe teachers gave me **. They know I should be receiving grades from them. Or at least, I've told them a number of times. Then again, one of the last times I spoke with my pe teacher I accidently used the word "Note" instead of "Entschuldigung" when I was trying to tell him I didn't have a note with me saying I couldn't participate. "Note" means grade, so maybe he thinks now I don't need one? Issues will get sorted out later.

I am happy. I'd go out and celebrate with people, but it's ice cold outside and I have a cold anyway. Plus people have been falling off their bikes the last three days because of the ice frozen on the ground.

Drink some hot chocolate and read a good book! After the SAT tomorrow, I hope I can update again with more details and pictures from the jam-packed last three weeks. In the meantime: cram cram cram.