The School’s Chaotic Classroom

This thread follows the disorderly school environment that surrounds the students, from everyday classroom disruption to the public promise of new educational resources.

increasingBearing stren­gth in each eventdecreasing

A Substitute Loses Control

A Classroom Without Order The lesson unravels A substitute teacher tries to start a lesson while students roam, shout, and send one another on pointless errands. Even basic classroom tasks—finding chalk and the class register—slip beyond his control. Authority becomes a joke The students turn his surname into a running gag, and his warnings about reprimands only invite more noise. Lukas recognizes that the teacher seems inexperienced and begins to feel sorry for him, but sympathy does not restore order. A glimpse of the school’s routine The episode presents disruption as ordinary rather than exceptional. The class has developed its own pecking order, and adult authority often appears too hesitant to change it.

A New Student Arrives

Sanchez Enters the Class An introduction lost in the noise The principal brings Sanchez into a loud classroom and asks the students to welcome him. Their first reaction is to tease him about coming from Marzahn-Hellersdorf and to make assumptions about his background. A confident self-introduction Sanchez answers with humor, describing himself as a Caribbean boy rather than accepting the label the class tries to impose. His relaxed manner briefly quiets the room and gives him a presence that stands apart from the surrounding disorder. A neighbor becomes a companion Not long after the introduction, Sanchez appears at Lukas’s home to ask for rolling papers. The shared smoke and conversation begin turning a new classmate into a potential friend, while his recent move and family separation explain why he is starting over in Neukölln.

The School Announces New Computers

A Promise of Better Equipment A rare positive announcement The principal gathers the school and visiting officials to announce that the state will provide fifty new computers. After a previous assembly followed a student’s death, he emphasizes that this occasion is meant to bring good news. Ceremony becomes spectacle The students laugh when an official stumbles onstage and later spills his drink, turning a formal presentation into another public performance. The principal struggles to hold their attention while explaining that computer lessons are meant to prepare them for working life. A resource enters the school’s orbit The computers are due to arrive within days, and the announcement makes them an immediate, concrete presence in the students’ world. What school officials present as an investment in education also becomes information that can circulate beyond the assembly.

The Principal Faces the Press

The School Becomes Public News A burglary reaches the classroom Police officers enter a class with the principal and explain that computers and monitors have been stolen from the school. They share details of the suspected transport and mention that shots were heard near the U-Bahnhof Zwickauer Damm. The principal’s anger breaks through Herr Schiezeth explains that he had worked to secure the new equipment and had delayed publicity about its arrival to reduce the risk of theft. He feels betrayed by the possibility that students from his own school were involved, and vows that everyone connected to the crime will be found. Public attention changes the stakes The incident is no longer only a school matter: it has drawn police, press attention, and widespread discussion. Lukas later learns that the burglary has appeared in the news, making the school’s new resources—and their loss—a story for the wider city.

A Mother Seeks Advice

Karin Asks for Help A private worry surfaces Karin approaches Lukas while he is trying to make food and explains that her son Fabian has been robbed repeatedly on the way to school. She says he has even been threatened with knives, and admits that she feels unsure how to protect him. Lukas offers a practical escape route Karin asks whether Lukas, who grew up in the area, knows how Fabian should deal with the boys targeting him. He does not offer to confront them; instead, he advises Fabian to avoid the route where they gather and take a longer way by bus. Sympathy replaces an old assumption Lukas initially sees Fabian as an obvious target and struggles to express advice that amounts to avoiding danger. Karin’s gratitude and praise for the way Lukas and Marco have managed life in the neighborhood surprise him, softening his assumption that she looks down on them.

Early in the story, during a morning class

Early in the story, during the substitute lesson

A few days into the story, at a school assembly

The morning after the assembly, during the police briefing

After Lukas returns home from the first failed computer sale