People, Money and Sport

Hi everyone!

I'm now here for more than 6 weeks. A lot of Americans asked me: " So David, how do you like America so far?" Well like every exchange students I miss friends and family but I think America is the easiest country for an exchange student, because every year there are thousands of people coming to the US as an exchange student. So the teachers, classmates and all the other people know how to treat with you better than the people in Switzerland.
Back to the question....I enjoy every single second of my stay and I think it couldn't be better. One of the things I like the most is that nearly everything is much cheaper than in Switzerland. You need an example, well in Switzerland a Subway footlong costs about $15 in America circa $7.
Something I also enjoy are all the sport activities we can do at school, in Europe sport and school are separate.

That's it for the moment!
David

Educational differences

No cell phones! No pop! These are just some of the new rules for me. I’m Swiss and in schools in Switzerland we can use cell phones, drink whatever we want to. So I don’t really understand these rules. Why do school systems make these rules?

Is it really the pop that makes the people fat? If it would be yes, a lot of Swiss would be fat too. So maybe it’s good for the teeth, but there aren’t a lot of overweight people in Switzerland with bad teeth. Pop gives energy for the day and you need energy at school, so why shouldn’t we drink pop?

In Switzerland we use cell phones. In math class, cell phones are our calculators. During the breaks we’re texting each other about where we’re going to eat lunch, because we can leave school for lunch. In the U.S. you get in trouble if you have your phone in your hands, even if it’s just to check the time, but why? In classes it is good that it’s forbidden, but during the breaks it should be ok, because who cares.

There are big differences between Swiss and American school. In Switzerland you are a bit freer with not so many rules. In America, there are some good rules, but it’s very strict.

Meet the reporter

Hi

I'm David Notter. I'm 18, and I'm Swiss. I'm in 12th grade, and I like to play soccer. I'm an exchange student from Switzerland. I'm going to stay here til next summer. I'm now in the States for a week and I really like it!
I think it might be interesting for you to get know how the American lifestyle is for an exchange student. So I will write about things I don't know from Europe and stuff that is new for me.