Life: Idiotropic

This weekend Gillrath celebrated it's annual "Brotfest" where a family on Schleifweg fires up the 150 year old stone oven and bakes obstfladen and frische brot.

It's a local event with most of the town turning out. On Saturday they had more than 120 people show up at the little farm to crowd into the white canopied event tent by the oven house to drink beer, eat fladen, and grab loaves of freshly baked bread to take home.

On Sunday, we walked up there to see what was going on and to try a piece of the best obstfladen that I've ever tasted - a benefit, may be, of the stone oven? For 1 Euro, we got a generous piece of what is quite similar to pie - a nice cherry fladen with a generous streusel topping. It was still hot from the oven and falling apart on my fork, but absolutely delicious with my small cup of coffee.

The girls ran around with friends, one of whom caught a darling quarter sized red frog which she kindly brought over to the table to show us as we all ate our pie.

The bread had sold out the day before, so we waited and waited for today's batch. I took a photo of the uncooked bread as it waited for the ovens to heat - they bake the bread differently in the ovens than they bake the fladen for some reason. I eventually gave up, but our friends brought us a piece of sweet braided bread that evening - black.

Once we pealed off the thick black top, the inside was soft, sweet, and delicious.

The event itself was fun. It was nice to see the entire community come and participate. I'm sure the Bitburger beer tent helped. And, although it was Sunday, the tent was still quite busy at 7pm when we drove by again. People will celebrate just about anything here - especially where there is food and beer involved.

Photos: From top to bottom, L to R -- The 150 year old brick oven set inside a small brick house just big enough for the oven itself and a few people in front putting wood inside of it -- A young boy wearing an event t-shirt "historisches backhaus" -- Obstfladen or "pies" in cherry, apple, and apricot. Some had pudding inside. Some had sugar toppings or streusel instead of the traditional lattice top. -- The unbaked, not yet burned bread. -- The event tent with Bitburger stand to the right -- Two hot air balloons just to the right of two colored event lightbulbs strung out for decoration and lit up in the evenings.

Today we took some friends to Tongeren who had never been there before... and I brought Kirk along who had also never been there before. I thought he'd enjoy it. After days of rain, we finally hit our one sunny day before it's all supposed to downpour again, so we were glad to be treasure hunting in the dry.

The Tongeren antique market is always fun for me - like a museum where you can touch things, it truly has amazing pieces hidden among the ordinary.

Kirk liked the tool guy and had to swing back around on the way to the truck so he could buy the ax he'd been looking at.

Of the absurd, we didn't see the usual abundance of taxidermy, but we did see a rather disturbing stuffed baby cow all curled up laying down looking up at us. And, I found, what I immediately labeled, "the red-neck wine rack" -- a very odd "object 'd art?"

Per tradition now, I can't make a trip to Tongeren without stopping to see Babs, a wonderful character who runs a small antique store around the corner. Her place is small, but always has something special inside. Today it was a beautiful Spanish chestnut coffee table. Babs place is hidden back in a residential area inside the old city gate, so though not far, it is not with the thick of it. So, walking around her neighborhood is nice. While the men loaded the sideboard that my friend bought, she and I had time to walk around the area taking pictures and admiring the old doors and stained glass windows.

Old brick is ordinary here. Windows and doors are old and beautiful - not cookie cuttered like we find them back home... the details still stand out to me although in every town I can find those things. I still photograph them... a door here, a bit of wrought iron there, an old cracked stained glass window, some bricks with the date carved into them... "1619" today. These are the fun architectural details I'll really miss. Not the big churches... just the everyday things. The lace curtains hanging in every window and the beautiful gardens you are occasionally lucky enough to see hidden behind an old farm door leading into a grand courtyard.


This is a tiny cafe that we discovered hidden at the end of a little alleyway right by the church - in an area where the locals reside and tourists generally don't find. This one is bookmarked in my head now... for next time so that I can stop for a coffee there. It looked nice. Of course, I had to get the geraniums in the foreground. Geraniums in window boxes is beautifully common - one of those images of Europe that I'll try to mimic when I return home one of these days.

