Life: Idiotropic

Yesterday was Luci's first day of school. Per tradition, I was prepared to drive her and walk her to class on her first day, but forever independent, my Luci wanted to take the bus with Arianna and all the other big kids waiting at the bus stop. She was almost run over in the stampede to get to the bus, but was calm and got on that bus like she'd been doing it every day for a year, then sat and smiled out the window waving.

Kirk was on base and went to meet the bus as it arrived and walk her down to her classroom at the other end of the school.

She and Arianna are in the same building and have the same lunch time which is very nice.

Her day in Mrs. LeRoy's class went great. She said she did papers. Now with two days done, she is very happy and seems to love her new school, teacher, and class full of friends.

Last night Arianna was in her own bed in her own big girl room being tucked in. She's usually chatty at night, but usually it's asking about what's going to happen tomorrow. Tonight she got very teary, and then told me "It's really hard growing up." Then it continued... "Do boys have periods?" "No, only girls."
"Why?" "Because your period gets your body ready to have a baby and boys don't have babies." "Is Tiara having a baby?" "No, she's not ready yet." .... and it continued. Arianna is thinking about everything right now, absolutely everything, so no wonder growing up is hard. This afternoon she was sobbing because one of her friends keep interrupting her (one of her pet peeves) and she said that tomorrow she has to tell him that she can't be friends anymore. Such weighty issues for six...

... issues, that I'd expect more from my twelve year old, but happily am not. Yes, she's emotional. Yes, she's trying out her hair flipping and eye rolling... but, she's still an amazing girl who loves to read, cares about school, and bottom line: we can still laugh together after an arguement and we can still talk.

The biggest issue now is making her put her book down at night so she can get some sleep. So far she's enjoying middle school. Last week she complained that she couldn't get enough work done in her seminar class because the teacher was too relaxed, so I told the school counselor, she changed the class, and today, Tiara came home with almost no homework because she got it all done at school! Wonderful!

Ballet is just starting so it's too early to tell how this year will go. She's taking jazz, classic ballet, point, and was asked to be part of the Voorstellingsteam - a performance team working on something that they will perform at the end of the year. That class is immediately after point, giving her over 2 hours of ballet every Friday - almost 5 hours total dance each week. Horseback riding is on Wednesday and is the one thing that makes Tiara absolutely break out into uncontrollable smiling. She loves riding Holiday and is very close to being able to control her enough to ride on her own with out the teacher there.

May be it's a farming thing... do folks in the U.S. decorate hay? I've never seen it until we moved here. I missed the gigantic hay "bunny" at the Happy Horse place last year, but I wasn't going to miss these two. This hay bride and groom are there to commemorate Lothar and Desiree's anniversary. And they are LARGE. Check them out in relation to the other things in the photo. Elise can walk right under the sign they are holding without hitting her head!

And the next photo, though a bit unclear shows one of many safety lessons that German children receive. The policeman is standing in front of a bus talking to the class. Right in front of the bus, on the ground, lodged slightly under the bumper is a small rectangular bale of hay dressed like a child. This is the warning not to run out into the street. I think after this morbid demo - the kids will get it.

My kids learned that lesson from the three legged turtle my friend found in Oklahoma.

Photos of the Day:

My girls just got new umbrellas from Japan and spend all afternoon dressing up in fancy clothes and parading around like a bunch of paperbag princesses. Oh, and speaking of paper...

Cultural bit:

Ok, so I moved to Germany and I learned to deal with their garbage issues. Truly, I'm the best trained monkey around - so much so that I actually rinse out all my plastic meat wrappers, cans, and anything else that is remotely yucky before throwing it away. I sort out glass into different colors, sort through papers trying to take care that a paper towel that is too yucky goes into the restapval or "real garbage." I do sort out bio most of the time and fill my yellow sacks without fail even upstairs in the bathrooms and office, I am sorting out all packaging trash to go into my downstairs yellow sacks. But now, there is an article in the newspaper. They have been finding an abundance of boxes (paper, right) in the altpapier. Of course, milk cartons go into yellow sack. And any treated paper that would go into the freezer goes into the yellow trash... but now anything remotely shiny or colorful is yellow trash. My granola bar, fruit roll-up, and cereal boxes are now yellow trash items (though they are just paper), and I'd better get it right because they are now inspecting garbage (who wants that job?) and fining folks who don't comply. Love living here, but... these are the things that will make me nuts. The little insidious things like garbage. It's garbage! I think recycling is good, but I shouldn't have to spend my precious time playing in my trash. Somewhere there must be a camera in my house and they're all laughing at the American who can't figure out a "simple" thing like trash. Seriously, this could be a video game. Shiny box in altpapier? BZZZZZZZZZ You just lost 25 points.

