The results of
FiveForLife

Moin!! (that means Hello!)

Have you ever had E-mail contact with five girls from the North-Sea-Coast???
If you are interested in having E-mail contact with us ….

take this chance ?

We are Karen, Maren, Ela, Christina, Christine and we are all 17 years old.
We are 11th graders at the Mariengymnasium in Jever .


Karen:
My birthday is on August 25th . My hair is blond and long my eyes are green. I like horse-riding, hanging out with my friends, reading and listening to music. After school I go to my grandmother to ride my horse because at home we don't have enough space for it. I live in a village near Jever.

Maren:
My birthday is on September 17th. I have brown long-shoulder hair and brown eyes. I play the piano and tennis. In my freetime I like hearing music, singing and meeting my friends. After school I'm working at a fillingstation. I live in a village near Jever.

Ela:
My birthday is on July 8th. My hair is long and red-blond coloured. My eyes are blue. My real name is Daniela. Dancing and making sports are my hobbies. I like going to the cinema and having fun with my friends. My favourite bands are Incubus and Matchbox twenty. I live near Jever.

Christina:
My birthday is on July 1st. I have long hair. It is red coloured. My eyes are green. I like playing guitar and keyboard. On Saturdays I go riding. In my freetime I'm hanging out with my friends. I live on a farm far away from Jever. So I have to drive with the bus about half an hour to school every morning. We have two horses and two ponys, six cats and one dog. My sister and I have two rabbits. I like hearing music, too. My favourite singer is Robbie Williams.

Christine:
My birthday is on December 16th.I have short blond hair and blue-green eyes. My hobbies are: swimming, jiu-jitsu, thai-bo and step aerobic. I like having fun with my friends, going out at the weekends (discos, cinemas, etc.) and shopping. I live in a small village near Jever.

Together we all like going to the disco at the weekend and have fun!!

We want to discuss with you about:

Boys and their quirks!!!
Why do boys always think about just this one certain thing???
Why don't lots of them show their real feelings???
Why don't they speak about their problems???


Embrassing Things!!!
Send us your most embrassing experience!!!
And we'll send you ours.

We are looking forward to receive your mails and hope to see you soon.

 