Tonight was the culmination of a lot of work and it went off well. Tomorrow I should have time to sit, post a photo, and fill you in on the details. For now, I'm worn out. But, I wanted to share with you some humor. This morning while in a whirlwind of one million and one things to do, I checked my email and found a note from a friend asking me to take three minutes for this video clip.

I laughed so much my eyes actually teared. For those of you who know me well, that says something.

So, for my mom friends especially, enjoy...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_oc1j5NakY (If this clip is missing, just search for "mom william tell overture" and you'll come up with it - worth the three minutes!)

There was something that I really wanted to tell you all today... but at the moment, I'm desperately trying to get some late night office work/IWC stuff done while listening to the crunching of cheerios by my 3-year old insomniac on the chair next to me.

Ahhhh... the joys of volunteering. The good news is that my part is almost over for at least one entire year.

On Thursday I'll be feeding between 100 and 150 ladies at our American-hosted International Women's Club event. Should be a good time. I think the details are coming together, but since the responsibility is mine, I will be stressing a bit until then.

Here's one recipe that we're making:

... and finally one that won't eat up my car or leave disgusting messes in my attic. This baby hedgehog is absolutely adorable, and, quite harmless unless you're a small plastic container of day-old quark.

This is the first time that I've seen a real, LIVE hedgehog. Usually, they are sold as souvenirs (the plush kind), or quite flat on the side of the road. This one was in Finny's yard right next to ours, so we got to sit out there and watch him walk around for a while, sniff in the grass with his pointy little nose, eat bugs, and then eventually curl up under a hedge (hence the name?), and look like he was about to take a nap. Soooo cute. I would have loved to bring him in as a pet, but I somehow don't think that Kirk would allow that.

Tuesday was Constitution Day at the Elementary school (GKES), so I went to take pictures for the yearbook. The student council sat on the stage and did a nice skit about our U.S. constitution and how we should have a school constitution... and then they went through the school constitution... things like:
"I have the right to have school books that are in good condition so that I can learn. I have the responsibility to take care of my books."

It was a nice little event and towards the end the whole school sung the constitution song - a nice little song that is helping them all memorize our U.S. constitution - something that most adults can't claim to do.

Tuesday was also Tiara's first swim lesson with our neighbor, Gaby, a wonderful German lady who teaches swimming at the pool in GK. Tiara really enjoyed her lesson and will now start swimming every Tuesday. This is, of course, to replace her advanced ballet class that she is no longer attending. Shocked... yeah... I'll deal with that in a later entry.

Wednesday is still horse day. Elise and Arianna both have decided that though they love to brush horses and to talk to them, they don't want to ride. So, Luci's having lessons on Wednesdays now and doing well. Last Wednesday was a bad day for the horses - they were all jumpy and off. Kentucky kept jumping and rearing around really quickly trying to throw Luci. It scared me and her teacher, but Luci held on tight. Through an entire 30 minute lesson of horse antics, Luci held on and never at once acted afraid (though I was nervous the entire time and wondering why the teacher wasn't taking my baby off that horrible horse). Tanya was shocked that Luci didn't get thrown and started calling her a "super-rider" - in the bit of English that she knows. Tiara rode Holiday - her favorite horse, but a horse that the German riders are scared of. Holiday was abused and is very skittish. She doesn't do well with other horses and will not allow men near her at all. Tiara loves her though and other than the stable owner who is working with Holiday, Tiara is the only one who rides her. On Wednesday, Tiara made history by being the first "kid" ever to trot Holiday alone. Tiara controlled Holiday really well and trotted her all around the stable. I am proud of Tiara. She loves horses and is doing really well. Tanya - her teacher - was very impressed.


On Thursday, the kids all got to see the NATO AWACS. I wasn't allowed to take pictures, so I didn't both going... but AFN was there. My kids aren't in the video clip, but still, there is a clip online and that is fun. Go to: http://www.af.mil/, then scroll down to "latest videos," then click on the arrow until you get to "AWACS kids" from 28 September 2007.

