September 11th- the part to celebrate...

Happy Birthday, Mom!!

Thank you for being such a wonderful mother & grandmother.

Have a lovely time today- we miss you!

Delicious

Today's Lunch Option #2:  Liver & onions- that old favorite of children everywhere (luckily they also had the refreshing beverage option of green tea, to help wash it down)...

What Doesn't Kill Us

It seems that the kids in the school (at least the older ones) are put in a "homeroom" class based on the foreign language they've chosen.  That group of kids then has pretty much the same schedule through the day.  Our kids were given teachers based on which teacher would deal best with a non-czech-speaker in their class.  Nikolaj's class has both English & French- so he gets to take English (although he thinks he'd prefer French, as his English teacher keeps using him to illustrate various points or- more distressing- write things on the board).  Lily, on the other hand (being older) was put with a wonderful teacher (who, much to Miss Lily's displeasure) has a Spanish-tracked class- & 2nd-year Spanish at that.  What doesn't kill us makes us stronger...

The 2nd-graders in this school are ahead of our La Conner brethren.  Antonín likes to gaze off into space during school.  Antonín has a lot of homework.

Yesterday was another day with the Foreign Police- this time in the distant office for long-term residency.  This office is in a remote industrial district, & we were lucky that Zdenek had been there before, as the entire street has just one number (because it's all the same business- up until the foreign police).  We were not so lucky that we had already given my photos to the Other foreign police, as we were sent away to find a place to take some more- before we could even go in.  After the return trek & the inevitable wait, it seems we didn't need the photos afterall.

policing the foreigners

Another day, another morning killed at the foreign police.  This time, it appears that we're making a little progress & someone has finally taken the lead & decided how to progress with an expired long-term residency (rather than just send us willy-nilly to another part of Prague).  Tomorrow we head to, well, another part of Prague (just not willy-nilly) to a different office of the foreign police, hopefully now with the correct paperwork to enable me to, in time, be granted (once again) my long-term residency- rather than another two years of temporary as was threatened. So we'll see.

Today is the first day that the kids get a choice of hot lunch- there are three options that they put up on the school website (the girls in Lily's class told her that #1 is, virtually always, the option to go with)- & we knew that you were supposed to order a day ahead but when we tried to do it on-line (where we thought we were supposed to) we failed.  They are supposed to make these arrangments themselves, in person (& in advance- no judging by what actually looks good), to complicate things.  Of course.

Today after school they also have their first afternoon of Czech for foreigners- a 45 minute class once a week- & you'd think they were being sent to pick up trash at the train station with all of the kicking & screaming.

re: The House Dinner

It was very nice, pan Hatle (the owner) started off with a champagne (something akin to juice it was so sweet) toast & then proceded to grill many rich pork products.  The frittata was good- although not as delicious as we know it should be- not as creamy & considerably spicier. The people are very pleasant.  Our children behaved very nicely.  The (very ill-behaved) little boys from downstairs came late & got sent to bed early.  It didn't rain on us.  All in all, a nice evening.

so kool

Last night Lori & Dean had a little party at the Sokool pub in Riegrovy Sady, to celebrate Lori's birthday (Happy Birthday, Lori!).  We left the kids in charge of themselves,  at Lori & Dean's- which is right on the park & so just minutes away (how great is it that we all have cell phones now?).  They were thrilled to be trusted to stay there & with the pop/ chips & huge collection of English-language movies & tv shows on disk for their viewing pleasure (started out with a House, moved to Spinal Tap & had just started on Batman Begins when we came for them).  I thought we'd end up having to take a taxi,  but the night was warm & everyone was still awake & in good spirits, so we walked up & took the metro to Malostranksá & then the tram the rest of the way.

