Škola

I have decided to do a sort of series on things that I think people are interested in (school, town, food etc.). I'm sorry if it's a little confusing to read, both thought and grammar-wise, but right now my thoughts are in 3 langagues and the grammar and everything is confusing! This is the first one and it is about:

School (Škola)
The name of my school is Mendelovo Gymnazium (Mendel Grammar School). It is located in Opava, a city of 60.000 located in Northern Moravia (the eastern half of the Czech Republic). There are between 600 and 800 students in my school (I get different numbers whenever I ask). People can either go to gymnazium, if they want to go to university, or another type of high school (economics, art, industry etc.) if they want to go straight into the workplace. I am just going to talk a little about gymnazium in general, and then just my school.

People can either go to gymnazium for 8 years (after the 5th class) or 4 years (after the 9th class). Most people go for 4 years. In schools here, you stay with the same people for all your calss, for all 4 or 8 years of gymnazium. You have one or two classes a year which are electives with different people, and sometimes the class is split in half for some classes, but mostly you stay with the same people. This means that the class becomes close, and everyone is usually friends with everyone.

I was placed in the 2nd year, in class 2D. There are about 25 people in my class, and they are all 16 or 17. We have a head teacher, who lets us know about school announcements and other things. In our case she teaches us math and physics. She is the same teacher they had last year, and will have for the next 2 years.

Class schedules here are crazy! You have different classes everyday, at different times and in different rooms. There is also a bulletin board where you have to look everyday to see if anything is different for the day, and there is a good chance that it is! The days can differ greatly. For example on Mondays, I have class form 8 to 5, but on Wednesdays, I have class from 8 to 12:30. My schedule is a little different from my classmates because I am taking French, Spanish and Russian instead of Chemistry, Biology and Psychology. I will post my schedule sometime soon, but I don't have it here with me, and after only 3 weeks, I haven't yet memorized it. I'm not sure if anyone every does with all of the different things, and the changes that can happen!

Classes last 45 minutes, with 10 or 15 minutes between classes. Teachers are often a couple of minutes late, but whenever they come you have to stand up. You call teachers pan profesor or pani profesorka (man or woman). The teacher does not clean the board (usually chalkboard). A student does it before class with a sponge and water. Most classes are lecture style and rarely are notes written on the board. You can talk during class, but you are expected to take notes and know the material. Teachers do not dress up too much, and jeans are common attire.

In the basement of the school there is a shoe/coat room for every class. You have "house shoes" for school. When you get to school you go and take off your shoes and put on your house shoes (usually birkenstock like shoes). This is meant to keep the school clean when it is wet and snowy outside.

Food in school is interesting. To get food at school, there are two options. The first is a place to buy snacks (called the "bufet"). Here you can buy drinks, sandwiches, hot dogs, candy and fresh bread (very good and brought in everyday from a bakery). People usually eat a sandwich, or bread, between classes, either brought from home or bought at the bufet. Lunch is served from 11:30 to 2:30. Almost everyone eats at school. You eat after all your classes, or during a free peiod. At my schoool, it is a hot meal, and you have 3 choices. It is eaten on real plates, with metal silverware and real tables. You have a card which you scan, and you choose for the next week the week before. You pay monthly for lunch.

If there is anything else that you would like to know, feel free to ask.

Notable difference: Everyone here writes in cursive. They don't cross their t's and they often look like s's!. It makes it difficult to copy notes, or take notes from the board!