This morning was Spanish morning where we enjoyed a freshly pureed tomato on crackers with freshly ground salt and a drizzle of Spanish olive oil. Sounds remarkably simple, and it is, but it was also remarkably delicious. So, I tried it later using good Italian olive oil and it wasn't the same. The flavor just wasn't right.

I had to cut short my Spanish time to rush back to Elise' school for the Erntedank - a mini-Thanksgiving of sorts where we appreciate the fall bounty. The children sat on the benches in a half-circle. The adults stood behind. We sung songs and watched as each child brought up fruits and vegetables to the table. At the end, the head schoolmaster put a bottle of wine on the table - strange, I thought - for a school function. Then freshly baked bread was passed all around. Elise sat with her friend, Hattie, and seemed very happy.

Tonight was wine club - a once-a-month function where a bunch of ladies bring a wine and a food and we all sit together and blab. Not too exciting this month. I think I enjoyed people watching more than anything.

We had from 4-6 in the water and then moved the party outside for cake, food, playtime at the playground there, and, of course, presents.











The kids all had a fantastic time and the entire thing was very low stress for me which was nice. Having the girls' parties together makes sense right now - they are close in age, share many of the same friends, like a lot of the same things, and really enjoy the parties. But, these events also show just how different they are.

Though Luci can be noisy, she is really a one-on-one person. She doesn't like crowds and is very subdued. She didn't swim with her friends, but stuck with me. She didn't crack a smile when we sung happy birthday and thought she was very excited about all her gifts when we were driving home, at the party, she opened them completely stoically with absolutely no look of surprise or happiness. She did this at her last party too. And though I know it's just her, it's frustrating because her friends are so happy to give her a gift and I think they're always a bit disappointed by her reaction. This is something we'll have to work on.

So, in stark contrast, my little butterfly, Arianna, was encircled always with friends. Playing with everyone. Smiling non-stop. She had all her friends standing around her when she opened her presents and she beamed. I was proud of her too - she took her time, opened each card, read it, admired the home-made ones, talked to her friends about them, and thanked each one for the gift. And it was all genuine and heartfelt. Arianna loves people and was just so happy that all her friends were there.

Anyway... it was a nice long, relaxed party and the weather being quite unpredictable and spotty all season, actually cooperated for us.

Imagine, that you can make a list of as many friends as you'd like - all the people that you know and like - all the people that you'd like to spend time with, have coffee with, invite over for dinner, and don't have time to, the teachers, coworkers, kids' friends...

And then, you just hand that over to someone and they plan a party complete with dinner and a band. It's at a beautiful castle. You pay a little for your ticket and then just show up. No mess, no cleanup, no stress. Just food, friends, and a fabulous night at a castle.

That was our Saturday night.

I've never been to an AF Birthday Ball. They happen every year, but either it's been bad timing or we just didn't want to go. Sometimes they can fall under the "mandatory fun" category and we all know that if it's "mandatory," then it's not going to be very fun. And this year, despite my bemoaning the fact that I couldn't find a dress that I really was excited to wear, Kirk felt that he should go and I wasn't about to let him to to a ball at a castle without me.

Thankfully his cast (6 weeks for tendinitis) fit inside his pantleg and his little "shoe" was the right shade of AF blue.

We had a wonderfully relaxing evening at Kasteel Hoensbroek. The evening was running horribly behind schedule, so at one point, we started to worry that we might never eat, but the slow pace allowed us to walk around and mingle more than most AF gatherings. And there were so many people there than I honestly like and wanted to talk to - too many, really. Certainly more than I had time to see. All the ladies dressed very nicely - ball gowns of all sorts including one VERY LARGE hoop skirt and one VERY lowcut/revealing dress - both becoming the whispered talk of the night among the ladies. Some things don't change with age. Rivers would have had a great time at this one.

