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Where are the Apple-blossoms?
May 20th, 2011…or how Westford amuses itself.
Musings on American culture by a German exchange student.
Passing through the center of town around nine o clock in the morning last Saturday proved to be a bad idea. Knowing the usual size of Westford’s town activities, I was completely flabbergasted by the number of people lining the street around the common and Abott School. It looked like every family with little kids was there, and then some more.
The actual parade I missed, but I hear it is all very flowery. It sounds like the event named ‘Karneval’ in Germany, which is about three days of festivities like that and slightly different in every town (except for the fact that there is a parade, some shooting competition and lots of drinking).
Then, Saturday evening, the highlight; fireworks and fried dough. For about fifteen minutes bright lights exploded over the heads of the watching crowd, one bigger and more colorful than the next. For a town the size of Westford it was quite an impressive display. However, I can not understand the people still going on rides during the fireworks – their smoke inhalation rate must have been horrendous. And then there was the one thing everyone had waited for desperately for the last two weeks – fried dough. Apparently a local favorite. I could not believe the size of one serving – but then again, you had to pay five bucks for it so at least they gave you a lot. It’s probably a good thing that the carnival only happens once a year; fried dough must be one of the most unhealthy calorie-bombs ever.
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New York City: small space chaos
May 5th, 2011Bettina Juszak
Staff Writer
Musings on American culture by a German exchange student.
New York City, the city of 8 million. I’m not even going to start on the waiting involved in this city. Remember when I said Washington DC was packed? It was nothing in comparison to New York City. Times Square? One could hardly move without bumping into someone, the masses of people were stifling (and it wasn’t even prime time in the evening). If so many people didn’t give one a headache, then all the blaring, garishly bright and obtrusive signs would. And another piece of advice – don’t try to find anything affordable, or without a line, to eat. It won’t work.
In Times Square, the Wax Museum, Madame Tussauds. Apart from being packed as well, I was surprised to find lots of celebrities in there who I wouldn’t have deemed worthy of a wax statue (apparently New York has less of an elitist attitude than London and Paris). I mean, Justin Bieber? Really? What has he contributed to society? In any event, actually seeing Times Square did make it clear to me why people are afraid of terrorist attacks there; I have never seen a place that has TARGET written in such bright and big letters on top of it.
Then there was Central Park. The word ‘Park’ might be a bit misleading. ‘Lots of people on top of each other trying to sun’ fits a lot better. As a reprieve, it is noisy and full people and definitely not a place one can really concentrate on something. Especially not if one doesn’t like the smell of hot dogs, as they are sold at every corner.
One good thing, however, as it was free and practically without waiting, was the Staten Ferry, and even though it didn’t quite lead near the Statue of Liberty, it was close enough and not besieged by tourists. Definitely a tip for anyone going there soon.
In the end, in my opinion, New York City is just a huge personal security risk. You are lucky if you make it out without being squished by the masses, driven over by a mad taxi driver, hit in a terrorist attack, or lost and mugged somewhere. This is definitely not a city I would want to live in.
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Washinton DC, the city of waiting
April 26th, 2011Bettina Juszak
Staff Writer
Musings on American culture by a German exchange student.
April break saw me driving all over the country, and that also took me through the nation’s capital. If anyone asked what I noticed most about Washington DC, I would promptly answer that it was the fact that the whole city is monument crazy.
From Jefferson, to Washington, to Lincoln, there seems to be no president not represented, if not as a monument then with a building named after him. Also there seems to be a monument for every crisis or war the US has been in to date, and even some unrelated ones for civil rights or similar things.
How much money and time went into the many stone, marble, steel, etc. buildings I don’t even want to imagine. I do have to say though, that 1) Roosevelt got the best deal with an entire island dedicated to him, and 2) Washington got the bad end of the deal with a questionable (but unquestionably boring) pinnacle.
Apart from the monuments, Washington DC also sports an astounding number of museums both the free Smithsonian, and expensive private variety. Whichever one you choose to go to, however, expect to have to wait in line. For a long time.
The Air and Space Museum? Great, really interesting exhibitions, a great planetarium which creates a deceivingly real sky and space around you, done with quite a big budget if I’m any judge…but it was packed. One had to wait to get in, one had to wait to get to some exhibitions, one had to wait to see the planetarium show, and one had to wait to go the bathroom (at least when you are female).
