Oh, that busy month of September

So sorry, dear readers. September and all its demands has swept me away, leaving me no time to update you on our adventures. I'll do my best now, and a small warning- October may be the same!

This school year is just as busy and crazy as last year- but more fun. I enjoy teaching the middle schoolers tremendously and, though we've gone to 70 minute periods (and I teach 3 in a row, no bathroom breaks for 210 minutes, friends, that's a looong time for me and little Bruno/Butterfly) the kids are interesting and for me, far more fun that the elementary ones. I look forward to October and November because I'll be teaching Bridge to Terabithia, The Pigman, and A Separate Peace- ALL of which end in tragedy (not intentional, I promise, but it's always fun to watch the teen faces fall as their favorite character dies) and provide great fodder for teen angst.

Russ remains our all-powerful leader and, despite the grey hairs, is loving that role. Of course, the day he scheduled himself to teach two classes at once, attend a meeting, and give a tour all at the same time, he was a bit frazzled, but for the most part, Herr Direktor is pleased. Not to mention that he gets to go on business trips (teacher friends, take note- it can be done!) and is headed to Berlin tomorrow (just in time for the elections, which take place on a Sunday, which I find strange because nothing, absolutely nothing, is ever open on a Sunday, so you can't even run a few errands after voting) and Nuremburg next week. I think Hamburg appears on the calendar for October. Berlin and Hamburg have Starbucks, Russ has an iPhone with GPS and a deep love of Bold Blend coffee. All the more reason to take on administrative duties, I say.

Fiona attended her first ever friend birthday party without Mummy and Daddy this week. Her dear friend Jamie turned four, and in true German fashion, Fiona was invited to attend and Jamie's mum said she'd take Fiona home from school and I could pick her up between 7 and 8. Uh, no. I'm a car seat freak, an American who didn't know this unchaperoned-going-to-strangers was going to happen before first grade, and definitely a schoolnight bedtime stickler. So I drove Fiona over, checked out the crowd (a few grandparents, a few kids from her school) exchanged phone numbers with the mother, memorised the address of the Garten (more on that later) where the party was being held, and left her for two hours. She had a fantastic time, came home covered in face paint and fake tattoos, clutching her goodie bag for dear life. She nearly fell asleep in the car on the five minute drive home and was too tired to eat her dinner. Well, too tired and too full of Bratwurst and "Cake with M and Ms but you know in German they're called Smarties."

The party was held in their family's Kleingarten, which means a small plot of land outside the city (only minutes outside really) that dates back to DDR times. These gardens, when you see them from the train, look like gypsy camps or trailer parks- they have little huts and shacks and sheds on them, and sometimes vegetables growing. I guess in DDR times, they were a way to get away from constant monitoring and the dreary life in the cities- people liked to view them as a place to be free. People rent them or have mortgages (I've gathered that the cost of one of these lots is about 10,000 Euros) and treat them like we'd treat a backyard. Jamie's party was held there because she has a swingset (thankfully, a normal one just like you'd see in the US, not a weird German metal rickety thing from the '70s), sandbox, picnic table, and, I saw when I collected Fiona, a fire pit for the adults. And this teeny shack which has electricity (I saw a microwave and a fridge inside) and I thought a bathroom, but Fiona told me afterwards "Jamie's garden has a bathroom OUTSIDE!" So I guess maybe electricity but not indoor plumbing? I'm not sure. I must wrangle an invitation to a garden party and find out.

All this young adult literature, business travel, and birthday party nonsense has kept us very busy. We've had a delightful visit with one set of grandparents (complete with a trip to the zoo, gorgeous weather, and lots of groceries from Market Basket!) and are anticipating a trip to Paris (to see the Mouse, of course, but also to relax) and a return of one set of grands and the visit of half of the other (half is busy coaching football) for ZwiebelMarkt (Onion Fest)! Updates on all this fun to follow. And now, dear readers, I'm off to re-read all those teenage death books.