The obligatory guest speaker was kind enough to keep it short and by 10 (it started at 5:30), the dining hour was over and the band began - the AF band from Ramstein singing country, rock, and all sorts of upbeat tunes - not what you would picture when thinking of a military band. No marching music here, but they were all in their mess dress - I should have gotten a photo. It was funny.

A small group of Navy came - there are about 10 on this base. One stood up to toast the AF and said that like a good big brother, they'd buy the AF a drink on it's birthday, so the Navy put money on the bar for us all. I wasn't drinking, but the thought was very nice, and with 350 people there, it was a very generous birthday gift.

Upstairs in the castle was GB's (Great Britain) party - they had loud music and a lot of flashing colored lights showing up in their windows. I was tempted to crash it - just out of curiosity, but Kirk and I were both ready to go home by 11.

A good night... and now I can say I've been to a ball at a castle. Pretty cool.

.... check out the photos that were taken... no great ones of us, but we are in #119... don't laugh.

Today was the day of the Open House at Arianna and Luci's school, so Kirk and I were able to go this afternoon and see their classrooms and talk to their teachers. Luci stood and recited the Pledge of Allegiance to me perfectly and then showed me her classroom. She seems happy there, but I worry that she might be bored. She could easily do Arianna's schoolwork. Today was the first day that Luci had to "pull a card" at school - meaning, she wasn't listening and didn't stay on "green light." We'll have to work on that. I had warned the teacher before the school year began that Luci would cause trouble if she wasn't kept mentally occupied.

Arianna had written out a presentation that she read to us and also gave us a tour of her classroom. She fits in well there and is also doing very well. Today was hat day. Luci had taken hers off, but Arianna, who had insisted on tying her hat on with curling ribbon this morning, was still wearing hers proudly. She's photographed here with her teacher, Mrs. Berlin.

Aachen: the final frontier.

Sorry... Trekkie moment.

Sitting here thinking of my to-do list and momentarily brain lapsed.

Scary.

So... ah-hem. Aachen.

I had the pleasure to going there today with a friend who'd never been there before, so I played tour guide and enjoyed an entirely child-free day.

Elise was picked up at noon by Kirk and dropped off at Tante Tinny's house where she stayed until I returned at three. Elise and Tinny did well together, so I hope to do this again - having a longer day provides the opportunity for an adventure whereas a 4 hour day makes for a very quick, not so relaxing trip - especially if you have the common misfortune of getting stuck behind a tractor on the drive home.

The obligatory first-stop in Aachen is, sorry to say, Starbucks. It's sad, but this is the only time where I go American. In all other situations, I will opt for the unknown or local fare. Here, I know my Starbucks and must have my triple Venti whatever-I'm-in-the-mood-for in a nice large mug while sitting in a predictably comfortable chair in a consistently clean establishment. Plus... the bathrooms are clean and free - something I will always value. (That being said, I think I may have found my Starbucks replacement.)

After a large hot coffee, we just took a leisurely walk around the town. Aachen is beautiful. It's Rathaus and Dom are exquisite. The shops and alleyways always have the most inviting windows decorated for the season. It just feels good to be there. And, it felt good to walk around ducking into shops here and there as I wanted to - without children to worry about.

There had been an on-going music festival in Aachen, so at every turn in any open space large enough for a stage, there was a stage and beer tents. And, in the square just nestled between the Rathaus and Charlemagne's Dom, there was a enormous Ferris wheel - taller than the government building itself. That was a fun photo op and if you look closely at the close up photo, you'll see a tiny man who'd come out of the red door at the top of the Rathaus, walked over to the corner, and took a picture too!

The other photo op of the day was of this bagel/bratwurst vendor who literally "wore" his stand. There was one very thin pole that gave him some support, but the counter space that housed all the food was assembled in a sort of ring that he wore around his waist. Interesting.

And, since some of the most beautiful things in Aachen are their storefront windows - notably their bakery and printen shops, here are a couple photos to salivate over. The Nobis shop had printen kites for the season.

