Student hops ocean to experience American education, culture up close and personal

Hello! My name is Eleni Hoxtell, and I'm from Berlin, Germany. I will be staying at West until the start of November. My dad went to school here and my grandpa taught at West for many years as well. I’ve been to Oshkosh many years visiting my grandparents and I decided to experience  how different education is here than in Germany.  Throughout the past three weeks, I have noticed a lot of differences between my school in Germany compared to here in Oshkosh. My school in Germany is called Gemeinschafts Schule, and it lasts for five years instead of four. 

In Germany, you don't have every class with different people; you're always with the same group. One group has about twenty to twenty-five people in it. You also don't get to choose what classes you would like to take, and everyone takes the same classes. Every group of people has one specific teacher that has the most responsibility for you and teaches the most classes for your group. 

At my school, every group goes on a one-week trip somewhere every year. For example, I am going to Spain when I get back. Every class period is 45 minutes long and some are 90 minutes. We  have 20 minute breaks between the second and third period. 

Lunch in Germany is normally 45 minutes. At my school in Germany, there is no buffet that you can go to and choose what you want to eat; we order our food online or you can go outside of school and get some lunch. There are always two meals to choose from, and one is always vegetarian. The meals are always warm. It’s mostly noodles, rice or potatoes. Most people bring their own lunch or go outside to get food because they don't like the quality, but some eat the school lunch.

We don't have a W-hour, but we have two hours per week where we can choose an activity to do for the next year. There are not as many clubs in Germany as here in Oshkosh, but there are a few fun activities to choose from. For example, skating, table tennis, reading etc. In Germany you also don't have the same classes at the same time every day. Your group has a different schedule every day of the week. I do like the music between classes at Oshkosh West, as we don't have that in Germany. 

Schools in Germany also don't have sports. If you want to do a sport, you have to sign up for yourself and the sport has nothing to do with school. So, it’s very exciting to see all the football games here. I’m also in cross country.

School holidays in Germany are also very different from Oshkosh. Our summer break is only six weeks, but we have two weeks of fall break, one week of Christmas break, one week of winter break, and two weeks of Easter break. 

We sadly also don't have homecoming in Germany, so that's something I'm really looking forward to. My goal at Oshkosh West is to make some awesome new experiences and some nice memories. I love the friendly atmosphere so far and look forward to all the fun high school events ahead.

by  Eleni Hoxtell

Published October 2 2023
Oshkosh West Index Volume 120 Issue I