Central Berlin

Trip to Berlin
Reise nach Berlin

by N. Richard Wagner

Family from Glindow

During the academic year 1999-2000 my son John was a high school exchange student in Germany. His host family, whom I call the Meier family for privacy reasons, lives is a small town named Glindow, which is west of Potsdam, which in turn is southwest of Berlin. John attended a Gymnasium (academic high school) in Werder, a much larger town right beside Glindow. His school was a short bus ride from where he lived. From Werder to Berlin is just 30 minutes by train. When I first corresponded with the Meiers, I called Glindow a Vorort (suburb) of Berlin, but they didn't like that terminology, saying that it is a suburb of Potsdam. More recently, Glindow decided to become a part of the larger city of Werder.

All these cities, Glindow, Werder, and Postdam, were a part of the former East Germany, and the Meier family are also Ossis (former East Germans, singular Ossi). (Those from the former West Germany are called Wessis (singular Wessi).) This made a large difference in John's environment -- for example, both Meiers know Russian quite well, but very little English, so John could not get by with English as many American foreign students can.

I was able to visit the family for 6 days in 2000, and even got to visit Nate's Gymnasium for a day. In Germany, a young person must complete studies at a Gymnasium and pass the final multi-day exam (das Abitur) in order to gain admission to a University (Universität). Only about a third of Germans go this route, although other options, including private schools, are now opening up. Based on my one-day visit of a few classes (not really much data), I think that this Gymnasium had somewhat higher academic standards than a typical American high school. These Gymnasien (plural of Gymnasium) had a fine reputation in the past, emphasizing academics and teaching all the students Latin and Greek. However, German standards and budgets have fallen along with the American ones. Still, Germans are one year older when they finish and enter a university, and they may be about 2 years ahead academically.

In corresponding and talking with the Meiers, I got to see for the first time the viewpoint of Ossis, the East German viewpoint. Up to then my contacts had mostly been with West Germans, although as I relate elsewhere, I went over to East Berlin some 8 times or so in 1963.