Back-to-School Items in Germany

This morning I was reminded by Amazon.dom that it is time for all the Back-to-School sales again. This is not unusual as here in Germany, many parents/students are shopping now for school supplies and clothing, because the state of Hesse starts school again on 23 August 2009.

What made me smile though, when I read the advertisement, was seeing the Welcome Back to School cards. This you would never see in Germany. Willkommen zurück in der Schule! gift cards would be seen a joke as the common consensus is Schule ist doof and Lehrer sind blöd. I have not met a single German student yet who was happy to go back to school at the end of the summer. Instead whining and complaining is much more in tune and widely accepted. Herrje, die armen Schulkinder.

Whereas in our family, with both kids attending an international school, there is generally no such thing as dreading school (certain exceptions granted…). Our hormone-infested teenage son is very cool about going back to school and our preteen daughter is getting so excited to see her friends again, she wants to find out who her teachers are, she is decorating her bag, and has a list of things to do in order to look great on her first day. If they got a Welcome Back to School card, they would not view this in a cynical way.

Nevertheless, there is a day and a time in a German student’s life when he/she is supposed to be happy about school. At the end of a happy early childhood (the age of six) comes the dreaded first day of school when Der Ernst des Lebens beginnt. To sweeten up its earnestness and tragedy, German school kids get a big cone (Schultüte) filled with goodies, which made our local dentists happy, at least this is how it was in my day and time. I heard nowadays, these cones are filled more intelligently – among sweets are school supplies and other small presents. These Schultüten (Leo’s translation: large cornet of cardboard filled with sweets and little presents given to children in Germany on their first day at school) are meant to decrease anxiety and make it look a bit like Christmas in August.

Some parents buy the Schultüten which are available in most stationary departments. Some Übermommies buy the material to craft and customize the first child’s Schultüte with loving hands.

Schultüten in all colors, sizes, and decorative ornaments

Schultüten in all colors, sizes, with decorative ornaments, seen at a local craft shop.

If you are still interested in those Back to School cards (you can choose from two Back-to-School designs aimed at school kids and college students, you can e-mail or print them for immediate delivery, or schedule up to a year in advance), then visit Amazon.com.

The U.S.A. seem to be the only country welcoming students back to school by printing cards for that occasion. Then again, Americans wish “Have a nice day at work”, when work, too, is supposed to be serious and a drudgery in Germany. Oh well, this I shall save for another post.

Diese Webseite verwendet Cookies. Wenn Sie auf der Seite weitersurfen, stimmen Sie der Cookie-Nutzung zu. Mehr Informationen

Diese Webseite verwendet so genannte Cookies. Sie dienen dazu, unser Angebot nutzerfreundlicher, effektiver und sicherer zu machen. Cookies sind kleine Textdateien, die auf Ihrem Rechner abgelegt werden und die Ihr Browser speichert. Die meisten der von uns verwendeten Cookies sind so genannte "Session-Cookies". Sie werden nach Ende Ihres Besuchs automatisch gelöscht. Cookies richten auf Ihrem Rechner keinen Schaden an und enthalten keine Viren. Weitere Informationen finden Sie auf der Seite “Datenschutzerklärung”.

Close