Wrapping it all up

And then it was over... Sunday came too fast and none of us wanted to leave - we've had such an amazing time. Since I haven't blogged since last Wednesday, I feel I have to share with you the experiences I had the last days of our trip as well - so, enjoy:)

School library



Hammond from the outside

Well, Thursday we visited Hammond, which was an interesting experience. This school has approximately 900 students, from Pre-Kindergarten (age 4) to Grade 12 (age 18). Hammond is a private school, which means that you have to pay money to be able to become a student. The tuition varies between the age groups, but a high school student would have to pay ca 15,000$ a year. This of course means that the student body is different from the one at e.g. Dreher, which is a public school. Hammond has one teacher for every eighth student which means the student groups are often quite small. One of the classes I observed, which was an English literature course, had six students - and this was not uncommon... My impression of Hammond was that this was a school I would love to send my kids to. The surroundings were beautiful, the classrooms were filled with resources, there are hardly any disciplinary problems, the teachers seemed inspired, the school lunch was healthy (prepared by the school's own chef)... It really seems like a dream school - of course, if you have the money - which is my main issue about this school (and all other private schools). Hammond has a 0% drop-out rate. But of course, rather than having students drop out, they get rid of them by throwing them out of school. What we got to see was a shiny, glossy image of a pretty much perfect place for learning, but I still left with a bad taste in my mouth and a notion that we hadn't really seen it all.



The 5th graders at Hammond



Hammond focuses on Norway this year!

What was really good at Hammond, was that we got to actually talk with the students. At Dreher we missed this and we would have liked to get to interact with the students. At Hammond we spent a lot of time doing this and that was great. I started off in 5th grade, and these students were so good at asking questions! They wondered mostly about what it is like to be a 5th grader in Norway. They were stunned that Norwegian students are not offered cookies for lunch and they were shocked that Lady Gaga had actually been to Oslo. They could not believe that we actually listen to American music and watch American TV-series and movies all the time.

High school students in the auditorium

Our focus when talking to the high school students, however, had to do with equality. These students are used to competing for everything. The school gives out awards for everything - best academic achievement, best athlete, best anything - all the time. This is very different from in Norway, where we don't want to single students out - neither weak nor strong. But perhaps we should put good achievements in the spotlight more often? We should perhaps dare to praise our good students more to create an environment in which it is actually positive to do well in school? The high school students were also surprised at how liberal we are in Norway. The fact that boys and girls get to hang out without adult supervision sounded astonishing to these students. And imagine the school nurse handing out free condoms?!?

Rainbow Street

Shrimp and grits

On Friday we headed out for Charleston, which swept us off our feet. Wonderful weather and 25C - it couldn't have been better. Charleston is a really beautiful city with a lot of history. Fort Sumter, where the Civil War started, lies just outside its shore. We had lunch at the Dixie Cafe, where we were introduced to a classic Southern dish: Shrimp and grits. Well... I have not become a great fan... Grits is a porridge-like thing made of something similar to polenta - not my favorite. We spent the day wandering around the city, and we actually got to do some shopping as well :)

Plantation House

Plantation Garden

Just 45 minutes outside of Charleston lies Magnolia Plantation, which we visited on Saturday. It was like cut out from the TV-series "North and South". A guide told us about plantation life from the early days and how it developed through times. A common myth is that all plantations in the South were cotton plantations. But actually no plantations grew cotton before after the industrial revolution. The Southern plantations produced indigo and rice, and Magnolia Plantation was a rice plantation. The rice was brought by the slaves from West Africa and grown in large quantities on many plantations. However, most of the rice was then exported to Europe. Magnolia was (and still is) owned by the Drayton family and the plantation employed 47 slaves in its heydays. Read more about Magnolia Plantation here.

Slave Cabin

Saturday evening we went to potluck dinner at Dr Brown's house. A potluck dinner is a dinner where all the guests bring food and have a good meal together. We got to meet Dr Brown's family and friends and we had interesting conversations with some of her fellow professors at the university. This was an excellent way of ending our trip to South Carolina, even though we all felt like we were just getting started.

So, today is Wednesday and I have been home for two days - jet lagged, but so glad I got to go on this trip. I have learned so much and experienced things I would never have gotten to otherwise, and I am forever grateful that I was one of the nine teachers that were given this unique opportunity. I am now looking forward to sharing my adventure with my students and colleagues at Rælingen, and I hope that I have been able to convey some of my experiences through my blog. So long, folks!