In the week before Christmas, A received a letter from a student in her grade at the school she will be attending. I was very excited and couldn't wait for her to read it (it was in "school English"). She was very nonchalant about it and seemed put out that I wanted to read it,or at least know what it said. She did write a response a couple days later, but other than knowing she included a picture of herself, she didn't reveal what she said in the letter. And I didn't push it. Must we endure this teenage - you can't make me enjoy this experience- attitude for the entire 5 months? I would LOVE to make a personal contact with someone who could help me ease into the social situation a little more. I got a bit of revenge, however when one of her friends was over and I asked if A had told her about the penpal. "That's so cool!" said the friend!! HA!
Just after Christmas, R received a letter as well, this time from the entire class she will be joining! Her response was much more enthusiastic and she talked about what the letter told her about her new class. It was written in simple English as well. The letter named their "English teacher", which must mean that they receive regular english instruction. Yea! Also included was a picture of the class. Very reassuring to see that they all seem to dress like kids around here, so there aren't any scrambles to find more appropriate clothing.
R took her letter and the picture to show her teacher after returning to school yesterday. Her teacher made a copy and I hope that there will be a classroom penpal exchange. She hasn't written her own reply yet, though.
A received a letter from another girl the same day as R. I didn't even bother asking a thing about it, though I am dying to know! Since she didn't share with her best friend, I am sure she won't mention a thing to her classmates or teachers. However, I did suggest to her teacher a month or more ago that it would be a fun project for the class to create a movie (they have been using that medium for a lot of research reporting lately) showing the life of an American Teen from the unique perspective of our unique school community. Her teacher was enthused with the idea! A, not so much.
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Monday, January 3, 2011
Bookends
Saturday afternoon we finally made our plane reservations to and from Germany! I feel like I now finally have some framework to hold our adventures - like bookends on either end. Now, if we could have housing arranged, I would feel like I have a shelf for my bookends and be able to fill in with the various chapters of our experiences in Germany.
We will take off from Columbus on Friday, February 25, making a connection in Chicago (not so good experiences there for me, so I will hope O'Hare redeems itself) to fly overnight to London, then a quick hop to Hamburg.
We were told that we can only be reimbursed for a flight leaving Germany, so we will plan to return from our summer vacation in the UK and Ireland to Hamburg. We leave Hamburg to return to the USA on August 1, this time through New York.
We will take off from Columbus on Friday, February 25, making a connection in Chicago (not so good experiences there for me, so I will hope O'Hare redeems itself) to fly overnight to London, then a quick hop to Hamburg.
We were told that we can only be reimbursed for a flight leaving Germany, so we will plan to return from our summer vacation in the UK and Ireland to Hamburg. We leave Hamburg to return to the USA on August 1, this time through New York.
8 weeks !
Whew! Made it through the very busy holiday season and finally completing my online landscape designing coursework and now I find myself looking at eight weeks to get this house in shape and myself and three kids packed for our five months absence.
There hasn't been much to do or blog about the past two months as the whole process of communicating and doing business with the folks at Leuphansa University has been agonizingly slow. First was the long wait for the official acceptance and contract which came at the end of November. Now we are working through them to find housing. It seems to take about a week between emails, which means they send us a bit of information about a particular flat they have located; we take a look at it and either get back to them with questions or request for another option; several days later we get a reply, often explaining that someone had been out of the office on a holiday or conference or that they are going to be out for the next week. And now it is the Christmas holiday. Noone, except perhaps shopkeepers, bakers, and clergy, works on the Christmas holiday in Germany.
We have had a couple potential locations, but one was too small (two bedroom) and the other had a third bedroom that was accessed from the outside! Both were furnished, but now we have moved on to looking for unfurnished. And by unfurnished, that could possibly mean NOTHING - no furniture, no appliances, and no light fixtures!
Just before Christmas, we were sent a listing of several rentals. We managed to figure out where they were in relation to the University and the girls' school -we would rather be near the school, so the girls won't have to manage public transportation on their own each day. We narrowed it down to about three listings and are really hoping that our first choice is still available: it is ideally located, is not too small, includes appliances, and does not have an outrageous "finder's fee". Each of them is listed as a "terrace" flat, which we haven't been able to figure out. A friend of mine thought it had something to do with the number of floors.
