school

So I managed to survive the first two weeks of American high school and I’d have to say it was pretty much what I expected.

First of all, my school is absolutely HUGE. Imagine fitting 4200 students into one building anyway. Yes, it’s all in one building which was extremely weird at first, especially since it all looks the same so it is impossible to find anything. The building is really pretty though. 

I wasn’t expecting everything to be so similar to how it is in movies but it is! As soon as the bell rings everyone gets up and walks out of class, and the desks are all separate with the seats attached to them. There are three different lunch periods because there are so many people, and you’re allowed out of school for lunch but my friends and I eat in the cafeteria - though we bring our lunch from home because the school food looks absolutely horrible. I have my lunch period fourth, so from 10:49am. It’s weird having it so early, especially because we don’t get any other breaks during the day.

I’m a junior here (grade 11), until after the summer in August when I’ll be a senior. The subjects here are amazing. There are an insane amount of options compared to in NZ and since I’m an exchange student I don’t have to do any compulsory ones. The classes are 46 minutes each, with a four minute passing time in between. This semester I’m taking

• Law in American Society
• Music Appreciation
• Marine Biology
• German
• Speech
• Drama
• Guitar

I have them in that order every single day. I thought that was going to be really weird to get used to but it has actually been a good thing because I’ve been able to figure out a route between all my classes (although it took me the last two weeks to figure that out). So yes, I’ve gotten lost a billion different times but it’s easy to ask someone how to get somewhere and it seems to be expected that people get lost so easily.

Next semester I’m most likely taking

• Film Study
• Humanities
• Philosophy in Literature
• Adventure Gym
• German
• Guitar
• Sociology

Another weird thing about the school is the security. When you enter the building there are metal detectors and bag scanners to go through, but not everyone has to. You also have to carry your ID with you all the time and the security guards need to see it for you to enter the building. In the morning about ten minutes before class they play a random song over the intercom thing and basically whatever they choose ends up being stuck in you head all day. After that they play the school song and the national anthem which you have to stand for.

(All photos taken from here. Check out the other ones!)

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