Tinki, Lena & Verena

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Originally uploaded by thompson83.

The most beautiful discovery true friends make is that they can grow separately without growing apart. ~Elisabeth Foley

Tinki, Lena & Verena

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Originally uploaded by thompson83.

This is a photo of me and my two best friends from germany. it was taken last may (2005) after I hadn't seen them for about 2 years...

Flower

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Originally uploaded by thompson83.

This was taken on a beautiful fall day in South Dakota...I was pretty excited about findig something worth taking a picture of which can sometimes be hard in Brookings, SD :)

Tim and Lena 2

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Originally uploaded by thompson83.

here is another one taken at the same time, by my friend, Jael, who takes wonderful pictures (as you can see...)

Tim and Lena

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Originally uploaded by thompson83.

I thought it would be appropriate to post some pictures, since this blog is also about Photography. This one is of me and my husband, taken in the fall of 2005. i will also post some of the pictures that I have taken.

education

Like I had mentioned in one of my previous posts, I will talk about some of the differences between the US and Germany. So today I want to talk about education! I will try not to sound too opinionated, but simply portrait my personal experiences and my own opinion about this topic.

In Germany, from first until 4th grade, students go to something very similar to the american elementary school - "die Grundschule". Students normaly have one class teacher, and depending on the size of the school, a different teacher for other subjects. The usual classes include reading and writting, math, geography (or something simlar to it), music, P.E., art and even classes like Philosophy and Religion are taught.
After 4th grade the student will get a evaluation from the school, which will suggest, NOT decide, which level of High School the student should attend. the parents will then decide. In Germany there are three "levels".

"Hauptschule" (grades 5-9) - which is for the weaker students, yes, it is an education but it will be very, very hard to find a job!
"Realschule" (grades 5-10) - which is for the "average" student, it is an alright education, but most students would most likely try to transfer to a "Gymnasium" after graduation, in order to be able to go to college etc.
"Gymnasium" (grades 5-13) - This is where the best students would go, in order to receive the [varies between states] best education. You will need the"ABI", which is like you High School diploma for this level, in order to go to College and in order to find a good job. (which still won't be guaranteed, since Germany has an insanely high unemployment rate at the moment-one of the biggest problems facing the nation today - about 12.6% ...)
For more info check out: http://www.indexmundi.com/g/g.aspx?c=gm&v=74
and http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4307303.stm

Anyway, the methods of teaching are also very different..It seems as if they are stricter and more "serious", but also more creative and based on independent thinking and a more independent additude...
One big issue to me is the fact that the kids in American High Schools are NOT required to learn a foreign language (well, exept for like one semester or so...what good does that do?!) There are not very many 16 year olds that will voluntarely sit and study vocab every day, if it is not required...I would have dropped if I could ahve, but I couldn't and I am definately thankful that I didn't...well, otherwise I wouldn't be where I am today!
In Germany, if you don't speak at least two languages, you are pretty much screwed...In 5th grade we start with english, which we will have from then on until we graduate in 13th grade. In seventh grade we get to choose between french and latin (required), and then in ninth grade you can pick up whichever one you are not learning already and the you can also pick up spanish or whatever else your school offers (depending on where you are, the school will offer different languages, like danish, norwegian, russian, italian, korean, etc...)
I consider myself to be "pretty fluent" in english, and I know that this is not because I am smarter than any other person, but simply because I was forced to study my vocab for about 9 years...and of course my study abroad the the US helped, but that wouldn't have been possible without the previous schooling... (considering the fact that I almost failed english class before I came to the States I think i'm doing ok...)
This brings me to my next point: german high school is muuuuch harder!!! We NEVER took a single multiple chiose or true or false test ever..... We only take Essay tests, and leangthy ones at that!!! I remember in 12th grade in my english class, one of my essay tests was about 2000 words long (and not in my mother language...). But classes are more demandig, for example almost all classes are graded at leats 60 % on participation, and the teachers will put you on the spot, even if you don't volunter and don't know the answer. this is also one of the reasons why it is not unusual for any studet to repeat a year in high school at all. It is actually quite normal...We are graded on a scale from 1-6 (1 being the best like an A and 6 being the worst or like failing). So if you get a 6 in any class and you don't have a 1 in any class, then you fail the whole grade and have to repeat it, If you have one five you can even it out with a 2 in any other class, but if you have two 5's you automatically fail the grade and you have to repeat...and so on and so on. And while in the States, especially in High Schools, it is quite normal when about 90% of the class receive an A or even a B, in germany it might be 5% of the whole class, simply because you have to work so much harder to receive an A. I think this is very important (and a whole different story...) because if 90% in the class receive an A, than that would mean that these students have no chance for improving...there is always room for improvement...especially when you consider that the students in most US high Schools hardly have to do ANYTHING to get that A. ( And this even happens in many of my College classes...)
We also have more classes, which we have to take every semester, and you don't get to choose at all ( well in 11th grade you pick two that will be most important, but until then every single student in your class will have the same classes.) So every semester I would have, german, english, math, physics, biology, chemistry, philosophy, geography, politics, art or music, P.E, and history. We don't have the same classes every day however, but every day will be different as to which classes you have and even at what time the classes are. we also have muhc more homework that has to be completed during high school and it counts a lot more towards your grade.
i also feel that students in germany enjoy High School much more...I loved High School!! wehreas in the US all I heared was :" I can't wait till I'm out of High School"...it seems that school boards and principals (especially in small towns) often forbid anything that it is fun when you're a kid and almost supress independent thoughts...I also feel like the schools are enforcing so many (stupid) rules, while most of those things restricted shouldn't be any of their business, I am not a big fan of the school system trying to raise our kids. And of course all these statemnets are stereotyping, and I know that not every place is like that, but like I said, this has been my experience!
I realize that this is already an isanely long report, so I am going to stop here...I have many more things that I could talk about, but I feel that this shows some of the main points that I have observed from my High School in Germany and my year at an American high School as an exchange student.
I wish all students had the chance to do that, in order to form their own opinions..... I think it would be great if everybody was required to study abroad, even if it was in College rather than in High School...
If anybody wants to know more, or comment on my blog, whether you agree or disagree, I would love to hear your comments :)