From VHS to Jever (12.02.):
Hello to Jever from Virtual High School-
Hello (Ela),
I'm writing to you in response to your introductions. You all sound really cool and have so many different hobbies and interests. It's so cool! Anyway, to talk more about interests I would like t o say hey to Ela! I LOVE Incubus too! I have so many pics of them on my walls, and I think the lead singer is so hot!
You guys must have a totally different drinking age over there. We can't drink till we're 21, but sometimes we break the rules over h ere! Do you guys have a lot of car accidents because of being under the influence? We have a high rate of accidents because of drinking and driving. It's very sad. However, to look upon the bright things we have in common, we pretty much have the same spo rts as you guys do. Soccer is a big thing over there I hear. We love soccer too. But we're more into football and baseball around my area (which is Springfield, Massachusetts or Western, Massachusetts). Well, I hope you guys get back to us over here! Hast a La Vista!
-Kelly
~~~~~~~~~~
Moin Five for Life,
Hi, My name is Mike Fahey, and I am a junior at Marshfield High School, in Marshfield, Massachusetts. I am 16 and an e leventh grader in the United States. At school I am involved in yearbook, newspaper, key club, project reach, student council, and tennis. I love to spend time with friends and family.
Maren, I play tennis, too. Do you play singles or doubles? I play single and doubles for my high school team. What is your favorite surface? I have only played on hard courts, but my club just recently added 6 indoor clay courts, so I'll be testing my luck on the clay soon. Do you follow professional tennis? Who are you r favorite players? What is a fillingstation? I don't work. My parents tell me that my only job is school. Which seems like a lie, but I'll keep believing it.
Ela, I like Matchbox Twenty, too. I am a big fan of their Mad Season CD. What kind of movies do you like to make? I occasionally make some movies, but usually they end up silly and stupid. Last year I made one for Spanish, and I ended up having my hair washed as part of a shampoo commercial. I love spending time with my friends, too. We usually g o to the mall, out to dinner, or to the movies. You all seem like very interesting people. I just have one question, what is a disco, and how old do you have to be to get in? Thanks for your response. It's going to be fun working with you.
Mike

From Jever to VHS, 13.2.:
Dear Kelly and dear Mike!!
We are Maren and Ela from "five for life".
Hi Kelly!
How are you?
You are totally right! Brendon Boyd is so hot !! Incubus is in Germany not well known, there are no pics in magazines and theire songs are not famous. ( that's pitty because their vidio clips are not often showed in the tv ). What is your favourite song? My favourite songs are I miss you, Drive and wish you were here. Is Incubus very famous in the USA? Over here we are allowed to drink and smoke when we are 16 years old when we are 18 we can get our driving license. I think breaking the rules is normal at our age, we want to test our limits! I can imagine what you have meant with that !! I do not really know if we have a high rate of car accidents because of drunken people, but I think all over the world there are some people who do not know what is right or wrong. Do you often watch tv? If you have some favourite tv shows you can tell me about them. Also you can send me a embarrassing story about you or you can tell me something about boys and there quirks!
hope to hear from you, Ela.

Hi Mike!!
How are you? Iīm fine. I love to play outdoor tennis, because we donīt have a really tenniscourthall. In summertimes I am every second day on the tenniscourt, because my parents and my brother are playing too. In our tennisclub Iīm responsible for the youth, that means, that I have to organize the matches and the training and all that. I love to play singles and doubles, both. But I canīt play with my brother, donīt know why. He is 15. And I think he is better than me, but just a little bit. A fillingstation is a place were all cars come to to get their oil and their petrol. Perhaps you know the word petrolstation better, but my English teacher says it means fillingstation. I work there once a week. Because I have lots of other things to do, too. Tell me some more things about you, hope to hear from you soon;

Maren!!
Ela wants to know what your favourite songs are and if you had an embarissing story, when you did your movies. :-)

to New Mexico, 18.2.:
Hi everybody!!!
We have just finished reading your mail and it sounds very interesting.
We canīt imagine that such a kind of Highschool is possible. Is it true that there are just a few pupils?? At our school we have about 900 pupils. We are looking forward to recieve your intros from """"Las Vegas"""
See-ya Maren und Ela from "five for life" (Germany)
You can see our Intros on
www.mgprojekte.mgjever.de/lc2003/index.html

from VHS, 20.2.:
Hi Maren and Ela,
I am well, thanks. How are you? It's extremely cold here in Massachusetts. We have almost three feet of snow right now.
I love to play outdoor tennis as well. I am on my high school team. Actually, I just found out that our best p layer is quitting, which makes me the new number one player. I am extremely nervous because I am nowhere near as good as he is. Let's just say that he is the Andre Agassi to my Karol Kucera (you've probably never heard of him, and that's my point. hehe). In the summer I play tennis every day. I teach tennis lessons to little kids in my town. I play tennis with my family most of the time. Sometimes I do play indoors because I just recently joined a club that has 10 indoor courts. It's hard for me to make t ime, though. I usually play doubles. At least that was last year. Now, I will be playing singles and only singles, and that will be a challenge. I need a new mentality when playing. Time to think differently. I'm going to need some major help! I have a yo unger brother, too. We used to play tennis together a lot. Now, we don't as much. At least we play singles against each other now. We don't typically play on the same doubles team. He is a really good player. If only he didn't love baseball so much, then he would have a good future in tennis. But, baseball is his sport, so tennis takes the back seat.
Ela, my favorite songs are "In da Club" by 50cent, "Mesmerize" by Ashanti and Ja Rule, "One Last Breath" by Creed, and "City High Anthem" by City High. H owever, I love all types of music, except country like Shania Twain and the Dixie Chicks.
