First Parent Conference

I know to some of you this will not be as monumental as it is for me. But after nine years of teaching- suddenly, I was on the other side of the desk! Last night was our first Open House at Fiona' s school. Now, in fairness, it was in German so I didn't get the true experience. But for most of my teaching career, my students' parents haven't spoken English all that well, so I guess it is the same. We had our school secretary, whose son goes to this kindergarten, sit next to us and give us a running translation.  And I  needed no translation when Heike, the teacher, said "..... familie Marino, Fiona, Amerika, International Schule..." and all the parents turned to see us. Fiona, the English speaker, is a bit of a celebrity in the kindergarten- the kids seem to flock to her and they all want to speak English with her. Overall, it was exactly the same as every parent night I've ever run. Except for the champagne which was served. Yep- halfway through the evening, plastic cups and champagne were passed around to all of us adults sitting on teeny-tiny wooden chairs, and we sang a German version of Happy Birthday (I'm not sure to whom. The school? Ourselves?) and drank up. Prost!

If I had served champagne at some of my other jobs, do you think I'd have gotten more parents in to see me?