Lost in Translation

School Differences | Cheung

I went into my first period 30 minutes before the bell rang. Surprisingly, nobody was in the classroom. I expected to see many students preparing for what they would learn in the following year, like in Hong Kong. After the most boring 30 minutes, more and more kids casually came in. I wanted to stand up and say, ”Good morning Mr. Hanna,” but I stopped myself because I realized nobody else was standing up.

“What’s up? Dude, how was your summer holiday?” said one student. That was really a surprise to me because the question was from a kid to a teacher! All the staff at school are totally different from my country. Here, they seem like our friends rather than our teachers. We don’t need to say “good morning,” “good afternoon,” “goodbye” and “thank you” in every single class. In Hong Kong, if we treated our teachers as friends, we would suffer punishments such as warnings and detentions!

The lunch periods at NHS and Hong Kong True Light College definitely differ a lot. Everyone can leave by walking or driving. They can go to restaurants or home. There are many different choices: Burger King, Arctic Circle, Subway and even Chinese food! Therefore, most of the kids would rather go off campus instead of having lunch at school. I had my lunch in the cafeteria on my first day; it was so quiet and empty! My friends and I seemed to own the whole cafeteria. However, lunch only lasted for 35 minutes. It was shorter than in Hong Kong high schools by almost half an hour. I love and hate lunch at the same time

Oregon School VS. Italian School | Moradei

Florence, “Liceo Artistico L. B. Alberti.” The bell rings at 8 a.m., the door opens and everyone stands up: “Good morning professor!”  After three periods, the well-deserved 15 minutes of breakfast commences and then back to the books until 2:20. The countless scooters in front of the school leave the street and the bus stops get crowded. The Italian student’s routine is pretty different compared to NHS.

If you can stand the smoke, you can spend the whole morning reading the graffiti on the walls. Don’t tell anyone if you don’t wish to meet the mysterious figure that controls us from above: the principal. Only a few have ever seen her. Forget about friendly teachers; in Italy they are an endangered species.

No lockers, no clubs, no sports, no activities and of course, no spirit at school. Once I go home there are three possibilities: stroll around downtown with friends, independently practice sports, or more often, three to five hours of homework.

Full day assemblies occur less than once a month and attract only 200 out of 1000 students. On the other hand, students really feel Italian political problems and participation is higher in periods of school occupation. An occupation is a national student movement to fight against our governor’s bad choices and usually concerns a budget cut on education. During these periods, school is locked and professors are not allowed to teach. Classes are suspended for days. Unfortunately, it often turns out to be futile.

As teachers change rooms each period, I’m always in the same room with the same schoolmates. The same class I left last year will welcome me the next with the same people.