An embarrassing story for my movie making experience would have to be my Spanish project from last year. It was me and four of my good friends. We decided to do a movie on "Hansel and Gretel." Don't ask me why, but we just decided on that. Well the movie turned a little violent and vulgar. Let's just say that the wicked witch because a big, burly man who kidnaps the two little children. However, when we were maki ng the video, we were "captured" and taken on a "high speed car chase." Well, because we were fluent in Spanish, as we were driving along at 60 kilometers per hour, we yelled things like, "Help me," in Spanish, and "Get me out of here," in Spanish. If tha t wasn't funny enough, my friend was pretending to escape, and he pulled the handle of the car too hard, and the door flew open. It was so scary. He almost fell out. I don't think our Spanish teacher had as much fun watching it as we had making it. But, w e still got an A+.
It's been great talking to you. Hope to hear more about your interesting lives later. It's so cool know people from another country!
Yours truly,
Mike

(Written by Kelly on February 10... to Five for Life)-
Hello,
Hey girls! My name is Kelly. I'm from Ware, Massachusetts in the good ol' U.S. of A. I loved looking at all your interests in your in troductions. We pretty much have the same kind of hobbies. I love music, especially Incubus, going to the movies, shopping, and all that girlie stuff. Do any of you have boyfriends? I do. I love him so much. His name is Andy, and we have been together for 8 months now. I can't wait till Valentine's Day. I hope he gets me something really special!
I was just wondering, what is the disco? Is it like a club? We have clubs around here (like the Hippodrome or The Metro),and they're like dance clubs with rea lly cool music and special guests. One time I went to the Hippodrome, and I got to see City High perform live! I was really close to the stage and everything. It was such a blast. Gosh, it's Monday morning here, and we are about to get a snow storm! It sn ows a lot here in New England. Not very fun. I love the warm weather and the beach. I'm so happy I am leaving for Florida next week. It will be nice and sunny down there. Well it was nice chatting to you girls. I hope you get back to me!
-Kelly

to Ramallah, 21.2.:
Hello Afra!

How are you? We are fine. We are two from the group ,,five for life'', Karen and Christine. Are you interested in our topics? We want to talk about boys and their quirks and embarrassing stories. You said that you like music. What kind do you like? We are looking forward to getting your answer.

Karen and Christine

from Seattle, 21.2.:
Hi! My name is Jennifer and I read your introductions, which told me a lot about yourselves. All of you sound very interesting and I hope to get to know you even more. Well, you wanted to talk about boys, right? Well, to me, boys are a lot different from girls. They have smaller minds than girls, which allow them to think about one certain thing at a time (I'm not saying all guys are like this). Most guys don't share their feelings probably because they are too embarrassed about it. Boys probably don't talk about their problems because of the same reason for why they don't
share their feelings.

I have had so many embarrassing things happen to me. I wish I could forget them all but they're stuck in my head. One of them, happened a few years ago. When I was little, my mom sent me to a baby-sitter who kept baby chicks. I loved playing with the chicks until one day.... I was holding one of them in my hand. Then I felt something warm on my leg. I dropped the chick and noticed it had pooped on my leg. I had the chicken smell on me the whole day and no one wanted to get close to me. That is just of my embarrassing moments, wait until you hear the rest! I hope you found this letter funny and interesting. And I hope you will get a chance to write back! Bye!

Your Friend,
Jennifer N. from Washington

Maren to Seattle, 28.2.:
Dear Jennifer!!

Iīm Maren from five for life. You are one of the first answering to our topics. Well, I think you are all right, saying that it is embarrissing to the boys when they talk about their real feelings. If a few boys (three or four) are on their own and they talk about their feelings to each other and about the girls they like, I think the conversation is very different to the girls-conversation about boys they like and about their feeling. I think girls are more serious than boys. Boys sometimes are just kidding each other. And sometimes they are just thinking about getting a chick and then another and another and....

Do you have a boyfriend??? I donīt have a boyfriend. What do you think about friendship between a girl and a boy?? Are friendships between boys and girls better than friendships between girls???

Well, hope to hear from you soon. Greetings from the other girls.

Love ~~ Maren!!

from VHS, 27.2.:
Kelly to Maren & Ela-
Thanks for your responses! It's cool that we can get to know each other!
Incubus is kind of popular here in USA. We see their new videos (when they have one) all the time on MTV. They are especially popular on this other station called VH1. Both stations are music television stations.
I don't really watc h TV here, but when I do, sometimes I watch "reality TV" which is a new thing here in USA. I especially like this show called "The Bachelorette." It's cool because the girl can pick a husband, anyone she wants, and can ask him to marry her.
Well, I ho pe I have answered all your questions. You guys sound really nice. Oh, and one more question- do you like the beach?

from Italy, 5.3.:
To VHS, Jever and the rest of the world

Hello Emily
I'm Marianna and I'm a freshman at the Liceo Scientifico of L'Aquila. I want to be a doctor to help ill people and earn a lot of money. I'm very happy to meet new girls and other teenagers from all over the world. I think Italians are people without ideals.

Hello, I'm Federico
My favourite group is Blink 182 and my favourite song's Adam's Song. I play bass guitar in a group and we can play a lot of their songs. I think Italians are not so intelliegent, but there are exceptions.

Hello, world!
I've done swimming since I was 7 years old. I'll do a competition in April, I'm so excited! I like the
people who live in my country, they're nice in general but certainly there are some exceptions.
I think that Italians aren't very patriotic, unfortunately. I don't like Italian politicians.

Marta:I attend the Liceo Classico. It's a very difficult school. In the first year we study Latin, Greek, Italian, English, history, geography, maths, Physical Education, and if you want religion. In the following years we also study philosophy, physics and science. I usually study 2-3 hours every afternoon, but if I have a Greek test, for example, I must study about 7 hours to revise the few things that we have done. Italians are fantastic! We have a loveley character and we are very beautiful. Everyone loves Italy and Italians.

Hi, my name's Filippo
I love music because I think that it's one of the most beautiful forms of human expressions. My
favourite groups are IRON MAIDEN and METALLICA. I play guitar in two punk groups. When we
have no homework, we pklay some songs and afterwards we go out for a pizza.