The Spy Museum? Again, great museum, really interesting, interactive…and even more packed. We waited more than an hour to get in – it certainly is a good way of getting to know new people; standing in line with someone for that long you are bound to start talking. A city tour by bus at night? You guessed it; we had to wait (our tickets claimed leaving time at seven – we finally got started at 8:30 instead).
Even leaving the city we were stuck in a traffic jam. Not exactly the best circumstances to remember a city fondly.
Exploring a College Campus
April 15th, 2011Musings on American culture by a German exchange student.
Last weekend I visited a college for an accepted students day. Apparently that is a generally used method of trying to decide on a college. Said college shall remain unnamed, but, as it is of importance later, I will say that it specializes in engineering and sciences.
The hoped for insightful visit, however, certainly did not start out that way. The welcoming speech was complete propaganda, which mostly focused on how great the college is, the need of every student to attend that college as it is the best choice one could make, and how smart all the accepted students are since they had been accepted. Not a lot to learn from that (but the snacks were good…).
Next, students and their entourages split up into groups of the subject of chosen majors, in our case, engineering. Another speech about how great the college is followed. Funny enough, all the pictures on the powerpoint slide they presented had female students in it – quite a misleading statement, as the gender ratio is about 88% male to 12% female in that particular engineering school.
After that, everyone was free to go wherever; you could explore the campus, partake in the various activities provided, talk to students, find out more about the majors you are considering, etc. That part was fun, and informational. Having an exclusive view into the workings of different college buildings, talking to professors and department heads, seeing the actual students go about their business, all proved to be very informational. You still had to dig for anything negative (i.e. the weather is pretty bad most of the time), but genuine information was coming forth.
The tour highlighted the difference between German colleges and American colleges. German ones are less expensive, yes, but what you get is only the education. No housing, food, or any other extracurricular experiences. Here the colleges are all about that too. The money spent includes housing and a student community with clubs and activities. There is a mentality of, ‘It’s four years of my life – it should be good’. Now I understand more than ever why the college search is such an important task for seniors.
In the end the visit did prove enlightening. If one is willing to suffer though some boring speeches and is willing to dig beneath the surface for real information, much can be learned. Oh, and we did get a bag and pens for free.
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College Fanaticism
April 12th, 2011Bettina Juszak
Staff Writer
…or how an education system seems to be more trouble than it’s worth.
A series of musings on American culture by a German exchange student.
I know I already talked a bit about this topic, but now that college admissions are in full swing, I feel that there is a lot more to say.
After the initial craziness of the process of applying in summer and fall, which is far more extensive than any application in Germany, and as far as I know the whole of Europe, now, in March, all the regular action rejections or acceptances are rolling in. A time of extreme stress for some, who don’t know where they are going yet and have to wait with a baited breath, and a completely unimportant one for others, who already know where they are going to go to college.
Nothing, however, changes the fact that lives rest on those decisions, as here in the US going to a good college or one that suits you is infinitely of more value than in Europe. As far as I can judge this phenomenon hangs on several reasons. One, companies place a lot more stock in where you went to college (for example, if you went to Harvard everyone will assume you are smart), and two, more people actually go to college in the US. In Europe, going to universities is still somewhat of a privilege (which is part of the reason why countries can keep tuition prices so low), though that has been changing lately – and bringing price changes with it. Still, the difference between paying for college here and in Europe is humongous. If a family doesn’t save up for college, attending without tons of debt is near impossible. After all, who can afford fifty thousand dollars per year? We already have had student riots in Europe because prices get raised for a few hundred euros…
Money brings me to the next major part of the whole college process: scholarships.
In Europe, they are scarce. There are some governmental ones, and some from other organizations promoting education, but that’s about it. No one can count on actually getting a scholarship; however, as the cost of tuition is so much less high, most people do not actually need it, either.
Here in the US, it seems that every single company offers scholarships, the army has them, the schools have them, the colleges have them, and so on. And many a student’s decision hangs on if he gets enough money from scholarships to actually go to the school he wants to go to. Isn’t there something wrong about good education only being available to those with lots of money? Education is supposed to be something which anybody interested can get, to the extent he needs – which is not necessarily possible in the States.
The only upside to high tuition is the fact that the schools have more money for equipment and buildings – and that some of the best universities in the world are created by it. That, however, still doesn’t help those who can’t afford or don’t have the grades to profit from those top schools.
