My first week with the kids

This week was tiring! I have a fourth grade homeroom class, that I teach English and Social studies to. I have a 3rd grade class that I teach English and social studies to, and anothe third grade class that I teach math to.

My classroom management with my fourth grade class has been rather easy, and I'm enjoying it. The same for the third grade class that I'm teaching English and Social studies to. The entire math situation is frustrating. It's a class I otherwise don't know, and a subject I'm not entirely comfortable with, plus we're supposed to be starting in the middle of the book. I've asked to not teach math, and stick to my contracted English and Social studies, or to switch to second grade, because then, while I would have to teach all subjects, I would only have one classroom to manage.

I've been told my director is working on it, and I'm hoping to a resolution next week.

This weekend

This weekend is Aubrey's last weekend with us until Spring, so we did a couple special events.

First, On Saturday we went to a Knight Joust/tournament at a castle called SchlossBurg. This castle was much more Chris' idea of a "Castle" than the pepto pink mansion in Dusseldorf.

Up the hill from the castle, the knight games and market were fun. The tournament told the story of SchlossBurg, and how it overcame some opponents. There were a couple of fights in which they "fought to the death" and this concerned Keira. She kept asking "Is he ok??" So I reassured her quite a lot that this was just a play, no one was really hurt.

After the tournament, we visited the market, and the kids got to ride a "medieval" carousel. There was no power, so it was pushed by two running men. The kids loved it.

At the market, we lso got a few trinkets for the kids. Keira got a pointy pink princess hat, brady a small wooden sword with sheath, and Aubrey a leather braided bracelet. Chris and I bought a metal toy meant for relaxation (It shifts shapes, and manipulating it is supposed to help relax you).

By the end of the day, all were tired. In fact, Brady and Keira fell asleep on the way home and slept through the night. (We fed them dinner before leavingfor the hour car ride home).

My class

School officially starts today. The past two weeks have been orientation, department meetings and room preparations. I got a set of mis matched tables and chairs for now. The really tables and chairs will come sometime in September from the manufacturer.

I have a pretty big class, 23 students. It's a pretty fair mixture of boys and girls, and they are between 8-10 years old, depending on their english ability. I met a few students and parents at open house, and they all seemed lovely.

I'm very excited to get a package of school supplies from my wonderful mom, so I can better decorate the room! I should be getting that this week.

I'll post pictures of the room after I decorate the walls a bit more.

Pictures of our Temporary housing.

This is Chris's and my new room, complete with bed (that looks quite similar to the one we're shipping!) TV, and cozy corner chair. The view out the window overlooks a gorgeous garden.

This is the dresser, and multiple fun lamps in the kids room.

Here is the creative bunk bed Julia and Dirk made for Keira and Aubrey. It's short enough that Keira can safely climb to and sleep on top!

This shows Brady's part of the room, and the table where they can color or have tea parties. There is also a box with wooden train set under the table here, which is now put together in the middle of the room.


Julia has provided us with a lovely accomodation. While I look forward to a full house, I almost can't even fathom leaving this one!

Week One

I have (un)officially been working for a week. Unofficially because I'm waiting on my work permit. Still, I've been attending meetings and orientation, with full expectations of work permit coming through. This week, the work days are short (9-3) but I'm commuting with Julia, so I'm there as though it were a normal day, from 8-5:30.

I've been contracted to teach English and Social Studies from 3-6 grades. Yesterday I found out they are still looking for a 2nd grade teacher, and offered to move if it would be easier to find an English teacher. The head of school is interviewing this weekend, and I'll hopefully find out her decision next week.

My coworkers and colleagues seem very nice. I've made quick friends with the school librarian, and the other new 2nd grade teacher. They are living in Neuss, within biking distance from the school, and their happiness there is making me consider moving into the city.

On that note, we are considering where we will live once we leave our cushy, temporary place with Julia. It's more expensive in the city, but we'll be in biking distance to work and really close to parks and nightlife. Unfortunately, we wouldn't have a garden for Spirit, our dog, and our kids to run around in. We have found a less expensive 3 bedroom house to rent here in Wegberg, and emailed the owner. He is on vacation for a couple of weeks, so we're hoping to speak with him at the end of August, perhaps for an October 1 move in date.

The kids are adjusting well. One the weekend, we went to a large swimming hall that had about 7 pools. We stayed mainly in the toddler pool, the water slide, and the warm "variobad". "Vario" meaning the floor was adjustable for different depths, to host events. We really tired the kids out, and they had a lot of fun.

We also live up the street from an indoor place area, that is family friendly and pretty affordable. Chris took the kids for a long walk and found a couple playgrounds, so they are all getting to know the neighborhood.

Aubrey met two girls while playing outside the other day, and looks forward to some playtime each day with them. They are 9 and 10, and are trying very hard to communicate with Aubrey. It is very reminiscent of when I was six, and met Julia. I've suggested that when they are playing, Aubrey should same the name of things in English, and the girls shouls then say it in German, so they learn from each other. This seems to be working well.

We plan to visit a kindergarten today, to see if we can afford to take Keira and Brady there while I work, and if Chris gets a job. I think I might also run by Ikea for a small toybox to keep downstairs.

There is a castle, Schlossburg, nearby that is holding a medieval jousting tournament this and next weekend. We're hoping to make it there for that experience. This castle is much more "castle like" than Schloss Benrath (The pink palace) we visited last year.

That's all of our current news I think, I'll update again sometime next week.

We have officially relocated

Well, we are here! I mean there! I mean... in Germany!
It was a crazy couple of days leading up to our flights. We managed to get our car shipped, and other important things taken care of. My family and friends helped us. Our parents went with us to the airport, where we checked in and had a nice dinner. Then we made the long trek to our gate, with many carryons in hand.

The rows on the plane were quite small, but we did have a row to ourselves, so that was nice. The kids slept pretty much from takeoff until we woke them for breakfast right before landing in Frankfurt. Then we connected to our flight to Duesseldorf, which was only about 30 minutes.

Our friend Julia met us at the airport, and helped carry our bags to her house. She had set up two beautiful rooms for us, which I will post pics of.

Yesterday we went shopping, to get some things we needed but didn't bring. (I thought we brought EVERYTHING!) Now I just have to practice driving stickshift, which Chris will help me with tomorrow.. and the next day.. and the next.

So far, so good.

In two days...

In two days, we'll be on our plane to Germany! We've been working feverishly to get everything ready.



I took a fantastic, interesting class on the IB PYP. I was in class all day from Sunday to Thursday. I met some very intelligent and articulate people, whom I hope to work with later in life.