Hi!!! I'm Cinzia and I'm 16. My father and brother's names are not so common: Eutizio and Ernani. Eutizio is the name of my father's village patron, and Ernani was my great-grandfather's and my grandfather's name. It's also the name of an opera by Giuseppe Verdi!
Hi, I'm Roberta
My favourite rock group is Bon Jovi. Their songs are wonderful 'cos they can hit the heart of those
who listen. I love 'dry country', and my favourite album is Keep Faith

Hi, Jever
You asked about embarrassing experiences .. I usually have so many, but now I've got something scary to talk about. 3 nights ago, while my family and I were sleeping, someone knocked at the door (at 4 am). My mom got up and had a look: there was nobody outside the door. An hour later someone tried to open our door, so my mom and dad asked, 'Who are you?' After a while the person said, 'Sorry, I've made a mistake.' My parents opened the door and guess who the mysterious person was? Our neighbour, who'd muddled up the front door of the two flats on the same landing!

from Maren to L'Aquila, 7.3.:
Hi Italy, Hi Roberta!!
I hope you all are fine. Here in Germany lots of people are ill at the moment. I have a cold, but itīs getting better every day. Iīm happy to see that another European state joins the learning circle, too. Iīm Maren from Jever and from "five for life" Our topics are: Embarrassing Things and Boys and their quirks!
Hope to hear from you soon,

Hi Roberta!
I really like Bon Jovi, too. They are not my favourite group, but they really do great music. I have been on a concert (I think that must have been) 2 years ago. My mother likes them, too. She really adores them. My favourite song is Someday Iīll Be Saturday Night. What are your hobbies? My hobbies are: playing tennis, playing the piano, playing basketball, and I like singing, listen to music, meeting my friends and going to the clubs. Once a week Iīm working at the fillingstation in my village called Hohenkirchen. Well, see-ya Maren!!

Greetings from Ela, Christine, Karen and Christina also in my group "five for life"

from Jever to VHS, 12.3.:
Dear Kelly!!
How are you??? We ( Maren and Ela ) are fine!! What about the beach? We like the beach, too. And we live near the North-Sea-Coast. Our beaches are not like the beaches you know, like the beaches at the Pacific and the Atlantic ocean. At your beaches you almost have white sand, blue, clear water and big palm trees, havenīt you?? Here we have dark water, dark sand and the water is coming and going every 6 hours. Also we have no palm trees. But not far away from our coast there are the OSTFRIESISCHEN INSELN ( 7 little Islands ) we can walk to when there is no water. Christina ( a member of our group five for life ) lives about 2 km near the coast. My name ( Maren ) has two meanings. It is danish and means "that girl who lives near the ocean" and it is hebrew and means the "star of the ocean".Do you live near the coast?? Are you often at the beach??? In this summer holidays we want to spend our holidays on one of the Islands. We arenīt very often at the beach, thats really sad, because we live so close to it. But we have to pay entrance to the beach. Do you have a boyfriend?? What do you think about boys and their quirks and about girls and their quirks???

Hope to hear from you soon...... Love, Ela and Maren!!!!!

Karen und Christina to Italy, 14.3.:
Hello!
Your mail was very interesting for us, because itīs facinating to see the difficults in your town. Here in Jever it is not very interesting, because the people are not very individual. Ok, some punks live here but they are not so extreme. They do not demonstrate or do anything else. They wear clothes like punks and listen to their music. That is all. In Germany you may drive a car at the age of 18. But the politicians discuss, that youths may drive at the age of 17, with an adult next to them. You may buy alcohol at the age of 16. In discos you may (at the age of 16) stay till midnight. If you are18 you may stay as long as you want. Our small town Jever is near to the North Sea Coast. Often the weather is not really good. It rains and the wind is blowing strong. But the air is fresh and healthy. In the Learning Circle our topics are Embarrasing Things and Boys And Their Quirks.Do you want to write something to our topics?

Bye Karen and Christina! (Five for life)

from Ela to Italy, 14.3.:
Hi !
My name is Ela ( five for life ) ! Thanks a lot for your embarrassing story, we haven' t got many yet. We hope that perhaps we can get some more about this project idea. ( And it has not to be embarrassing to send us an embarrassing story. :-) ) I would like to know the name of the person who send us his or her story! If I knew the name he or she could get my embarrassing story ! I don't know if you have got our Intros and project ideas but we like to receive some thoughts of boys and their quirks or girls and their quirks. Do we have the same impressions about peoples' behaviour, although we come from different countries?? Our homepage is: www.mgjever.de under ' Projekte' you can find the Learning Circle 2003 with all groups and their topics!

Hope to hear from some of you, Ela.

Maren to VHS, 14.3.:
Dear Alyse!!
This is Maren from Germany (five for life)! How are you?? Iīm fine, the sun is shining and itīs getting warmer every day. Now I want to tell you something about some special traditions in our region: 1st May: In the evening of April 30th we meet our friends and we have a barbecue and then we set up a special tree called Maytree. It is a very long trunk with fir tree on it and nice colourful paperflowers made of serviettes. On top of the tree sometimes is a ring made of paperflowers and fir tree. After we set up the tree we have to defend it against the other groups of our village, because they set up a Maytree, too. We walk around the village with a spade and try to steal the other group`s Maytree. You can steal an others group Maytree if you do three cuts of the spade in the ground under the Maytree and nobody of the other Maytrees group is touching the tree. So that means that there must always be a group sitting at home around the tree touching it in a way, so that nobody can steal it. And another group is walking around the village trying to steal an other groups Maytree. If a group stole your Maytree they could set it up next to their Maytree and if you want to get it back you have to spend the group a crate of beer or something else to drink. The Maytrees stand around this region for about one month. Some people celebrate this evening with their neigbours, with their friends, with their family. It is always very funny. Well I believe you have never heard about this tradition before. Do you have some of these traditions?? Hope to hear from you soon,
Maren!!!!!

from Jever to VHS, 18.3.:
