Whew! Did we really make it to the first day of school?! YES! Cooper and Adalyn began their first day of school today at Vienna Billingual School.
(If you only knew the stressful journey of limbo it took to get to the first day of school - it may mean more to you. Perhaps I will post a brief recap later, if you're interested.)
Adalyn is in the second grade class and has two wonderful teachers - Elizabeth and Anna. Elizabeth is her main German speaking teacher (who also speaks very good English), and Anna is her native English speaking teacher (who also speaks German). The students call their teachers by their first names here. They are all very nice and seem genuinely excited for Addie to be joining their class. Addie was a bit nervous but also very excited. Adlayn is made for school. She is excited to meet new friends and learn new things.
Cooper, is in the third grade class. His German teacher is Vera, and his English teacher is Christina - both very nice as well. Even though Cooper has already completed third grade in the States, after talking to several of the VBS directors, we all agreed it would be better for Cooper to have an extra year of German language exposure before heading into fourth grade. In fourth grade here, students are expected to know German well enough to pass the entrance exams into middle school, which begins in the fifth grade. Cooper has a late summer birthday anyway and has always hated being the youngest in his class. He was thrilled when he found out he'll be one of the oldest in the class now! I am just relieved that I will get two years of having Addie and Cooper at the same school instead of just one. Once middle school hits - transportation will surely be a doozie.
The school they are attending is called the Astrid Lindgren Schule, named after the author of Pipi Longstocking. The school is known for its focus on creative and artistic learning, which I love. There is artwork of Pipi Longstocking in various places around the school. The kids found this backdrop - and everyone wanted a turn...
They school day today only lasted one hour. The parents were invited to leave, but we didn't have quite enough time to even get home before we'd have to turn around and head back, so the boys and I went outside, in the rain, and found soemthing to do. We hopped on a tram rode a few stops, hoppped off, found a bakery, grabbed a snack, hopped back on a tram and went back to the school. Easy enough, right? Except did I mention the fact that it was pouring rain the whole time? I quickly realized that it is impossible to properly hold an umbrella while trying to manage two small boys through the crowds of busy streets, across crosswalks, and on and off crowded tram cars. Our little one hour adventure ended up in being a very wet, very chaotic mess - but we did manage to get a snack out of the whole thing, so I suppose it wasn't a complete failure.
Back at the school, we waited for Cooper and Addie to come downstairs after class was over. I met a nice couple who are the parents of a boy in Cooper's class. They were very nice and helpful in explaining some of the unique culture differences of the "first day of school" here. Like, for example, the giant cardboard cones that many of the kids were carrying. At first glance I thought they were boquets of flowers or gifts for the teachers, and winced that we didn't have any. But come to find out, they are actually cones called Schultüte full of candy and gifts that parents give to their children on the first day of school. The kids all bring them to school to show off to each other, I suppose. The bigger, the better - ya know. My kids didn't have any, obviously. I'm sure that won't be the only parent fail of the year.
Cooper and Addie both had positive things to say about their classes. Cooper said he didn't understand much at first, (for obvious reasons), but after his English teacher started helping him, he got it okay. Addie said that her class spent most of the time reading and telling stories. That's a good use of an hour, I'd say.
Overall, I'm very happy with the school thus far, and I think the kids are too. There are some major differences - good, and... well, just different, that I'll talk about later. But for now, we're just happy that the kids have a good school to go to, nice teachers, and a class full of friends-in-the-making. Some wonderful answers to many, many prayers, and all in perfect time, too.