Well, tomorrow is the first "business" day after New Years. Do I dare hope that there will be some answers to our questions soon?
There hasn't been much to do or blog about the past two months as the whole process of communicating and doing business with the folks at Leuphansa University has been agonizingly slow. First was the long wait for the official acceptance and contract which came at the end of November. Now we are working through them to find housing. It seems to take about a week between emails, which means they send us a bit of information about a particular flat they have located; we take a look at it and either get back to them with questions or request for another option; several days later we get a reply, often explaining that someone had been out of the office on a holiday or conference or that they are going to be out for the next week. And now it is the Christmas holiday. Noone, except perhaps shopkeepers, bakers, and clergy, works on the Christmas holiday in Germany.
We have had a couple potential locations, but one was too small (two bedroom) and the other had a third bedroom that was accessed from the outside! Both were furnished, but now we have moved on to looking for unfurnished. And by unfurnished, that could possibly mean NOTHING - no furniture, no appliances, and no light fixtures!
Just before Christmas, we were sent a listing of several rentals. We managed to figure out where they were in relation to the University and the girls' school -we would rather be near the school, so the girls won't have to manage public transportation on their own each day. We narrowed it down to about three listings and are really hoping that our first choice is still available: it is ideally located, is not too small, includes appliances, and does not have an outrageous "finder's fee". Each of them is listed as a "terrace" flat, which we haven't been able to figure out. A friend of mine thought it had something to do with the number of floors.
Well, tomorrow is the first "business" day after New Years. Do I dare hope that there will be some answers to our questions soon?
Ladies and Gentlemen, start your calendars!
originally written December 3, 2010
So, now we have Tom's start date: March 1. We also received a reply about reimbursement for our travel and shipping expenses, so Tom and I pulled out the calendar to look at the time line and purchase airline tickets. But wait, we have another question before we proceed: if classes(at the University) don't start until April, what does the March 1 start date mean? Does he start a full work week on that day, or is he only expected to show his face for introductions and basic orientation? Dang, now we have to email another question and wait for a response. Will it be another week?
Okay, so what about the return ticket? We have tenatively decided that we will be taking two or three weeks after the girls and Tom are out of school (in July!) to tour Great Britain and Ireland. A is really interested in visiting Ireland, and since we are dragging her grudgingly to Germany, we feel this is something we can accommodate. Rosemary has expressed an interest in going to the British History Museum (I've been there!) to see the Rosetta stone, which she read about somewhere. So, we tried different combination of flights in and out of Hamburg, London, and Dublin and ending in Columbus. Surprisingly, flying home from Dublin was the best price. But wait, we need to check that we can be reimbursed for a flight leaving Europe from Ireland, rather than Germany......
Well, maybe it isn't quite time to start the calendars.
So, now we have Tom's start date: March 1. We also received a reply about reimbursement for our travel and shipping expenses, so Tom and I pulled out the calendar to look at the time line and purchase airline tickets. But wait, we have another question before we proceed: if classes(at the University) don't start until April, what does the March 1 start date mean? Does he start a full work week on that day, or is he only expected to show his face for introductions and basic orientation? Dang, now we have to email another question and wait for a response. Will it be another week?
Okay, so what about the return ticket? We have tenatively decided that we will be taking two or three weeks after the girls and Tom are out of school (in July!) to tour Great Britain and Ireland. A is really interested in visiting Ireland, and since we are dragging her grudgingly to Germany, we feel this is something we can accommodate. Rosemary has expressed an interest in going to the British History Museum (I've been there!) to see the Rosetta stone, which she read about somewhere. So, we tried different combination of flights in and out of Hamburg, London, and Dublin and ending in Columbus. Surprisingly, flying home from Dublin was the best price. But wait, we need to check that we can be reimbursed for a flight leaving Europe from Ireland, rather than Germany......
Well, maybe it isn't quite time to start the calendars.
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