Now that the final college decisions are due soon, the question of money, where to go, and what to do with one’s life become more prominent than ever for the current Seniors.
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Mock Accident: an effective teaching tool?
April 4th, 2011Bettina Juszak
Staff Writer
…or, “Guys, drunk driving really is bad”.
Musings on American culture by a German exchange student.
When thinking about April 1st, 2011, I think no one can deny that the weather was playing an April fools joke on all of New England. Unfortunately, or so I am told, that made the mock accident less fun, or impressive, than it had been in the past, as no one was particularly keen on doing it in a bank of snow and it was moved inside.
In the PAC quite the detailed scene followed – and quite fatalistic as well. One dead, one injured, one mysteriously vanished, and a drunk driver; not the happiest of casts. It definitely was interesting to see the steps the police officer took to see if the driver was inebriated (I always thought you just had to blow into some pipe and they measure the amount of alcohol in your breath, but apparently that would be too easy).
At this point I do have to say that the cast was really good (I can’t help but admire the person who just lay still as death for the whole time, and the drunken state of the driver was portrayed quite well, too). The projected picture was a bit lame, but I guess you can’t really have a crashing car on stage. Also, the policemen and other helpers might have benefited from a microphone as well.
I found it quite interesting that the school actually does something like this – I have never seen anything like it in German schools. We get the usual speeches about how drunk driving is bad, but a visual? No. That, of course, leaves me wondering if it works better with the visual, or if it is as ineffective in getting through to thick-headed people.
Anyway, the bottom line? Drunk driving is bad – really bad. Drugs aren’t any better. I know, it should be obvious, but apparently for some people it isn’t. Whatever it takes to get that into people’s heads…
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Weather Grievances
March 28th, 2011Bettina Juszak
Staff Writer
…or how we are never happy with any weather.
Musings on American culture by a German exchange student.
It is snowing. Snowing! Snowing in spring. It is not supposed to snow in spring. Rain, sunshine, warmer weather, yes, but not really cold – and snowing.
Flashback to last summer; when I came here it was so hot one couldn’t stand to be outside for long doing anything in the way of exertion – then the life saver was the swimming pool in the back yard.
Flasback to fall; now that was a pleasant time of year – except for the darkness and cold. I had expected rain, that’s what’s usually happening in Germany in fall, but there was next to none.
Flashback to winter (yes, the past tense – winter is officially supposed to be over even if itself is a bit slow in getting that); it was freezing, mounds of snow everywhere, ice – then the life savers proved to be the snow blower and heat in the house.
Back to the present; the mounds are gone, but the temperatures and the occasional snow isn’t (talk about irony when snow falls on the first day of spring…). Now we have a roller coaster of weather conditions changing from nicely warm (one day, it was one day!), to brrr cold, to snow, to rain. Apparently instead of fall, here spring is the yucky month.
Which brings me back to my first point. We humans never seem to be happy with the weather (and I’m not excluding myself). Either it’s too warm, or too cold, or too snowy, or there is no snow, etc. Funny, isn’t it? That doesn’t seem to be any different in the States than in Germany.
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Halfway Point
February 28th, 2011…or getting used to American peculiarities.
A series of musings on American culture by a German exchange student.
In several different senses this is exactly the half of my exchange year here. One is simply the time; I have been here for five months and there are five more months to go. A second is the beginning of third term and thus second semester. And a third is the mental attitude – I am truly and completely here now; German is beginning to feel like a foreign language, high school is the norm, and living here seems just right.
In retrospect, time flew by so fast. It doesn’t seem that long ago that I got off the plane, not knowing what lay ahead of me. Now my adjustment is all but complete.
I do not constantly have to ask people “Sorry, what did you say again?” anymore, I know what “that’s what she said” jokes are (believe me, those were so confusing in the beginning), and can find my way through the New England language peculiarities (see: wicked). I (more or less) understand the way WA runs (for that matter I know what W-A is – if no one explains these abbreviations one is easily lost) and am not lost in its maze of hallways anymore. I have gotten used to people wanting ice-cream at every time of the day and year (as long as I don’t have to eat it I’m fine), and understand how Netflix works now (if you believe it or not, I have never heard of such a service in Germany before – if that is because of my ignorance or because it does not exist is anybody’s guess).