(1) Hello! I'm Christine and I'm writing about the topic,,sport''. Here, in Germany ,sport is a meaningful topic. You have got a big choice of individual and teamsport.Idon't know which kind of sport is the most popular one.I think it's football. On TV we have got special channels like Eurosport and DSF showing sports24 hours on day. If we have gothighlightslikefootball plays of the firstfederal division,car racings of the Formula 1or special boxing matches we can see it on other channels, too. Partly, they are transmitted live. Wrestling , basketball, baseball, boxingand indycar are types of american sports who are followed of the german peoples. If theyare transmitted live, they are partly shownearly in the morning . So the peoples get up early in the morning andsit in front of the TV. Theseshow the meaning of sport.At our school we have got two lessons sport on week. In the moment we play badminton. Bye Christine
from Seattle, 18.3.:

(1) Other Messages
Dear Karen, My full name is Brittany Anne. My birhtday is also in August!! But on the 20th. I have brown hair and blue eyes. I love horses so much though I have never riden one before. I love to listen to my music in my free time and spend time with my friends and family. I live in Lynnwood near Seattle. From Brittany

(2) To: Maren from Five For Life (Jever, Germany)
Hey, I got your response and to answer to your question, I don't have a boyfriend. Does anybody in Five For Life have boyfriends? I don't really know what to say about friendships between boys and girls but I think friendships between just girls are better. Why? Well, girls have more fun hanging out with each other. We have more things in common with each other and girls like to do things that boys don't. What do you think about friendships between boys and girls?
What do you like to do on weekends? I like to go shopping and go to my friend's house. What's your favorite color? Animal? Movie? Song? My favorite color is yellow and my favorite animals are puppies and kittens. I like a lot of movies but I don't have a favorite one. One of my favorite songs is Every Little Thing by Trish (Trish is a Asian singer). I hope I will hear from you soon! Bye!
Love,
Jennifer N. from Alderwood Middle School (WA)

from Kz, 18.3.:
(1) Boys and girls. Their quirks

In our Earth there are two kinds of teenagers. They are boys and girls. And they are different. All people think so. Their interests are different but at the same time they have similar interest too. First, let™s speak about girls. They are sentimental people. They like to watch melodramas and to cry near the TV-set. In everything they have their own ideals. They carefully read all modern magazines, with the help of which they learn everything about make up and know by heart that pink and red are more popular than green in this season of fashion. Girls do everything to be beautiful. They know their bad and good sides. This kind of people shows us only good of them and bad are in big secret. A big problem of girls is what to put on to the disco on Saturday. They can spend hours near the mirror. They love to dance and love warm words. They can do one or two works at the same time. They combine them and reach the goal in each action. Boys do not love to dance. They go to the disco only to communicate with girls. They don™t like to wear modern clothes. They hate melodramas and don™t love ice cream. They are interested in new inventions. However, boys and girls have similar interests. Boys dream about girls and girls dream about boys. Girls think that they are cleverer than boys but girls are as clever as boys are. All together they have big secret - it is their love. Their main theme in talking is boys and girls. With the help of these facts I want to tell you that boys and girls are similar. But they do not want to understand it.
Ramina Rakhmatulina

(2) What do you think about sex?

Relationship between two people always must be only their and no one has theright to interfere. But now a lot of people enjoy talking about someone™s private life. And for me these discussions are irritating. I have never listened to them because I have no right to criticize or to encourage somebody™s life. I think that every person must decide to himself when he/she can start his or her sexual life. But now sex in our world becomes something big and becomes for the majority of young people the main goal in their life. A lot of youth, especially boys and even some girls think only about sex. Their lives consist of searching for a new sex partner only. I think it is so because they can™t find another way how to express themselves, how to show that they have grown up already. They don™t understand or even don™t want to understand that relationship between two people includes not only sex. If feelings between these people are real, not always only sex plays the main role in their lives. People must always remember that they are people at first. We can feel, we can understand someone™s problem; we can help and real relationship is based on these things first. Of caurse, I don™t deny sex because it the part of our life, but we mustn™t emphasize our attention on that now when we are only teenagers. Oxana Smirnova

to Seattle, 21.3.:
(1) Dear Jennifer!!
I hope you are fine. Iīm ok. Ela from five for life is the only one who has a boyfriend. Her boyfriend is Bogdan, he is in our class too. And he joins the group the FRIESENJUNGS!! They both are so cute!! Friendship between boys and girls!! I think that girls have more fun together, they have more things in common īcoz they are girls and they understand each other. But sometimes they could be really bitchy and thatīs annoying. My friends from my class arenīt bitchy, they are really funny and you have lots of fun with them, but my friends from my village are. When we go out to the club at the weekends there is always one of them who is grumbling. That could be really stressing. īCoz there is no reason to. Friendship between boys and girls is just a good freindship if you are sure about not falling in love with the boy. Boys are more honestly. If there is a guy you have a crush on, and you tell it your friend, he says the truth. He says what he things. If heīs the right or not. Your girls wonītprobably tell you the truth. And they are bitchy. Boys arenīt. It is a different friendship, but in some ways there are better friendships between boys and girls. I have a lot of friends who are boys. And I get along with them really good. We play tennis togetherin myvillage. And one of my best friends is sitting right next to me in my class.We have always so much fun.I think thatīs the important point. Sometimes Iīm the only girl and I have lots of fun with them and they donīt worry about me (a girl!!!). Well, I hope to hear from you, although I didnīt ask a question to answer. Love, Maren!!!!

(2) Hi Mike !