The Middelberg Konditorei (a potential Starbucks replacement) displayed a beautiful cake decorated with darling marzipan hedgehogs. Drawn in by the window, I saw what was the most marvelous display of cakes and chocolates that I've seen (and tasted) in Germany. Oh... it was amazing. And if their coffee (yet to be tested) is as delicious as their cakes (I tried two), then Starbucks will have seen the last of me. Berries are always my top choice - even over chocolates as I usually find the chocolate flavors in cakes here to be a little too - something - not quite sure what - not enough chocolate flavor, I think. But today - Ahh... I think I heard celestial choirs singing. I had a raspberry cake - a good white cake with the gelatin and raspberry topping. It was good. Very good. But, it was good like Schleypen good (my favorite local bakery), so not worth a special trip for... but then... the choir. I took a bite of a chocolate mousse cake topped with assorted berries. The thick layer of mousse rested on a wafer thin shortbread cookie-like crust and that 3" layer of mousse was seriously the absolutely best chocolate mousse I've had ever. The consistency was perfect and that chocolate flavor was amazing - intense, but not so much I couldn't finish the cake - bitter, but not too bitter - just the right amount of sweet - and the most amazing real dark chocolate flavor. I can almost hear the choir now just thinking about it. This will be my next birthday cake. Oh, and yes... the berries on top were delicious too. :)

The other moments today I actually allude to in a later post -- a fabulous moment in a bookstore when I realize just how much I miss American bookstores, but take a few moments to peruse the English section and find some enticing titles for a later read -- and a silly moment at a cramped little scarf shop when the Spanish music overhead played with my language skills causing me to momentarily forget how to speak German and started to speak a rather odd mixture of Spanish and French.

Today was fun. I must do this again soon.

Today was the day for absurd photographs. First, my friend called me in the morning laughing and telling me to PLEASE go to the antique store in Stahe with all sorts of old crosses, statues, and flower pots in the front and take some photos. I wasn't sure what she was talking about, but I got in in my car and drove 5 minutes away to the old brick farmhouse/antique store. Now, among the rest, there stand eight slender mannequins - all with beautiful styled wigs on and nicely done makeup - but all completely naked. It was something that might not surprise me in a dept. store window, but when driving down our country roads, we're quite used to seeing horses, cows, deer, pheasant, and lots of bales of hay. Naked mannequins do turn some heads. Of course, then coming home, I passed the new billboard in Gillrath - a larger than life ear of corn with a blue condom on it. Crazy.

In the evening we had horses, so I had to get a photo of the rolls and rolls of mint green and white plastic wrapped bails of hay. The orange mesh bag is full of walnuts drying - Tinny hung them in the courtyard. She says they are too green and will taste better when they've dried.

Elise, happy, is hugging a box of Belgian butter biscuits. I'd smile too. Delicious with a cup of strong black tea.

Not really. Yesterday was the Schutzenfest in Gillrath, so I woke up as usual, heard drums (not quite so usual), and saw a parade walking up the little street right across from ours complete with the church boys in their red and white gowns carrying icons and the priest rather plainly dressed only in white, walking behind with a group of the men. They had come from the church, did a little procession, then were on the way back. Later that day we did walk down to the king and queen's house to get this picture and to watch the feather-hatted men and prom-dressed girls with the band all line up and prepare for the king and queen to come out of their home. For a couple blocks on both sides of the street in front of the king and queen's house, little trees stood lining it covered in crepe paper streamers. In and among the little birch trees, the crowd thickly gathered. We walked up, snapped some photos, and then got half-way back to our house before the parade caught up with us. Then we watched it there before walking back home.

Today, I was in it. I knew that the Kindergarten participated in some way and I knew that there was breakfast involved. I thought I might come by and take some photos... but, I couldn't take photos from within the parade ranks.

So, I dropped Elise off at 0830. And, was told (as is becoming quite usual), that I need to return NLT 0930 because "Eltern" go with the "Klein" - meaning, for the little kids, parents must go with.

