Daphne's 1st German Textbook

Daphne will be learning to read and write in German this year.  Today she brought home her first textbook. 

I just thought it was a lovely and engaging little book and thought I'd share a few pages here.

Front cover.  Daph says Mila is the caterpillar.

any book that includes a trombone is fine by us

Delikatessens aren't bad either

must be a typical German classroom

even the German kids look a little confused

Looks kinda fun, eh?

1st Day of School 2012

we still think in US terms, but in Lux, James is in Cycle 1 and Daphne's in Cycle 2.1

The day we've been waiting for has arrived!  Although the kids already had a "first day of school" in Luxembourg when they began their 6-week stint this past June/July, we always thought of that as practice for the "real thing" this fall.  Still, today we were so grateful for that little bit of practice time under all our respective belts (or..er...sweatpants, as you can see).

And, today was an extra special first day of school because Grammy and Grandpa were here to be part of it.  I don't have any pictures of them in this post, but I'll have lots in subsequent posts.  It was just great to have them here today and I'm sure that it will always be a highlight in our memories.

As I say, even though the kids have been to school in Luxembourg before, we hadn't had a real back-to-school day until now, and many aspects of the whole system are completely unknown to us.  There was no orientation night, no list of school supplies to buy.  Our only communication was a paper that came in the mail about a week ago from the Ministry of Education telling us the names of the kids' teachers and to show up at the buildings at 9am on the 17th.

Daphne has moved to the primary school for the start of "Cycle 2," which is next door to the pre-primary building.  All the kids and parents gathered in the courtyard until the school bell rang and then we all filed into the building.  We didn't know our way around the building, but fortunately we'd run into a mom we knew and she told us about where Daphne's class might be.  A few kids and parents were carrying big shopping bags of school supplies, which we found out meant they had the same teacher last year who gave them a supply list before the summer.  It is common here for teachers to keep their classes two years in a row. 

We found the classroom easily.  The teacher greeted us at the door and handed us a information packet in French.  Daphne found a desk in the front and began to color, and was soon joined by two girls she recognized from her class last year.  They all seemed happy to see one another.  

the other girl was happy too, I promise

The teacher then began addressing all the parents in French, with a few breaks to speak to the kids in Luxembourgish.  I caught very small snippets of the French content (mostly some details about he supply list in the packet) but as the parents were leaving a few of us stayed back to talk to the teacher.  When it was my turn, I just briefly told her that Daphne just started school here in June and doesn't really know any Luxembourgish.  She seemed like a very pleasant lady and of course spoke good English.

Weekly schedule for Daphne's class.  Looks like they have swimming on Fridays! (we have no idea where the pool is)

After we all dropped off Daphne at her class, I stayed in her room for the rest of the French instructions while Pete and his parents took James over to the other building.

Although he's in a temporary building which they call a "container," it's really more of a standard building than a "portable" or "modular" school building we're accustomed to in the States.  It's right next to the old building they'll be tearing down and eventually rebuilding.  He also has the same teacher as last year, who we all liked a lot.

getting ready

yes, that is a giant Etch-A-Sketch

Anyway, Pete and I were both pretty anxious all day long.  The kids were at school for 7 straight hours of language immersion and were staying over lunchtime for the first time, and we were just wondering what state we'd find them in at the end of the day.  There is a break between the morning and afternoon sessions on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and last year they both came home for lunch on these days.  After much debate, we decided to pay for the kids to stay over the lunch break on these long days this year.  Some of the reasons were: to cut down on walks to and from school (especially during the cold months), to give the kids more opportunities to practice their language skills, and to better accommodate the fact that I take the bus everywhere (to provide more time to get to and from places while the kids are at school.)  Thus, here is their schedule from now on:

Monday 8-4

Tuesday 8-12:30

Wednesday 8-4

Thursday 8-12:30

Friday 8-4

When we picked them up at 4pm they seemed quite happy, and especially happy to see each other.  They said they had spaghetti and salad for lunch (and I'm inclined to believe them based on the state of James' clothes).  Daphne said the teacher explained a few key things to her in English (like how to win prizes?) and that she was very nice.

We're calling day one a success!

One more tidbit: Daphne's info packet contained a detailed list of required supplies, down to exact colors, sizes and brands (yes, just like the ones all parents complain about in the US.  But in French).  James just got a bill for supplies already bought for him by the teachers.

supplies to buy, page 1...

This task would be arduous and probably next to impossible for us, except for the fact that we'd read that if you just take the list to a local book shop they will find everything for you.  This was confirmed today by the mom we knew, so we headed into the city while the kids were in school and picked up nearly everything on the list.

She apparently needs 4 of these HUGE binders.  They must work 'em hard!

So, anyway, one day down.  We're still bracing ourselves for a tough few months ahead, but we're off to an optimistic start.