The rest of the school year is actually surprisingly short (for Seniors, anyway) and suspiciously devoid of any big tests. There is one more vacation, and Senior privileges have started (Go Seniors!) On the other hand, certain females are becoming more and more persistent that I think of and plan for prom now, even though it is still three months away.
Having absolved half a year I can’t help but look forward to the rest; and dread the return. But there is still time, even if it flies.
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Chinese New Year
February 18th, 2011A series of musings on American culture by a German exchange student.
The day before Valentine’s Day and I have nothing better to do but freeze my butt off. Not that I didn’t have fun, too, but it was hard to enjoy anything outside (I want spring, now!!). Anyway, I know the actual Chinese New Year was supposed to be on February 3rd, but for some reason it was only celebrated on the 13th in Boston’s Chinatown.
That said, it was a fascinating experience. Our group went to a Chinese restaurant (more Chinese than you usually get in Westford – the waiters actually mostly spoke Chinese) for lunch, with traditional Chinese food and customs (drinking tea first, etc.). My first clash with chop sticks was probably amusing for everyone but me, but with a lot of practice I did get to the point where I could use them without spilling everything at once.
In the middle of the meal (which tasted fantastic, on a side note), it got loud. And when I say loud, I mean loud. Really loud. The parade had reached our restaurant, and as soon as the brightly colored dragons, red and yellow in this case, entered, the banging and cracking started. They danced around the room for a bit, and left again (later I saw that they did that to every shop, so they probably were a bit short on time).
Outside, more of these smaller groups formed a whole parade, moving through all of Chinatown. Dragon costumes in all colors, from blue to yellow to black to blue, everywhere and the two-man teams wearing them performing acrobatics as well as hopping in tune to the beats of the big drums constantly being hammered away on by at least two persons. A mystery to me, however, was the throwing of lettuce and grapefruit, though. I have no idea what that was for. On the streets small stall vendors used the opportunity to try to sell to the excited crowd of people following the parade, and some were even lighting small fireworks. The only things marring the picture were the mounds of ice at the side on the street, which were liable to trip you, and the constant police presence – officers near the parade, and police cars in a perimeter all around Chinatown. Apparently they didn’t trust everything to happen peacefully.
Again the mixture of culture in the US was prevalent, it is an interesting thing indeed to live in such a multi-faceted country.
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Snow Dump
February 11th, 2011Bettina Juszak
Staff Writer
A series of musings on American culture by a German exchange student.
So, remember the time I said something about wanting snow and there not going to be any snow during school hours? I take it back. All of it. Not only has there been a more than ample amount of snow, it also completely and thoroughly disrupted school. So there; proven wrong on both accounts.
At this point in time I feel confident to say that there are very few people actually wanting more snow – and we are only a bit more than half-way through the winter. Endless hours of shoveling powdery white stuff out of our driveway (so much for not needing a snow-blower since there normally isn’t that much snow) and being stuck at home have taken their toll on my wish for snow (have completely obliterated it, to be precise). Yes, the world does look pretty all in white, but only as long as one doesn’t have to try to get anything done in it. And snow isn’t the only problem; there is also a dangerous abundance of icicles adorning virtually every house (I really don’t want to be hit by one – my year here is already exciting enough!), and the freezing cold. Oh and not to forget the ice beneath the layers of snow (I’m still waiting for the inevitable face-plant).
The one upside is that not having school due to snow days is really nice, especially as a senior, as it is something that normally doesn’t happen in Germany. Less school, a good thing indeed.
Not so good in contrast was (and in some cases still is) the confusion in school and schedule our frequent snow storms have left in their wakes. Notifications of snow days and two hour delays in the middle of the night, teachers despairing of ever getting their lesson plans in order again, and most memorably never knowing when one’s midterm would actually take place.
When there actually were midterms taking place, the days were surprisingly relaxing. Students got to sleep in a little longer, and only two midterms a day at most were a manageable amount of work. Frankly, I had thought it would be harder (not that I’m complaining though).
And then there was last Tuesday, on which we really should have had at least an early release (there were delays for less) as getting home in a car was quite an adventure. It already started with the senior parking lot and all the cars being completely snowed in. If we hadn’t had a shovel to dig the car out it would have taken at least half an hour to get out of there (some people did have that problem; hockey sticks don’t make a very good shoveling tool). As soon as we pulled out of the parking lot, we already encountered one car stalled at the side of the road, and another headfirst in a snowbank at the intersection. A few minutes later, a hill nearly led to our demise. We did make it home in the end, but in conditions we normally really wouldn’t drive in. I know there needs to be school too, but not with such dangers for students.