ONE world

consider this:
if the population of the Earth was reduced to that of a small town with 100 people, it would look something like this:

57 Asians
21 Europeans
14 Americans (northern and southern)
8 Africans

52 women
48 men

70 coloured-skins
30 caucasian

89 heterosexuals
11 homosexuals

6 people would own 59% of the whole world wealth and all of them would be from the United States.
80 would have bad living conditions
70 would be uneducated
50 underfed
1 would die
2 would be born
1 would have a computer
1 (yes...only ONE!!!) would have a higher education...

Also think about this:
- This morning, if you woke up healthy, then you are happier than the 1 million people that will not survive next week.
- If you never suffered a war, the loneliness of a jail cell, the agony of torture, or hunger, you are happier than 500 million people in the world!!!
- If you can enter into a church or mosque without fear of jail or death, you are happier than 3 million people in the world.
- If there is food in your fridge, you have shoes and clothes, you have a bed and a roof over your head, you are richer then 75% of the people in the world.
- If you have a bank account, money in your wallet and some coins in the money-box, you belong to the 8% of the people in the world, who are well-to-do.

I don't think we appreciate the rights and possibilities we have enough....not to mention the LUXURIES we have.
What to do about it?! I'm not sure, but I think acknowledging the facts is a start...Think about it!

photo

I just can't help it...

I just want to go everywhere....I am very impatient when it comes to traveling...It doesn't help that I work at the office of International Affairs and am constantly presented with more and more places that I could go. There is this great trip to South Korea that SDSU offers every May. The cool thing is you only pay for your flight ticket from here to korea (and two credits at SDSU), and the host University in Korea will actually pick the group up form the airport and pay for everything else from here on...they pay for your lodging, they tour you around at no cost, they pay for all your meals....everything...so all you need is some money for postcards and souvenirs and you're all set to explore South Korea....isn't that amazing!!!! And Dr. Schmidt and the other two girls form the office are all going this year and Im kind of jealous....
BUT...I just can't....I am allready going on so many trips this year that I need to stop...
1. I will be going to chicago at the end of February with the SDSU Ad club
2. My husband and I will be going to Denver for his sisters wedding in April
3. I will be in Hyderabad, India for 6 weeks from june until august. (http://www.uohyd.ernet.in/)
4. I was offered a great oppertunity to go along on a study trip to southern germany through the SDSU music department as a tour guide and translator (heck, I might even get paid for it...oh yeah!!!)
5. My husnband and I are planning to go home to Germany over x-mas break to spend the holidyas with my family...
so I think that'll have to do for this year :(
I really want to go to Korea though...like I said, I just can'tn help it!!!!!!!

the world in black and white

I am pretty happy with my classes this semester. Actually I m just happy that I can actually take some Journalism and Global Studies classes rather than taking Speech and Geography 1 for my generals...and I actually got into Intro to Photography, which I will enjoy. Our first assignment is to shoot a role of black&white and develop it in our studio sessions. Eventhough I only have a digital myself, I am excited to use a "normal" old-school camera :) I have developed pictures in a dark room before but that was a very long time ago when I was still in High School, so Im sure there will be plenty of things for me to learn...
Anyhow, for now I am trying to think of places to go to take my pictures...this is not easy in Brookings, SD in January.....but I will figure something out!
Meanwhile I am also trying to figure out what I want to do for my Independent Study while I'm in Inida....I was thinking maybe I could do a comparisson between the media here and in India...I'm not sure!