Our First Schueberfouer

3 Ts below the sign

Having now seen at least a half a dozen blog posts and Facebook albums documenting expat experiences at the annual Luxembourg "Schueberfouer," I can't help but feel as if I'm just copying someone else's photos and stories on this one.  On top of that, a carnival is a carnival and we've all been "there." Still, I suppose I must remember two things: 1) Most people reading this blog are our close friends and family, most of whom have actually never heard of Schueberfouer and will happily read on (thanks!). And, 2) The Ts do have their unique way of doing things.

So, I bring you Scheuberfouer 2012, Ts-style.

Ok, to begin with, we are not huge fans of being ripped off carnivals, a fact that this post from way back in 2008 and this one from 2009 both illustrate.

Yet, I felt determined that we were going to enjoy this carnival as a family and in our own way.  After all, it's right in our town, right on our bus route, and is solidly part of the Luxembourg experience. The Schueberfouer has been held here for 672 years straight (yeah, since 1340).

We didn't make a plan, per se, but this is what happened.  The fair lasts for 3 weeks, and we went 3 times on 3 different days during its run.  Each time, the kids got to choose one ride to go on, one time (you could buy "bulk" rides for less, but we didn't).  We also tried a different food each time.  Each visit lasted about an hour or so. We purposely avoided the half-price rides days, opting for less busy times instead.

In other words, we kept it very simple, low-key, and relatively inexpensive.  Shocking, I know.

When we first arrived at the fair we thought we'd all go on the ferris wheel together, but James decided he didn't want to at the last minute.  So, Daphne and Pete went together.

Meanwhile, James hopped on Route 66 solo

The next time Daph tried the swings, again with Pete.

I tried to talk James into going on the big ferris wheel with me, but he decided this one was much more his speed...

wee

The last day Daphne took a flying saucer...

And finally, James agreed to try the big ferris wheel with me!

of course, he loved it after all

view of the fair

and a bit of the city

 For food, we tried French...

crepes, naturally

German...

I finally figured out why the meat is always bulging out of the bun in Europe: the bread is really just a meat handle that happens to be edible.  It's only the meat that really "matters."  I get it now.

meat with handles

And last but not least, Luxembourgish...

think deep-fried garlic and herb mashed potato patties.  yum.

Although we're obviously not carnival connoisseurs, the main difference we observed in this carnival from any we'd been to in the U.S. was that there were a lot of young professional-types standing in groups blocking the pathways and drinking beer.  Clearly people had moved their typical after-work-meet-at-the-bar to stand-around-at-the-fair instead.  In addition to the typical food stands, there were maybe a dozen full-on restaurants set up in large tents where you'd need to make reservations to eat.  There were also lots of raffle stands with large electronics.  And a condom stand.  Hmm....what else...the carnies were yelling at us in German and French instead of English.  

We were never there after dark so I have no idea what happens then.  But we could hear faint screaming and smell cotton candy from our balcony at night.  That was actually kind of cool.

Annual Amazon Family Picnic

We attended our first Amazon picnic yesterday.  Great fun was had by all, as we were treated to beautiful weather and a lovely setting in the valley between the new and old Amazon buildings.  And...drum roll please...we met our very first fellow-fully-American-family that will be enrolling their kids in the Luxembourgish schools!  They are even from Oregon!  We are officially not alone!

Daphne went straight for the face painting

and art (button-making)

Both kids waited patiently for their first silly balloon creation since landing in Lux.  Big milestone, for sure.  Glad we got it over with, and for free.

sad balloon clown

happy balloon boy

We have discovered that at almost every festival or fair or outdoor event in Luxembourg, a set of quirky wooden games are laid out for the kids (and kids-at-heart).  Looks like Amazon has followed suit.  Here are a few examples:

mini mini golf

old-timey pinball

pretend you're a cat burgler thingy

bring the ball to the top without dropping it through the holes

puzzles

giant Connect Four

giant Connect Four suddenly got intensely competitive

That's Pete's boss.  I don't know who won and I don't want to.  All I know is that several rounds were played and neither of them smiled much.

First Haircuts in Lux

Returning to the "Forest"

This week I got to see where the kids went on their school field trip to the forest back in July, when a friend from church invited us on an outing to the Bambesch Woods.

Indeed, there was a large forest with what looked like some lovely hiking trails, plus a restaurant and sports complex.  And of course, the playground.

has sort of a rustic, pioneer feel 

several old-school see-saws = good problem-solving/science lesson

climbing fortress thing in the background 

rustic loungers

I think it would be nice to go back sometime with the whole family and actually hike.  I almost wonder if the annual school trip to the forest started out including a nature walk, but over the years they realized it was easier to just let the kids play all day.

Anyway, there you have it, THE Forest.