Klassenfahrten und Kurstreffen

Just thought I'd stop by and write a little bit about two features of German schools that I've learned about this year--Klassenfahrten (class trips) and Kurstreffen (course get-togethers).

I already wrote about the class trip to Spain, which is called a Klassenfahrt in German. The whole class travels together generally every two or three years starting in the 5th or 6th grade. Popular destinations include Spain, France, Berlin, and Prague. Students experience culture and history during the day and the teachers have their hands full with mischevious students at night.

A get-together of all of the students and the teacher of a specific course, called a Kurstreffen, takes place in the higher grades of the schools. A course, for example the music course in the 12th grade, will meet up at someone's house or a bar, drink a beer, and converse. I was at my first Kurstreffen last Wednesday. It was held at a friend's house and turned out well.

The Kurstreffen illustrates a few differences between Germany and America that I've noticed all year. Germans and Americans deal with alcohol completely differently. In Germany, beer and wine are legal at age 16, spirits at age 18. It's not unusual for teenagers to have a few drinks with adults, and above all, alcohol is not nearly as taboo.

The result: a teacher drinking alcohol with students is a customary occurence in the higher grades once a school year at the Kurstreffen. I feel like something like that could get a teacher fired at an American school. It's really just a matter of different perspectives.

What do you think of Klassenfahrten and Kurstreffen? Would it be good for classes at American schools to travel for a week, or is it unfair to expect that all of the students pay so much to travel? Do course get-togethers blur the line between school life and personal life too much? Do these two activities contribute to a better school community?

Max the Egg, part 2, and Move-in

So, for those of you who read the last post, you know that little Alex's dad turned out to be vice president of the Schloss Johanissberg winery (the winery that invented ice wines). Turns out he is also the head winemaker/Kellarmeister in their cellar. It also turns out he is one of the most hospitable people I have ever met. Wednesday night he took us on a tour of the two cellars of Schloss Johannisberg, one about 300 meters from the castle, one directly under the castle itself.

One of the most striking things about Germany is how the definition of "old" changes. The wine cellar directly under the castle is old any way you measure it. It was first constructed in the 12th century. Thanks to Drew for this picture. I'll edit this post a little bit later with more pictures.




My breath froze down there even though it was about 70 degrees outside because of the ridiculously high humidity. While we were down in the cellar we walked up to the locked up "wine library" there. The Kellarmeister explained how the wine was spared during both world wars because officers stayed in the castle and "guarded" the wine. We also saw a bottle from about 1748 or thereabouts, or, put in another way, older than our country. We also got to taste eight or nine wines. He did all of this out of the goodness of his heart after the wine store was closed with no expectation that we would buy anything. But he really did show us that the Riesling that comes from the Rheingau is some of the best wine in the world. His hopsitality was another tremendous welcome to Germany.

When I get a few more pictures I will edit this post. Other than that, all I have to say is that I moved into my host family on Saturday and started school today. I'll do an update on that sometime soon but for now it's safe to say that my host family is awesome and everyone at the school is very nice and accommodating.