I came back, we did the traditional "hurry up and wait" syndrome while the schutzen men paraded formally up the little hill stopped in front of the kindergarten and then did all their "about-face" style maneuvers until they were done and we were finally allowed to proceed. I stood between Elise and her English speaking friend, Hattie. We walked in the parade down to the church and through the line of official looking men into the church where I understood that we'd have a small children's service. Boy was I wrong.

It was a children's service in that we did sing a couple children's songs. But, there was plenty of talkign on the part of the priest, standing and sitting and reciting by us, and communion with the bells. Senior citizens came out by the dozens to participate. It was hard enough for me to sit still during that 50 minute service, but for the kids - near impossible. All the kids were squirming and talking. One was screaming through half, so I couldn't even hear the priest to pick out the words that I might understand. My Elise sat there looking through a little leather covered Bible arguing with her friend about whether it was a brown cover or a black cover.

(My number one irritation through the entire service was that BOTH Elise and I had to use the bathroom. We got up once to go to the back and one of the mother's told me that there was NO bathroom in the church. I walked outside for just a moment to look around and think... and saw another mother leading her little girl from the bushes and pulling her pants up. Apparently, I wasn't the only one who had to "pee pee machen," but there was absolutely NO way that I was going to crouch in the church bushes. How can a church NOT have a bathroom? Doesn't make sense to me.)

So, when the service finally ended, we got back into the parade (these folks like to march and if they spend all that time getting gussied up in their felt feathered caps, than why not strut about a bit), walked down to the end of the street with the band playing, then doubled back and marched right back to where we started and then into the party building right across the street where they, THANKFULLY, had a bathroom. Phew!

It was crowded and chaotic. Not organized. Drinks and large plates of brotchen sandwiches sat on the tables waiting for us, but a large group of older gentlemen sat at one of the tables taking up almost half of it, and other non-kindergarten folks sat at others. Instead of anyone saying anything, everyone quietly grumbled, dealt with it, so that 1/3 of the mothers and all the teachers were left standing, all with children at their sides. And most of us got nothing to drink. So, Elise ate 3 1/2 brotchens with butter and schinkenwurst, then we left early - cigarette smoke and crowds make me cranky.

Ahhh... so that was my Monday morning... Elise wasn't thrilled during the event, but it was something that she could hold over her jealous sisters later - "I was in a parade today!" "That's not fair!!" If only they knew...

Very hard to find, even in Spain, these delicious flower-shaped cookies from the Leon region are made up of super thin layers of pastry stacked together and covered with powdered sugar, so eating them is a messy adventure while the delicate layers break apart in your fingers. But ooh... so delicious. If I find these in Spain, I'll get several boxes.

So, today, I went to Noemi's house and she was happy to introduce these cookies to us. We were happy to help her lighten the box. Then we took a couple with us to the hospital where we met our friend whose son was in for an emergency appendectomy. We found Ciro in his room alone since Maria had been whisked away to fill out paperwork. Then the nurses came to take Ciro to surgery and we were frantically trying to call Maria to come right away. All was fine and we had a nice visit in the cafeteria - just like in the states, smelling strongly of chicken broth. In our conversation, it came up that there is an age limit here when parents can no longer stay with their kids. Apparently in the Aachen clinic, a mom was not allowed to stay with her 9 year-old daughter. They'd have to pull me away kicking and screaming.

A friend and I had a brief battle of the cameras and she got this one of me. It's rare for me to actually be photographed as I too often am the one wielding the camera.

I think, when I finally leave Europe, that if anyone remembers me, this is what they'll remember. You show them a photo of me without a camera and they'll say, "who's that?," but if you show them this one, it will be instant recognition... "Oh yeah, she's that crazy American who took pictures of her cappuccino!"

And my cake, and old brick walls, and windows, and doors, and salads in France... it's all inspiring.

This last couple weeks I've been so busy trying to think about my upcoming International Women night among other things, that as awful as it is, Luci's birthday really kind of snuck up on me catching me unusually unprepared.