Here are photos from Arianna's first day of school - a fun day for her with a very exuberant start to her first year. This was the first day - the fun day - the easy day - in week one before week 2 when life got hard and homework got harder and life got hard and oh my, it's just so hard to grow up (her daily mantra). Hollywood... here she comes.

I'm really not sure where to begin with this one. The issue of German school has really been more of a continuing saga, then a one day affair. It began really, before we even moved here as we thought about the education of the girls and the place where we were moving to.

Though Kirk and I both liked the idea of putting our kids in the German school system both to learn the language and participate in the culture, we didn't think that we should do that right away given the overseas move and reuniting our family after a 15 month separation (Korea)... so, we waited. Arianna did 1 year in a English speaking system, then, frustrated with her American kindergarten class and finding a spot at the German kindergarten, we made the move just this last March into the realm of German educators.

And, it was ok. The kindergartens provide mixed classrooms with ages 3-5 playing, crafting, and doing various activities that focus on experience and not fundamental learning. Arianna picked up a lot of the language in just those 3.5 months.

And then the agonizing began. What do we do with our girls this fall and where is the big green neon sign telling me which decision I'll regret the least? I think every combination of possibilities existed. Aria in the Gruenschule 1/2 days and the American school 1/2 days. Luci doing the same with the German kindergarten in the a.m., then the American one in the p.m. Elise, we were certain would go to the German kindergarten. And, we knew Tiara would be at AfNorth -phew - at least one kid came with a neon sign.

And we talked, and deliberated and discussed and analyzed, making pro con lists until the pencils were all broken. We talked about it so much, it seemed like we'd become the neighborhood soap - "and what will the Stahlbaums decide today?!??!" I'm still getting that question.

And the answer? Uh.... do I have to decide NOW?

There were a lot of reasons to send Arianna back to the American school. Both little ones and big ones. One reason, though it seems strange, is that the vacation times for the German system and Tiara's International School are different, thus making it impossible to travel during the school year (not acceptable while living here), without taking one of our kids out of school. Logic mandates taking Arianna out for a week (not horrible to make up in her 1st year of school in a program that only goes for 3 hours every morning) instead of Tiara who's in the 7 grade and is taking an advanced math and a high school level French class. But, here, school is mandatory to the point that the police will come to your door and can take children away from families who don't comply. Oh, I am so not ready to deal with that. Still... we talked. I really didn't want to rob Arianna of an amazing experience or an language education. I didn't want her sacrifice of switching schools in March to be in vain. And for the longest time there was no peace or feeling that any decision was right.

As strange as it may seem, and may be it was just the time, but one evening when Kirk and I were talking about it again (he, by the way, was never a huge pusher of the German school), he told me, "You have to remember that when you send Arianna to the Gruenschule, she isn't just learning a language, she's learning a culture." Done. That (coupled with A LOT of other things) made the decision.

It sounds bad, I know. I love living here. I love my neighbors. I have German friends that are very dear to me. However, I do recognize that there is a difference in how they think and how they do things (as a whole). It isn't bad, but, I really don't think it's a mindset that Arianna needs. I think it would change her too much and I like her the way she is. Her spirit is special and I don't want a system to crush that. So....

Today was Arianna's first day of the first grade with a teacher that is absolutely wonderful with great classmates that she already knows and loves, at a school that while not stellar, will provide Arianna with many opportunities to excel. She was smiling so brightly today. And that's when I got my second neon sign.

My third neon sign came a couple days ago. Luci, we'd decided a while ago, would be best in the American school. She's smart and needs a challenge that the German kindergartens can't supply. But, when Elise started on a Wednesday and Luci wanted to go to, we thought, well, no harm to try. Luci wouldn't start the American school until next week anyway.

So, Luci went, running in smiling on her first day and ever day for a week. And then, late last week, her feet stopped at the door and she wouldn't go in. I left her on the bench outside the classroom with the teacher talking to her. And, though Luci has gone continuing through this week, she doesn't want to. Nothing's happened. She talks about her friends there. She is getting along with the children well and has even picked up a few words, but "it's boring" and now all she can talk about is the American school. I knew that the American school wouldn't work if Luci had to be with the same teacher that Arianna had had... and then my neon sign... the class IS being split, and Luci IS going into the other classroom! So, next Tuesday she'll start her first day of an American kindergarten and, hopefully, that sign will still be flickering.

