I think AP classes don't quite teach to the test in a bad way, since the subjects that could appear on any one AP exam are so vast. Plus with so many essays, it does supposedly test your critical thinking skills.

t /took seven AP exams

I wrote a whole essay in English Lit about Nicholas Nickleby, despite having forgotten the name of an important character (Wackford Squeers). I just called him the schoolmaster, and wrote the essay anyway. I like to think that, because I did actually know what I was talking about, I did not benefit from that "oh the facts don't matter, as long as it is a long enough essay" kind of grading.

Araber

I saw some Arabers this weekend! They're still hanging on. Kinda cool. Of course, I then couldn't remember what they were called and played 2 million questions with everyone else on the bus until someone finally remembered.

What's an Araber?

My AP Chemistry class sort of taught to the test, but I didn't get that impression from the other AP classes.

I do realize I have absolutely no idea about the way the American (or any other) school system works. I can't really compare, since I don't have the basis for it. I only know that I was bitterly disappointed in school, before reaching the university.

I visited my cousin one day before her Literature final exam, and among other things talked about the book I happened to read then, "The Picture of Dorian Grey" (sp? I can't sp today. Hopefully, I can still spell). She never heard of it until then. The following day, on her exam, none of the books they got to read on their own fit any of the questions, but what I told her on "Dorian Grey" was perfect for one of them. She used the 5-minutes conversation in order to answer that question, and aced the exam. I'm not sure what my point was in telling this story, but something in the conversation reminded me of it. I can't remember now what it was. Silly brain. Oh, well. I typed all this paragraph, I might as well post it.

My English Lit O level essay about Great Expectations carefully got around me not having read past the first few chapters by explicitly detailing how important both of Pip's first meetings with the convict were. I mean, I knew how it ended, I just hadn't partaken of the words myself.

I don't know if semantic wriggling was in the curriculum, but I picked it up somewhere. I did end up with an A.

I only know that I was bitterly disappointed in school, before reaching the university.

I remember that my first year of college was eaiser than my last year of high school.

I believe Simon spelled it "Arabber", Nilly. Cool, Sarameg. I get a kosher toaster. Munch would plotz. Jesse, they have fruit wagons and they call out about their wares...they call 'em "arabbers" or "A-rabs" cause they're nomadic, I think. In the Simonverse, it is a dangerous gig.

Jesse, Araber [Edit: I've heard about it on H:LotS, that's how I Googled it]:

A person-- usually black and male-- who sells fruit and vegetables from a horse-drawn cart, calling out what he's selling in a sing-song voice. The advantage is the food is fresher than in a supermarket. Risley Tucker, the main suspect in the Adena Watson murder was one. (Three Men and Adena) "Araber" is pronounced differently, depending on the neighborhood. Crosetti pronounces it "ar-ab-er," Lewis- "a-rab."