I found a fun article, about comparissons between the US and germany...check it out...I will add my opinion later! http://math-www.uni-paderborn.de/~axel/us-d.html#mentality

Another fun fact:
did you know, that...
South Dakota has 77,121 square miles, but only 754,844 people.
Germany (yeah, the whooole country) has 137,826 square miles and 82,431,390 people.
(That's just a little more room, for a whole bunch more people :)

culture shock

Culture is something fascinating. When I moved to the States I honestly didn't think that there would be such a big difference...after all both Germany and the US are modern, western countries...should be basically like moving to a different state right?!?!!...I was wrong. I am sure that the difference between Kiel (my hometown, population:~250,000), Germany compared to South Dakota is much more evident than let's say, between Kiel and any of the "more populated" areas in the States. Either way there is a definate difference, In South Dakota however, it is much more noticeable.
I have come up with a list fo things that are different in our cultures, some more evident than others...I know that to most people these are just every day things that are simply there and that they take for granted. I have no choice but to realize the impact, which the place where you grow up and live can have on who you become.
I will talk about these things in my blogs throughout the semster.
These are just some of the main things that people think and feel very differently about. there is the obvious ones like Politics, religion, sex, but there are also many others like:
- the media ( one topic that I am especially interested in!!!)
- medicin and health care
- patriotism (something I have never known)
- travel and vaccation time
- diversity and acceptanceor general opinion of hot-button issues ( like abortion and gay-marriage)
- education (high school and college)
- family values (children per family)
- work ethics (which I know is pry different in SD than it is in most other places in the US)
- history and culture (obviously :)
- relationships and marriage
- work and unemployment situation
- small business ownership
- personal independence [...]
- athletics (we have no High school or College sports, they are all private clubs)
...................
The list could go on and on and on, but these are just some of the things that make me miss certain things and enjoy certain things...it lets me look at things from an outsiders point of view. I think, sometimes, we all need to step back in order to really see what is going on. In my opinion, the only way we can escape our "tunnel-thinking" (I'm not sure if this term exists in english :) is to travel and everytime we encounter something that is different and that might surprise or even scare us, just try to accept and enjoy it for its differences, rather than judging everything for its differences....
Allright! Lots of rambling and lots of thoughts.
Cheers!!!

225 Blog Proposal

This blog is mainly about me and my passion for the world, traveling and photography. I thought that the titel "snapshot of the world" would sum it up fairly well. I chose this topic mainly, because I have a lot of exciting travel plans this year that I like to talk about. I also chose a broader topic, because I think it will allow me to talk about many things that occupy me, like what is going on in the world (politics etc), about art and photography( I finally got into Basic Photography this semester) and cultural differences (between Kiel, Germany and Brookings, USA) that I encounter everyday and that still surprise me.
My goal is to talk about the many things that I have experienced and will experience. Afterall, this is an online-journal. More importantly, I would like to make people think outside of the box. There are many things we take for granted, if we never step outside of our comfort zone. I think there are many sources like travel sites and newspaper articles (about current world issues for example) that I will be able to incorporate. I will also post some of my photography and information from other sites about my favorite hobby.
I found some blogs on traveling. I found http://traveltalesfromindia.blogspot.com/ especially interesting, because it talks about somebodys own experiences in India and it includes pictures from India. The person made a point to talk about personal experiences on her travels, and I felt that that is something I would like to do also.
http://dsato.blogspot.com/ is the side of a Photojournalism student and I love the topic and the lay-out. I really like the design and how he incoorperates pictures and links into his blog.
I think this will be interesting and fun!

India plans

Ah, sunday! So far this has been a fairly normal weekend...I contacted some people to get some more information on my study abroad in India. It looks like I will be joining a group of students from Pittsburgh and the plan is to leave the States around June 9th . We will be in Hyderabad until July 22nd and then continue on to New Dehli until August 1st. I am so excited, but I can honestly say that I am a little nervous also...in a good way. I have traveled a lot, but mostly just in Europe, so this will be a new challenge. I can't wait!

my own blog

well, here I am, joining the cyber-world of blogging...and eventhough this is a school assignment, I feel like this should be interesting.
There will be plenty of things to "blog" about - some more and some less exciting, however, all of them will be 100% ME...so here it goes...my first online-journal!