How are you? Some of your favourite songs and groups you send me I have never heard of ! I find it very interesting that we live in different countries and think that we know some things about the other country, but it seems that this is not really true. Also, it seems that your Spanish project was more to spend free time with friends and not to work much. But that is what I find very funny because it sounds very much like some of us! After reading your story I would love to see the movie! Hi Kelly ! I hope your fine and the weather gets better! I could not imagine a snow storm at this time in march. I am a person who is always cold! I do not like the cold times because I have to wear so many clothes on each other and can't move normally. I have a boyfriend too. He is also invoved in the learning circle. It sounds that you are so happy with your boyfriend! I think we have different imagines of a disco or club. You only use club, isn't it? Fridays I usually go to a small club in the town where I live. Do you know the tv-show Dismissed? ( We can watch iton MTV ) The people often go to clubs but it seem different to our 'discos' ! Hope to hear from both of you, Ela

from VHS, 22.3.:
(To Maren & Ela)

No, I hate to say it, but I don't live near the beach. I love palm trees and white sand and clear water, but I live so far away from it all. I live inland, and I really don't like it. Do I have a boyfriend? Yes I do! I love him, but sometimes it gets really boring really fast, and sometimes I don't like having one. Question for you girls. What do you think about the War with Iraq? Are you with us over here in the United States? Talk to you soon! -Kelly

from Jever to Seattle, 25.3.:
Hi, Brittany! I like horses,too. Riding is my favourit hobby, and I do it every day wheneverit is possible. The name of my horse is Paw, and he is a Norwegian horse. He cannot be near my house, because my brother suffers from an allergy. But happily my grandmother lives near a forest. There is a farm, where my horse can live with many other horses. It is not far away from my home, only about 15 minutes, so I can visit Paw every day. Often I visit my grandmother after school and have lunch there, before I go to my horse. In the evening, my father takes me home. Sometimes it is a little bit difficult, but I love my horse very much, and could never live without him. I like listen to music,too, but I donīt have a favourite band or singer. Mostly I listen to the radio or to CDs with songs from the charts on it. What kind of music do you like, and what do you do in your free time? Have you got any pets? Iīm looking forward to get an answer from you! By, Karen

from L'Aquila, 25.3.:
Hi Ela
How are you? I'm Annalisa, the girl who wrote the embarrassing story about my neighbour! Do you have any embarrasssing stories to tell me? Before I forget, I'm 15 and I go to High School. I live in L'Aquila, a very small city near Rome. Anyway, it's beautiful 'cos of its long history and monuments. In your email you asked about quirks and the behaviour of boys. Well, I think boys appear to have so much self-confidence. This usually happens when they're with their friends and often they smoke and are rude, just because they think that if they behave in this way they can capture a girl's attention. I truly don't appreciate this because to make a girl fall in love with him, a boy should only be himself. What do you think?

Annalisa

from Jever to VHS, 28.3.:
Hi Kelly!!! How are you? We are almost fine. The War on Iraq? You have written if we have the same opinion like the USA. We know what the USA represents but we don't know what you think about the war. We are totally against this war, because for us it seems like this is not the right solution. What we know about your reasons for the war is that it is to free the civilisation from Saddam Hussein and make the state democratic. But also ' we ' think that there are some other reasons: Revenge and oil ressources. Germanys political opinion about this war is that it is a totally wrong way to solve this conflict, and that America should have given more time to the 'weapons inspectors, also America is doing this war withoutconsent of theUN. Today there was a demonstration from our school. The demonstration was not against Bush or Saddam but against the war and for PEACE!!! We didn't go to the demonstration because we think that this demonstration wouldn't change the situation. We think that there are lots of other ways to help, like spending money for food, medicin and clothes. Lots of celebrities in Americaare against this war. Some of them didn't come to the Oscars but other ones came and they represented their opinion about this war. Like Michael Moore (bowling for columbine) who hold a speech at the Oscars although it was forbidden. Well, it would be interesting to hear your opinion about this war, this is our opinion about the war and we are not against you, we don't want to offend you. We are just against the war and against this way of solving the conflict, but we are not against the americans in general. We think this friendship shows you that we are interested in friendship all over the world. This is the best way to prevent war. Hope to hear from you soon, Love, Ela and Maren!!!

from Jever to L'Aquila, 28.3.:
(1) Hi !
How are you? I'm fine but I have a little cold! Thank you for your answer! First of all I will tell you something about me and my learning circle group: I'm 17 years old and I live in Schortens a town near Jever where I go to school. The members of ' five for life ' are Maren, Karen, Christina and Christine. Perhaps you have read some mails from them?! I'm a very curious person so I was almost curious of your mail. Our group has suggested the topics boys and their quirks and embarrassing things. I have heard some ideas from you and now I'm going to tell you my expierences! My embarrassing story: Do you know this situation? Some of your relatives visit your family and you sit with your family and one of your friends together. Then suddendly one of your family starts to tell a story of your childhood. This is the story my family often tell: As Ela was a little girl she was lucky when she could get with her mother and grandmother to the grocery store. But she oftengets frightend when other person stands near her. The only opportunity for her was to hide under the skirt from her grandmother. One day she was so frightened that she hide under a skirt from a woman who stands near to her. You know what had happened? It wasn't her grandmother, the womannearly starded to shout. Ela was so shocked that she began to cry and her mother came and saved her!!! All people smile about this story (I also do, it's a story who belongs to me ) but I'm also a bit embarassed! Now, boys and their quirks: I think your definition was really good! I think it's also typical that they never care about people's feelings.They don't care about the feelings from friends and especially they can't understand our feelings, they don't know how to handle with them! And they never would try to change this quirk because then the whould be described as sensible and soft! If you have some other ideas I would like to read them... Hope to hear from you, Ela.

(2) Hello!
