First Week

The first week of school officially began last Monday, when I told Fiona to finish up her breakfast and she said, "Mummy, my tummy is too excited and I can't eat. Can we please just go to kindergarten now!?" Off we went... and commenced our second year in Weimar.

As I said before, it's infinitely easier the second time round. We know where things are and are actually able to HELP the new people with the copier and its quirks, instead of staring at the machine in horror and wondering if we'll be able to give the children any handouts at all.

Russ is excelling at his Directorship thus far- Monday was a HUGE deal- our groundbreaking ceremony for our new building! We had about 750 people in our parking lot (soon to be a construction site, can you imagine the insanity of bus time amid bulldozers, construction men, and scaffolding?) in a big wedding-style tent. We hosted the Minister President (Governor) and his wife, a bunch of folks from the something-or-other Ministerium (State Board of Education), various politicians, bigwig parents, local businessfolk, etc. It was all a bit insane to do on the first day of school but we managed- it was like a successful wedding, complete with the sausages, beer tent, wine tent, and music. So there's a small hole in the corner of our sports field, dug by 250 children wielding shovels, and it will remain there until construction begins. In September. Or October. Or January; Construction projects seem to be the same all over the world.

Fiona's adjusted seamlessly back to kindergarten- she's delighted to be back with her kids and can now eat breakfast. She loves our new apartment (we all do! We can't believe we lived in our old one for a year. This apartment is palatial compared to our old one. Especially the kitchen. Pictures to follow- but we have a normal-sized fridge, a proper oven, and cabinets!) and her purple bedroom. But I am a tad worried about all of the moving we've done. Fiona told me the other day, "Mummy, I like our apartment. It's still new! We will stay in it until it's old. Then we'll get another one." Umm... maybe we shouldn't move quite so much.

I'm enjoying life in middle school- teaching middle school English is my idea of great fun. My students are charming and well-behaved (well, it IS the first week of school) and delighted with their enormous textbooks. Did you know, dear readers, that I shipped and carried 40 4.5lb textbooks across the ocean?! Can you imagine the horror of my parents' mailman as the giant Prentice Halls came dribbling in, one and two at a time, only to be shipped out again? The woman at the post office actually asked me if I was mailing the books to AFRICA- apparently, no one sends used textbooks to Germany. Except me. And we brought ten in the suitcases, using up valuable FAA-allowed kilograms. But. All the textbooks are here and accounted for, and we begin using them today.

Thanks for your patience, dear readers. I know it's been a long, quiet spell. But fear not. I'm back at my computer and blogs are forthcoming!