Food

In Germany, most people eat three meals a day and it is not common to have snacks in between. The meals are big and usually last long, in Germany eating together is a family activity and a social event. Only expect one hot meal a day, the rest are usually cold and consist of sandwiches or some sort of meat. Bread is eaten at almost every meal, and bought fresh from the bakery everyday, and you cannot forget Germany's famous pretzels. Ice cream in Germany comes from Italy and it is very good, the second to last photo is of Spaghetti ice cream, which is ice cream put though a pasta machine and then topped with raspberry sauce.

St. Martin's Day

St. Martin's Day is a holiday, celebrated in Southern Germany on November 11 and it is like our Halloween, but more religious.

The holiday is based off of a religious legend, and one version goes like this; Martin, a Roman Solider, was traveling by horse through a snowstorm. He saw a beggar while traveling dying from the cold, so he decided to save him, he took his sword and cut his cloak in half, and gave half to the beggar. He dreamed latter that night about Jesus, he was wearing half of his cloak; Jesus turned out to be the beggar.

To celebrate this holiday the German children make lanterns out of paper either in their school or at home. On the night of St. Martin's children reenact the legend and then put candles in their paper lanterns to light their way, as they walk to different houses and sing. They ring the door bells and sing songs about St. Martin to the people that answer, in return the children get given candy (just like Halloween)!

Here is one of the songs the children sing.
Ich geh mit meiner Laterne und                                                         I go with my lantern and
Meine Laterne mit mir. Dort oben Leuchten die                       My lantern with me. There above light
Sterne, hier unten, da leuchten                                                         the stars, here below, there
wir. Mein Licht geht aus, wir gehn nach haus.              we light. My light goes out, we go back home    La-bim-mel, la-bam-mel, la-bum                                             La-bim-mel, la-bam-mel, la-bum

Halloween

Halloween is not celebrated in Germany like in America, trick or treating is not done and most kids do not dress up in costumes. Germans do know of the holiday in America and it is become more polular here, but more among the teenagers who want to have halloween parties. Some kids do dress up and go to some houses to get candy, not very common though, but they do not say "tick or treat." Some places and houses are decortated for Halloween but not as extravagent as in the U.S.A and nobody puts up Halloween lights. Carving pumkins has become very popular in the last few years along with watching horror movies around the Halloween time.

On Monday October 31 there is a Holiday

Only in Southern Germany, because their are more christian people, is this holiday celebrated. This holiday is to honor and remember the dead, families go to the graves of their loved ones to lay flowers and get the grave ready for winter. Families also light candles and place them in the latern holders on the grave, this is an important part of the holiday.

Lunch during school days

Like in America it is normal for a person to eat three meals a day in Germany. One of them being a hot/cooked meal, usually eaten at lunch time. Lunch is typically not served at school, so a German students either go home for lunch, to the city, or brings their own lunch from home. Lunch breaks for school are typically an hour and forty-five minutes, giving the student enough time to go home if they want.  During the 15 minute breaks between every 2 classes, student normally go out to the courtyard and eat a snack, such as fruits, vegetables, sweets, or sandwiches.  It is also normal for student to eat during class here, which is typically not allowed in America.

After School

Most schools in Germany offer no clubs or sports after school. If you want to join a club then you need to go through an organization or find a team in your city. Most German students are in 1-2 clubs or sports and have practice/lessons once or twice a week. Practice or lessons are usually 1-2 hours and if you are in a sport there are games on the weekend. Soccer is very popular in Germany almost every boy plays it, or played it when they were younger.

Since school days are not as long as in America it is easy to do lots of activities after school. When students do not have activities they are either with friends or family.

School Breaks and School Facts

German students do not have a long summer break like in America, but most do have a 6 week long break. School breaks are more spread out in Germany, they have 2 week long fall, winter, and spring break, unlike in America where our winter break is based on which day Christmas falls. Students also have shorter school days which makes up for not having a long summer break. Germans like Americans enjoy to  travel during their school breaks and spend time with friends, many travel to neighboring countries since everything in Europe is close.

In German schools students homework is not graded, like in America, instead their grade is decided by tests. Hardly any tests are multiple choice, instead they are essays or short answer questions, and teachers do not give review sheets. Same as in America though teachers give hints to what will be on the test and some will tell you the topic before hand.

One interesting fact that I have learned and experienced is that if teachers are sick or not in school, then the higher level grades do not have that class for the day. Substitute teachers are not common in higher level grades and instead it is just a free period.