I'am Christine of the group ''five for life'' and I'am going to write aboutthe topic ,,school''. In our federal country we have to go to elemantary school at the age of six or seven. This school consists of four school years. Then you go to orientation school for two years. There you can find out which way of following school you are going to take. You can choose between the ,,Gymnasium'', the,,Realschule'' and the ,, Hauptschule''. It's your own decision but you get a recommendation depending of your marks of your teachers. Depending on, what you have chosen you are choosed it's your following time of school. Now I'am going to tell about our school. We have to go to school five days a week. Altogether we have 33 hours a week. At 7.45am o'clock the first lesson starts and the sixth lesson ends at 12.55 pm .Two days a week we have got eight lessons. The eigth lesson ends at 3.05 pm . So you are at 3.30 pm at home. In our class are 23 pupils. I don't know how many pupils can be in class. I thinkthe highest numer possibleis 30. The classes consist of boys and girls. We don' t have any classes only forboys orgirls. The rules at our school are partly different between themiddle class( fromseventh grade totenth grade)and the senior class (from eleventh grade to the thirteenth grade). It's because of the different ages . For examplesmoking. In the middle class it's forbidden and in the senior class you are allowed to smoke . There we have got a smokerroom. I'am happy to be in senior class because we have got more freedom than the middle class. Therewe were controlled by the teachers. We were not allowed to leave the school .But all pupils in school are not allowed to bring weapons to school . I think that's obvious. Partly the rules depend onthe teachers.

from Jever to Kz., 28.3.:
Dear Ramina!
How are you?? Iīm fine. My name is Maren and Iīm from Germany, (five for life). Thank you for your mail. It is very interesting to see that girls have the same interest in other parts of the world as in Germany. You are totally right but I think that girls donīt want toadmit that they always read magazines and that they donīt know how to dress on Saturdays. Also they could be very bitchy. The problem of boys is that they donīt speak about their real feelings. Even not to their best friends, because they donīt want to be seen as a weak man. No girl really knows what a boy thinks. Boys also think they are the best. Some of them really act as if they are the coolest guys ever. What do you think about friendship between boys and girls?? Do you think it is better than friendship between girls?? What is your opinion about the war on Iraq??? Well, I hope to hear from you soon. Have a nice day, Love Maren!!!

from Seattle, 2.4.:
To: Jever, Germany
Group: Five For Life
Topic: Boys And Their Quirks

I think guys have a lot of quirks and that sort of makes them seem a bit funny at times. I think that a guy with a lot of quirks is someone worth getting to know because a guy with a lot of quirks is someone who is full of interesting hobbies. I am not exactly sure if boys think about just one certain thing because I know some guys whom I consider friends, they do not think about just one certain thing. Sometimes they spend a lot of time thinking about one thing that really interests them, but they don't really seem to think about one thing all the time. Like for example, I know a guy who acts really weird, he seems fixated at times with only one thought of a certain thing, like basketball or something and that's the only thing that he can think of for the time being. Then there are other guys that I know of who can only think of childish things, like annoying me. There's this one guy I know who's main joy during a school day is to make me mad. I guess the only thing he thinks of at a certain time is to annoy me. But I also think there are some guys who only think about one certain thing and that makes them a bit weird in my opinion because I think that there are better things in life to think of other than something that doesn't really concern them. I think the reason why a lot of guys don't show their real feelings is because they think it makes them seem a bit more emotional than they want to feel. I guess they think that emotions aren't really that important to them. I don't think that there is anything wrong with showing your real emotions because it only makes you seem more social and friendly. I think that guys who don't show their real emotions are guys that think no really cares about how they feel and so they don't bother tell anyone what they're really feeling. I think the reason why guys don't speak about their problems I because they don't think that their problem is everyone's business to know, so they don't tell anyone their problems. Another reason why I think they don't tell anyone their problems is because they think that if they ignore the problem, it'll go away, or disappear, but that's only in my opinion. I know a guy who doesn't really bother to tell me his what his problem is. Sometimes when I'm walking home with him, I'll notice that he seems more quiet and I would ask what's wrong and he won't tell me, so I guess he doesn't want to find out, but the only reason why I'm asking is because I just want to know what's bugging him. I guess that guys don't really want to tell anyone their problems because they think that it makes them seem emotional, so they don't bother to tell anyone their problems. I think that guys have a lot of quirks and so that makes them a bit funny and weird at times. I know a lot of guys with a whole ton of traits that make them really quirky so they act really weird sometimes but it's really fun being around them sometimes because they're really funny, so I guess it's not a completely bad thing that guys have a lot of quirks that make them really funny and interesting to get to know.

By Lina


from Garbsen to Kz., 2.4.:
Hello Ramina!
How are you? It was very interesting to read your text. In most cases we agree with you. But of course, there are different kinds of girls and boys. For example: There are girls who don't spend so much time in front of the mirror, but the y are nevertheless neatly dressed. The other girls who exaggerate with their make-up, we don't really like, because they are often bitchy! We know boys who like to dance, but you are right that they go to the disco to communicate with girls. That is their main reason!!! Here, in germany, boys like to wear modern clothes. If they don't wear them, they are called "loosers". Boys love horror films and most of them love ice-cream, too. We think that boys and girls are not similar! But even if they have different interests, they need each other! have a nice day Sabrina, Christina and Kim

from Kz., 23.4.:
Do boys think only about sex?

We think that it™s true that boys think a lot about sex. It™s a natural need of every man, because of our instinct and we need not only to have children but also a lot of love (not in the meaning of feeling). Especially, at our age it™s a very painful theme for boys, we want to get satisfaction from females and I™m convinced that not only boys need to be loved but also girls. And only girls have not very sharp feeling.
Yadykar and Artyom Vagner