The newest question presenting itself now is: what to do with all of that snow? Where to put it? Mounds of snow are already reaching heights like twice as high as a person, streets are getting narrower and narrower, walkways don’t exist anymore. Something will have to be done – more snow is on its way, if weather reports are to be believed.
New England is presenting herself in her snowiest light this winter; I have never had that much snow in Germany – figures that I would be here during the snowiest winter in several years.
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Essays galore
January 14th, 2011Bettina Juszak
Staff Writer
A series of musings on American culture by a German exchange student:
Midterms are coming up (yes, I know you’re probably already more than sick of that subject even though they haven’t even happened yet) and with that one more instance at school where virtually everyone will have to write at least some sort of essay.
A few months ago I still thought an essay is an essay. You come to school, get about one and a half hours to write in class and hand it in. Guess what: American schools apparently do it more complicatedly. Between take home essays, in class essays, in class essays with a prompt given the day before, research papers, and reflections (and I’m sure I forgot some on that list), it isn’t hard to feel lost in translation.
Now, if anyone thinks that in class essays sounds like what we have in Germany, I have to disappoint him. One: we have more time. Two: we do not get a prompt a day or more beforehand. Three: we do not get a specific prompt at all, but more of a ‘generally write about this book’ type of thing. Those essays happen two to three times during a semester and make up all of our quiz and test grades (meaning we don’t really have quizzes and tests) – at least in German and foreign language classes, where essays are an essential part of the curriculum.
The next really noticeable point of difference is the format. Before coming here I had never even heard of MLA format (since we weren’t typing our essays), and we only needed a general format like introduction, body paragraphs, conclusion anyway. Here teachers are sticklers for formatting. From thesis, to opening sentence, to clincher sentence, to transitions, there are dozens of instances where a poor unsuspecting student can easily lose points (and a lot of them, too, of you are unlucky).
And last but not least, the topic. A prompt might be something like ‘Analyze the use of a symbol/motif of your choosing throughout the poem’. In my class in Germany it would sound more like ‘Analyze this poem – period’. As you can well imagine that is a whole lot of work and really not to the students’ liking (either you get it ‘right’ (meaning how the teacher believes it should be interpreted) and you are fine, or you get it wrong (and then it is all wrong). Not very encouraging, is it?
Despite all the gloom and doom reflections; all the best of luck on midterms!
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American Holidays 2: Reflections on Vacation
January 10th, 2011Bettina Juszak
Staff Writer
A series of musings on American culture by a German exchange student:
Christmas and New Year’s – two of the most major events of the year, only a week apart. And the best thing: one week off from school.
When I say the best thing, that is of course only a relative assessment. My personal first reaction to that fact was more along the lines of why, oh why is it only one week? Being used to two weeks of Christmas vacation that struck me as particularly short and unfair, especially with the midterms coming up at an alarming speed after. What bugged me even more, however, was the snow. Seriously, a snow storm (proclaimed blizzard, but it really wasn’t such a bad storm I thought; but then again I wasn’t driving around in it) two days after school was out?! That is too unfair to even put into words – especially because it was the perfect kind of snow storm, dumping like a foot and a half of snow everywhere, which certainly would have caused at least one snow day if not several. Instead everyone got stuck clearing snow from the driveway during free time.
Christmas and New Year’s themselves are surprisingly similar to what we do in Germany (I guess some things just are the same everywhere; I would bet New Year’s resolutions are as harrowing and often failing here as they are in Germany), aside from some minor differences like actual stockings over the fireplace – I guess your Santa Claus is just a bit more active. Oh, and of course the famous ball drop in New York – I can’t say we have anything that extravagant anywhere in Germany. On the other hand it seems as if there are definitely more people in Germany privately buying fireworks to use on New Year’s Eve (I don’t know if that just means Germans like stuff going boom more, or if I am just deaf and blind and didn’t notice people shooting fireworks around – then again, anyone who really likes fireworks could just go into Boston and see a huge professional one).
The time of carols and cookies is over, a new year has begun. What remains? Well, waiting for Easter of course!
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