A school day in Turkey

What’s the name of your school?

German School Istanbul.

How big is your school?

There are around 800 students. Around 120 of them are German and the others either have some sort of connection to Germany – like me, for example, because my mother grew up in Germany – or they just want to get a German Abitur secondary school certificate. 

How long does it take you to get to school?

Fortunately I only have to walk for 15 min­utes, then I’m there.

How big is your class?

There are 22 students in my class.

What’s your favourite subject?

Biology.

Who is your favourite teacher and why?

Mr Dittberner. He teaches politics and biology and he’s really friendly. You can have great discussions with him. He cares about the students and even talks to us in the lunch breaks.

Do you use computers at school?

Yes, our school has pretty good equipment, and to be honest my parents pay a lot for it too.

Do you study any foreign languages at school?

Yes, our lessons are always taught in German, which is a foreign language for some students. We also study English and French.

What do you want to be when you leave school?

I’m not exactly sure at the moment, but I think I’d like to study medicine or law.

Did you join in any of the recent Gezi Park protests? 

Yes! I live very close to the park so I was often there when the protests were underway. Both of my parents are very politically active, and I went there with either my mother or my father, even though it was dangerous at times. We’ve been getting a lot of days off school since the protests started because so many parents were worried about the riots. But I was the only one in my class to use the time off to join the protests.