School Life

I went back to school this week and I have to say it's really hard getting up in the morning. Today I think was the hardest day because of the lack of sleep and I was just really comfortable and it was still dark out this morning when I got out of bed. Luckily, today my history teacher lets us watch Schindler's list for the entire school day! My class got to miss all of our classes. We took a break to eat a snack at interval like usual but other than that, no classes!

School in general has gotten easier. I can actually comprehend what is going on in my classes. The most difficult part still is when a teacher say the notes to write down. They speak faster than I can write so I usually have to ask to copy the notes from someone but no one really minds because they know that I can't do everything yet. I looked back at the first notes I took in class and realized how horrible they were and I couldn't understand a lot of what I wrote but it's a great memory.

Since all the new exchange students are going to becoming to soon (August I think), I'll give you a run down of what to expect at my school and the schools in my city:

• You will stay in one classroom with the same students all day
• You don't switch classrooms
• Only teachers switch classrooms
• You will have different classes each day
• You might have to buy books for your school (Don't worry though, AFS pays for the books you need. They will explain it when you arrive in Brazil)
• Teacher's use chalk boards with grid lines
• There may not be a clock in your room but there is a bell system to tell you the end of the periods
• You go home for lunch
• You will get a small break in the middle of the school day for talking with friends and eating. The school will have a place called a "Cantina" where you can buy food but some schools have free food to eat in case you don't want to buy food. My school doesn't have this but other schools do.
• There is no air conditioning in classrooms but they do have fans.
• Some schools have projectors for teachers to show power points for lessons
• You are not allowed to use your cell phone during school (same in the US) but generally teachers just ignore students unless it's obvious that your using it or they will just say "Please put your cell phones away."
• If a teacher doesn't come to class there is no substitute teacher. You just don't have that class period.
• Students and teachers write in cursive but don't worry you can write in print.
• Students use different colored pens to write notes and homework assignments. (Don't worry you can use pencil except on tests)
• You could be in a large class (30-40 students, my class has 41 including me) if you go to a public school. Privet schools have smaller classes.
• Your notebook will be some cartoon character or a nicely decorated cover divided into sections for you class with stickers.
• Some schools have a gym area with a indoor soccer/basketball court with a covering over it (my school doesn't )

So hopefully this helps you a little understand how schools are. Remember that every school is different depending on what state, how big/small the city, public/privet school, and other various differences but the best part of school is that you will make lots of friends there!

Good luck on your adventure future exchange students. It will be the best semester/year of your life!

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