It was a school day, so I did bring in cupcakes which her classmates devoured. She was very happy that I was there and it was good to see what kind of class she's in (amazing teacher, challenging students).

But, it was also a ballet night, so our small festivities didn't begin until after 8 and then, of course, it was promptly to bed.

She and I did get to go to ice cream while Tiara was at ballet, leaving the other girls at home with Kirk and allowing Luci and I some special time.

At home she opened just a couple things from us. Her big party will be on the 16th - a combined party with Arianna.

The following is what came out of a recent conversation with Elise regarding Halloween. It started with a serious discussion about what she wanted to be, then I thought I'd get her opinions on all the family...

Elise - Turtle, Luci - Pony, Arianna - Vampire, Tiara - Bear, Me - Lollipop, Kirk - Backpack

Happiness is finally here.

As all my school girls get settled into their traditional classes at their semi-traditional American-style schools, my youngest has finally agreed to be happy, giving me my fourth and final green light - something that I really needed as I struggled with my decision to put her into the German kindergarten and another looming decision to take her out with me another year.

But after almost three weeks, she's settled in and is quite happy.

Which is such a relief. The first three weeks were hard - very hard - on both of us. Partly because of the separation which was new for us both, and partly because of the cultural differences that we didn't expect.

Like this.... the kindergarten opened on the first Tuesday in August. Elise received a nice letter in the mail saying that her starting time was on Wednesday at 0945. I thought that was nice to stagger the new kids, so that they got extra attention, so we showed up prepared with all our supplies (rubber boots, house shoes, gym clothes, outdoor gear, and breakfast box). She ran in happy, then the teachers looked up at me and told me to pick her up in one hour. One? She should have had at least two until the noon pick up time. No, on the first day just one. She did great, so the next day she stayed for three hours. That day she cried three times (of course, it was her first long day away from me). She wasn't the only one. German kids by the handfuls were screaming, crying, and trying to run out of their classrooms to the front door. At least Elise was reasonably docile in her classroom. So, the next day, I left her. They called an hour later. She was crying and I needed to come get her.

Ok, so I'm used to the American system where you drop your kid off at the specified time and pick up at the end time and in between, the child can scream or cry and the teachers are fine because it's a phase and they learn that you will come back.

But, it was Friday and I couldn't argue, so I went and picked her up. They told me then that on Monday, I must stay with her. Huh? How is that going to teach her to be away from me? So I stayed one hour, and when I had to leave and Elise got upset, I was told to take her with me. The next day, I stayed for 20 minutes, then left. I was told that I could leave her for 30 minutes. Great - just enough time to load my dishwasher and come back. Wednesday I was able to leave her for 45 minutes. Both Thursday and Friday, she stayed for just one hour. The next week we slowly worked our way up to two hours and then three. Now I actually have come to some normalcy and last Thursday was the first day that she stayed at school and didn't cry. Now she runs in happy and runs out happy. Life is good and I'm putting those first trying, emotional packed weeks behind me.

Last year when Arianna went to the German kindergarten, they would occasionally have a breakfast together and each child would sign up and bring some element of breakfast (5 brotchen, slices of cheese or schinkenwurst, tomatoes, fruit, cucumbers, etc...). We always brought brotchen since I could stop at the bakery on the way to school and quickly pick them up - simple. And the kids would eat staggered like normal when they were hungry and when there was a place at the little table. Last week they had a breakfast in Elise' class. We brought brotchen as usual, but when we arrived, the teachers had pulled every table in the classroom together with all the chairs. A place for each child was set with a little glass plate, a ceramic cat mug, silverware (not plastic), flowers on the table, and nice glass pictures of chocolate milk, apple juice, and orange juice. The breads were sliced and put in baskets. Bowls of grapes, plates of cheeses, vegetables, meats, and sliced fruits were set out on the table. It was beautiful - worthy of a nice B&B. And it was just for the kids.

These are the cultural differences that I can learn to love. Breakfast at school - such a happy thing. Elise is part of a family there. It's nice.