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?

American Culture?

No, the title doesn't refer to any personal experience of mine. I ran across this post in a bl0g the other day. The post refers more to general experiences with Germans and "insights" into German culture. What really follows seems like a series of shallow observations based on stereotypes that were formed before a short trip to Germany.

Skim through the post and then read this comment from "Manfred", a German guy who ironically speaks by far the best English of all the people weighing in there. His comment very eloquently portrays an unfortunately all-too-common view of American culture: that is, that we don't have much of it, and that it's shallow.

Both perceptions seems to be based on media and short stints in the other country. Granted, both have some basis in real aspects of German and American culture, but I feel that while the latter is much more thought-out and well-worded, both points really present an us-against-them, I'll-judge-you-from-my-couch mentality.

I'd like to hear from you guys about this, especially about what you consider American culture. Music? A melting pot? Our values? Modern art? Football? Baseball? Barbeque?

PS: I'm going to be in Köln, also known as Cologne, for the next 5 days attending the mid-year meeting with the rest of the exchange students from my group. We'll compare experiences and talk about "home", and maybe something interesting will come out of it.