The Calendar

We have some American friends that are also sending their child to German School for the first time this year. It has been really interesting/funny sharing our preparation experiences with them....With regard to the school calendar, we are used to getting a printed sheet at the beginning of the year with all of the days that the kids have off (ie.fall break, Christmas, last day of school etc.). You would think it would be as simple as that, but it is quite different here. We live in the State of Bavaria, and ALL of the Bavarian kids follow the same school schedule - in other German States it is different. So.... we were talking with our friends the other day, and they had mentioned that at the open house at their son's new school, they raised their hand and asked in broken German if they could get a copy of the school schedule. They told us that everyone looked at them as if they were crazy. No one could quite comprehend what they were asking for. Later, after much confusion, they realized that the German/Bavarian school Calendar would already be written into ALL calendars that are purchased here. They are also almost all religious based (and everyone already knows these dates). We would not know this because first of all, we have Calendars that come from the U.S., and second of all we are not used to such across the board consistency that would make so much sense (we are used to every school or county having a different schedule). In our system even in the workplace, some businesses take off Columbus Day, Martin Luther King Day etc., and some do not. Here though - everything is very organized, and it is what it is. I know that I have not written this quite as funny as we have perceived it, but I guess you have to know the German way to really appreciate it. It is just the first of MANY misunderstandings/confusions to come....