Hey everyone, this is John and I’m writing today’s blog entry. I and the other people who had my same schedule had the opportunity to visit the religion class at our host school again. The principal of the school teaches the religion class and today, they talked about how the Roman Catholic church was founded and its views toward pregnancy. A student also gave a presentation about Jehovah’s Witnesses. We also had the opportunity to visit the Latin class again, and the French class. The French class was very difficult to understand, as most of what was spoken was in French. The Latin class, however, was mostly a student presentation about translating a section of text by Vergil, and as such, was mostly in German. Therefore, it was far easier to understand. We were supposed to visit a chemistry class, but a few people had to make up chemistry tests, so we waited in the library instead.
After these three classes, we went to the “Landeszeughaus,” a medieval armory housing the largest collection of medieval arms on earth. The tour was in German, but the tour guide was fairly understandable. We learned several interesting facts about the arsenal housed within this armory. Did you know that several of the armor pieces used in medieval times (including shields, chest plates, and helmets) were designed in a pointed or sloped fashion so that incoming blows would be more likely to glance off the sides and not penetrate the armor, or that several castles used mortars rather than cannons, because mortars fire projectiles with a much higher trajectory over the castle walls? Did you also know that 70% of people who went into battle wielding a two-handed sword died, but they got double pay? We learned all this, and more (like the fact that tournament armor for jousting has a special slot that the lance rests on, so it isn’t so hard to hold). We weren’t allowed to photograph in the museum, so we (ie. myself and Frau Greene) were only able to sneak a few pictures, but it looked really cool: there were rows and rows of armor and weapons.
After the trip to the Landeszeughaus, most people went home, but Sonja, Ally, Kenzie, MaryBeth, and I visited the conflict resolution class at our host school. It is taught by the same person who teaches psychology and gym (a strange combination), and it was lots of fun. He speaks a bit faster than the religion and Latin teachers, but he also projects lots of notes on the board, so the class is easier to understand. Today, they practiced conflict resolution by engaging in a role-playing exercise. One person played a daughter who had recently adopted a new set of friends, started to drink, and was now doing poorly in school. The other person played the concerned mother and two others played mediators. It started out well, but what it turned into was aptly termed a “soap” by Sonja. It turned out that the daughter had been doing all of these things because the mother had recently had a baby (the father isn’t around anymore), and the child felt that her mother was not spending enough time with her. They were also given a more realistic assignment for homework about a daughter who wanted more freedom and a grandfather who didn’t want her to make the same mistakes he did.
After the class, I went home with my exchange partner, Johanna. She told me a little bit about the Matura, their end-of-school exam, and I figured that you might also like to know about it. Basically, the Matura is important for getting a diploma and getting into college. Unless students want to apply to a university outside of Austria, they usually won’t take the SAT or ACT. Rather, colleges use the Matura scores and grades in school to determine admission (they aren’t evaluated on extracurricular activities). The Matura is given in seven subjects, and the student has some control over the seven he or she wants to be tested on. Three of the subjects are tested in a written format, while four are tested in an oral format. The three written ones students must take are math, German, and a choice of either French or Latin. The four oral ones are much more flexible. Students can choose from a wide assortment of subjects, including music, English, biology, and chemistry. Interestingly, the Matura is not a standardized test; it varies by school. There are certain constant characteristics, but another student at another school might take it in more or different subjects. The tests are created by the teachers who taught the courses they are being tested on, and in the case of oral examinations, the tests are also administered by these same teachers, in addition to a panel composed of other teachers from the school, the principal, and a high-ranking official or principal from another school. The Matura is graded on a scale of 1-5, with 1 roughly corresponding to an “A” and 5 roughly corresponding to an “F”.
That's all for today from Graz.
Nick and David in front of the Armory
John checks out a 500-year-old iron money box
Sir Charles?