Do girls talk too much?
We choose this theme because in our group there are 4 girls. We don™t agree with that opinion and we want to prove it. Girls and boys are very different and our way of thinking much serious than boys of our age. We don™t deny that there are some girls that don™t belong to this group but not all girls. Boys think so because they probably communicate only with such girls who attract boy™s attention. This stereotype is just in the mind of them. This stereotype exists in our life because boys don™t know about girls much enough to understand their way of life.
Oxana, Ramina

to Seattle, 25.4.:
Dear Linda!!
Thank you very much for your mail about boys and their quirks. Sorry that I answer so late, but here in Germany we had Easter holidays and a week before they started I have been on a student- exchange to Poland. I have some questions for you:
What do you think about friendship between boys and girls. Is that
possible or are boys and girls just made for loving each other???

Do you have a best(boy)friend??? What do you like better? Friendship between girls and girls or friendship between boys and girls??? --------------------- I think that sometimes friendship between boys and girls are better and sometimes friendship between girls and girls are better. That depends on the subject. You canīt go shopping with a boy, thatīs really impossible and you canīt do a beauty day or a beauty evening. But you donīt have to do this with a boy, there are lots of other things you can do with them. But there is one problem:Sometimes you fall in love with your best(boy)friend and that is the endof a good friendship. Well sometimes it is the beginning of a nice lovestory, but not very often. Boys arenīt as bitchy as girls that is the advantageand you can have a lot of fun with them. And I think they are there for you, if you need them. They keep a secret if they should, girls wouldnīt. They would tell your secrets your other girlfriends although they shouldnīt, because they think they are your girlfriends, too and it doesnīt matter if there are some more who know about. With girls you can go shopping and you can do a beauty day and you can have lots of fun with them when you are kidding boys or when you are just talking about them or dreaming. You can spend a day with them just doing nothing!! And they are also there for you if you need them!! Well, I hope to hear from you soon. See-ya Maren!!


to Iran, 1.5.:
(1) Dear Afra!!
This is Maren from Germany (five for life)! Your topic is death, and now I want to talk about it. Well, actually I donīt want to talk about it, because I donīt think that I should talk about it. I donīt care about death at the moment even if I died tomorrow. Well I think I would be very sad because my life would be ending suddenly and I wouldnīt know what to do the last day. Perhaps see all my friend and my family again and have a kind of a party. But what a party would that be?????? Nobody would be funny annd nobody would have fun. If I knew that I have to die in a few month or weeks I would try everything thatīs possible. For example I would give everything to see my guest family in Australia again. (I stayed there last summer for five weeks!!) And I would visit other parts of the world, because that is something I really like. And I would spend lots of time with my friends.
When Iīm dead Iīm afraid of missing something, well, Iīm dead so I canīt have the feeling of missing something, but Iīm interested in what is going on after I have died, like: who is going to be at my funeral, who is crying, who is going to miss me and who doesnīt really care about me.
I donīt want that somebody is crying when Iīm dead, I just want that theyīll never forget me and that sometimes they think of me and miss me (but just sometimes!!) They should be proud of that I have been their friend and their family member. Do you know what they said when Queen Mum died?? "You can cry tears, because she is gone now, or you can smile because she has lived." I really love this poem and I think it is true. Donīt be said that somebody is dead now, be happy that you had the chance to share your time and your life with this person and that this person has been your friend!! :-) Well now you see that I write really a lot, although I didnīt want to talk about death. Hope to hear from you soon, love Maren!!!

(2) Hi! Here are some answers to your questions. 1-Why do we say that there is "a life after DEATH " ?- Because the people are arfraid of dying. And if they believe there is a life after death, it will not be so bad. 2-What will you do if u understand that u will die in 24 hours ?- I will do, what I ever havewanted to do. 3-Have u ever thought about the way that u will die ? what is that ?- No I have not. I hope I will be very old. 4-Is the DEATH scare full ?why ?- I think, it is not scarefully. But everyone is afraid, because nobody knows, what will happen after death. 5-If somebody kills him/herself what will you think about his/her activity ? is it bad or it is just normal ?- It is bad. Some persons do not see another solution and so they kill themselfs. 6-Have u ever dreamed of your DEATH ?explain it !No, I have not. 7-Is Death bad ? Do u hate it or u have a normal view or u love it (which one ?) ???- Everyone have to die one time. Nobody can change it. I do not like or hate it. I accept it. 8-Have u ever thought about it : imagine that u has died so what will happen after that ? if there won't be time there so what will u do there forever ?- I believemy soulwill come to heaven, like evry person. 9-What does forever mean ? people say that when we die we will go to another world and then we will live there forever ! what does it mean ? how can it happen ?- 10-When will u die ? we mean what do u think about the time of your death ! of course nobody knows but what do u guess ?-I really donot know. And I do not want to know, when I will die. Live your life. Five for life. PS: It will be nice, if we get some answers to our topics,too.

to Iran, 8.5.:
Hello !
You want to know about my views of death and life after death. In my opinion the death is a normal situation.Apart frommurders or otherunnnatural deaths.Anybody of us will die , earlier or later. You have asked a lot of questions. I can not answer all of them. For example I don't know why we say that there is "a life afterdeath " I don't believe in it. If I understand that I will die in 24 hours I would do all the things I want to do in my whole life. But for that the time would betoo short.I have the opinion that you should enjoy every minute in your life. You don't know when you have to die. If people have a long way of suffering before their death, it'sa very hard situation. For this reason I hope that I will die without hurts. But that will be the wishes of every person, I thing.I haven't have a dream about my death but about the death ofa girl-friend. I woken up in the morning and was confused. I wanted to know why I have dreamedso a kind of scrap.

Bye Christine