Start of School

I am now officially beginning at the school!  To clarify, I am an English assistant teacher (Fremdsprachenassistentin) at a Gymansium.  This means that I'm not leading classes, but am helping to monitor work, provide cultural insights, and be a walking dictionary, among other things.  A Gymnasium is the word for the German school on the university track, so the students are more academic-focused.  It includes grades 5-12, which is a pretty big range.  Right now, I'm just observing, which means that I mostly sit and watch lessons and sometimes walk around and look at the work.  
For all of the classes so far, I've had to introduce myself and take questions.  It's interesting because the younger students are very interested and the older students all sort of sit there and stare.  I mentioned this to a teacher and we guess it's because they've reached an age where they don't feel so comfortable asking personal questions.  But the sixth graders I saw today had a good subject for practicing how to ask questions, like my favorite foods, color, etc.  Most want to know what I like about Germany and where I'm from.  But the question that made me think the most was surprisingly, What do you think of when you think of America?  For the same question for Germany I had an answer, but I couldn't really define what I think of when I think of home.  I think one reason is that my whole life is bound up with where I live and it's hard to separate country-specific images with life-as-I-know-it in Pittsburgh.  My relationship with the US seems to be bound up with adjectives anyways and for some reason I think of energy and creativity, but can't explain why.  There's family and friends, foods, and I guess the "American dream," but how to explain the US in larger terms rather than in contrasts to Germany, like we have supersized everything?  (Actually, space would be a good answer too).  I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts about this as well.
So I'm attempting to be a good English ambassador, even if questions about stylistic analysis (never even seen the words anaphora or parataxis before,) sort of have me at a loss.  
Also, on a side note, I found an apartment! Move in is in October.
Also, I am posting more photos online at www.photoblog.com/emmr88