...tbc tomorrow when I'm not so tired... Elise's sign is still missing...

I can't believe that summer is officially over. I really don't feel like I had one. The weather was so horrible that we didn't' do half of the outings/trips that we'd intended to do. And our year last year was so busy that through the best of intentions, I think we all just wanted/needed some time to do nothing.

So, a short trip for us and some arts and crafts and that was about it.


Still, looking back now I can see some small triumphs with all four girls getting or graduating to new bicycles, Arianna learning quickly to ride without training wheels, Luci adeptly moving onto a large bicycle, and Elise, for the first time riding a little bike now comfortable to zoom around the neighborhood.
We met new neighbors and new friends, and the kids enjoyed the new development which consists of a partially finished road, and empty fields where houses eventually will be. And, some neighbor boys dug a big pit, so Luci collected bits of tiles among the rocks, Elise picked flowers, and all three played in that filthy pit in the ground like it was a secret cave.

The final month of summer did bring a handful of sunny days where we could gaze our at the land around our home, breath in the fresh air, smile, and appreciate just how beautiful this place is.

This week I'm fighting an ear infection and a clash of styles in the German kindergarten, so the days that I thought would be full of accomplishment have been sadly hectic and distracted leaving me enough energy to clean my house, cook, and deal with all the necessary obligations, appointments, and distractions, but nothing else.

The good news... is that Kirk is in Iceland and having a great time, so at least one of us is having an adventure. The photo is, of course, of Kirk in front of some beautiful waterfall in Iceland... I'll have him write something about it when he returns.

Elise began school today!

Another day tomorrow... when I will edit this with more information and a photo!

Since I'm working on this other blog now for our local area, I'm trying out new restaurants a little more. I'm not going to post all of it here because you don't really need to know about every restaurant... but, if you are curious about the restaurant in Hastenrath where you can eat with a view of a live chicken in the window, a miniature horses behind, or a bearded goat, check out this latest review: flammerie (http://livingingk.blogspot.com/2007/08/flammerie-new-restaurant-in-hastenrath.html)

This last week has been an exciting one in the world of AL (Aria and Luci).

First, after Kirk came home last weekend, we all went out for a bike ride. I walked with Luci and Elise watching them. Tiara hopped on her bike. And Kirk, walked with Arianna. Within 5 minutes, I heard across the tall grass, "She's riding, she's riding!!!!" And, seconds later saw Arianna flying around the corner coming towards me ALL BY HERSELF and Kirk jogging behind her. We all started yelling and cheering including Arianna's German friends and from there, she just kept going and ended up doing 5 more laps around the new streets behind our house. Then, getting a bit too confident, she started playing around, moving her handlebars back and forth, so as she rode by Kirk and I, wiggling her handlebars speeding fast around a corner, he and I in unison shouted "don't get too fancy" just as she went down. Tears and a really roughed up elbow this trip, but she was doing amazingly well. The next outing with her she didn't get hurt, but fell a couple times deciding that her bike is too big for her and she needs a tiny short bike like her friend David who can barely peddle because his bike it too small for him. Yesterday we rode again. We were going to the new roads again near our house where there are no homes built yet and consequently, no traffic either. I walked again with the little girls. Kirk tried to walk with Arianna until she sped up and took off not to the new streets, but toward her friend's house. She sped down the hill by his house towards ours almost out of control. I couldn't see anything. When Kirk found her she was sitting on the curb by our house in tears because she couldn't stop, so again, she's convinced that it's her bike. 3 rides since she learned and she expects to be perfect. Figures. This is also the girl that took only 3 months of ballet classes and is absolutely convinced that she's learned it all and can be a ballet teacher when she grows up without ever learning any more ballet.

Last Monday Arianna and Luci tried out for the Little Mermaid play. Missoula Children's theater was here for the week, so I'd signed the girls up. Tiara was sick, so she stayed home the entire week. Elise, though enthusiastic, is too young, but AL had a great time. They, along with 13 other kids their age, got cast as seahorses who ran on and off the stage a lot and had one singing number with a giant cowboy starfish.

They rehearsed 4 days - just for a couple hours each day and though the play itself was pretty corny (really dumb humor), the kids had fun.

After the performance, several families that participated took the kids out for ice cream. The photo above is the Spaghetti Eis - vanilla ice cream extruded through a machine that makes it look like spaghetti, then covered in strawberry sauce.