 This evening the owner of our villa has decided that we're having a "welcome" party & everyone should come: the owner; his son, Vladan & his wife, Jana & their three little boys; the Ukrainian couple-
Ferda & his wife- who live in the basement & help maintain the house; the Croatian couple who live below us & their (not altogether likable) young son & daughter; &, of course, us.  We are supposed to bring some main dish (from our homeland) & something sweet.  The difficult part of this assignment is that the ingredients are often very different & so I'm not exactly sure how things are going to turn out (& I can't even get started about the horrors of the little hot & uneven oven).  We decided on lemon bars (I made some yesterday for Lori, which turned out great, but the ones today are crumbly & not as delightful) &, that old standby, a frittata.  Cottage cheese is out- so I'm using tvaroh- a creamy curd product without any visible curds. Hmm.  No mild diced green chillies, so Zdenek found some long skinny feferonky in a jar that I diced up & tried to guess how many to add- they are rather spicy (so much for mild) & I didn't want to put in too many.  No Jack cheese & so I went for "white" which ended up being a mix of Eidam & some sort of Swiss-like cheese.  So,  soon I'll put it in the aforementioned, nightmarish oven & hope for the best. If all else fails, I'm sure there'll be some klobasa on the grill.

The Supply Demand

They need so many school supplies!  I'm sure we've never spent so much.  Perhaps it's specific to this school, but they need a lot of art supplies- tubes of paint, watercolors, brushes, palates, various pencils, crayons, pastels, assorted high-end papers etc etc etc (including the "kufřík"- a little cardboard suitcase- to keep them in) all of which is great (I'm so glad they take art seriously, but pricey.  This isn't even including the rest of it- specific pens/pencils, notebooks of varying sized, plastic covers for everything (including workbooks), assorted tools, nameplates for the desks, etc.  Antonín even needed a litle tablecloth & apron (for the art box).

It's Friday.  We have, almost, survived the first week.  Getting up early is hard (everything seems so much more foreboding in the dark) & getting eveyone fed/ dressed/ packed/ to the bus & delievered to their particular building will take some practice (patience).  Antonín walks as if he's tethered to an iron ball (which is what I feel like as I attempt to hurry him along).  The school seems great- the teachers very nice- & I believe that all will go swimmingly, eventually (well, when they're able to understand everything that's being said)...

pictures from the school

(the top pictures: the main building, grades 3-9)
(the bottom pictures: the building for grades 1 & 2)


Class Schedules 

The First Day of School (Czech Style)

We've done it- we've survived the introduction into the Czech school system- & it appears to have been a success.  Yeah!  Okay, so they've only spent two hours in their new schools, with their new classmates & their new teachers, but they came home relieved & somewhat pleased, so I'd have to say it's a good start (even if I'm forced to recognize that we have many {many} battles ahead).

Yesterday, things were not looking so good.  We stopped by the schools (found Antonin's) & met Zdenek's mother for lunch.  The children were all so miserable & ill-behaved that I didn't believe we'd survive the day, let alone the next one.  One of the catalysts for said atrocious behavior, at least for the older two (Antonin couldn't care less), was the knowlege that they were going to be required to wear some sort of slipper/ indoor shoe at school.  Yes, they have to change out of their "going-to-school" shoes & into "at-school" shoes, they will be, interestingly enough, kept at school.  I'm surprised that they were able to rise from their beds this morning, with the home-shoe horror that awaited them. (It did take a long game of Cities & Knights & some generous portions of Medovnk to decompress from our difficult day...)



 Antonin's building is almost ten minutes away (depending on which leaden weight one is dragging beside)  from the main school building- & every day they each get out at different times & we can't quite figure out what time is lunch & we know they will have Czech classes twice a week after school, but aren't quite sure how they'll all be doing it together if they all get out at different times. Hmm.  I assume we'll sort this puzzle out in time.  For now, I'm just thankful the first day went smoothly.


AND we now seem to have two quite viable options for our gym space (hopefully to be decided upon this week).

AND as of today Lily & Nikolaj both decided to relent; after school we stopped & they picked out their very own psuedo-Crocs-kept-at-school-slippers.