Moving On

I appear to have survived the first whole day without Bruce. While we weren't a full 30 minutes early for school, we did arrive in time to see the junior gate open ten minutes before the register (something like that, they don't say attendance). I took a couple of pictures the first day of school of the scene. It looked like we were the first ones to arrive that day, except for some mysterious voices that I eventually figured out were coming from the tree in the first picture. The junior gate is just 10 or 15 feet to the left of the tree (the pic is looking back at the path we walked on to get there). The whole property is fenced and the two gates are unlocked just 10 minutes before school starts. The junior gate is closer to our house, and also closer to the junior playground (year 3 to year 6) as opposed to the infant (reception to year 2) playground. And under a tree across the street I saw one of the red mail bikes delivering the royal post, so I snapped a picture of that too.

Tonight the kids were comparing classroom experiences just before going to bed. Apparently they all have house point like in Harry Potter, which I don't know anything about. They tried to explain the system. When your schoolwork is returned it might have a certain number of house points on it, if you've done something helpful or well you receive house points, and somehow the kids are grouped into groups with names of gems, emerald being the lowest, ruby, and others. Something I will learn about.

Apparently they also have name tags on a board which are put into a dark cloud if they have misbehaved, and come back out when they've redeemed themselves somehow. Sophia was concerned because she was working in a group, and the other members of the group were caught writing on their hands and were all put into the dark cloud. But she doesn't have a name tag yet, so she doesn't know if she's in the cloud with them or not. She did not write on her hand, she was just reading. I told her I didn't think she was.

Last night Olivia was writing a letter, so far she has written by far the most letters (maybe 4). It's great because she isn't bothered by correct spelling. She understands that at her age, the most important thing is to sound it out and to try to represent all of the sounds with letters, so she just sits down and goes. So I had to be very careful not to laugh when she sat at her paper pen in hand slowly sounding out c a l l a p i t t e r. Very cute. She seals the envelope before I get a chance to read them, I feel like I'm missing out. I wonder how much the readers understand, but I guess it's not the point really.

Miranda walked home with a very nice girl named Grace, and her mother and siblings for her first English playdate. It turns out they live about three blocks from us on an even quieter street, so it was a nice discovery. Her mother met with a real estate agent today to put their house on the market, the same day her youngest (toddler soon to be three) had her first day of playgroup (preschool) for two whole hours. I remember those days. Miranda is always practicing her English, no matter who she's talking to. I'm actually getting used to it. And she brings home good tips from school, like "anyone who says what instead of pardon apparently didn't learn their manners in first year." Good to know.


Mantle with Pictures of Paul in the Living Room. Olivia does her homework on the big round coffee table directly in front of it.

I spent the entire morning running errands on foot with an American mother who arrived here with her now 9 year-old twin boys on Sunday (their birthday?). Somehow the whole family already owns bikes. Her husband is a theoretical chemist, I think, at the U of Texas in Houston doing research at Cambridge until xmas. I showed her the department stores, we stopped by tourist information (TI), we had tea, I got batteries for four of the clocks, all showing very different times (dangerous when getting ready for school), and a logitech webcam. We'll see if I can figure that out tomorrow. We also went to about five bike shops, the last two of which were by far the greatest. One has new cruiser bikes for about 25% more than the ones they literally find on the street and "overhaul" and "guarantee" for 3 - 6 months. I've yet to ride one that would successfully stop or shift gears, so I'm not sure what they are guaranteeing. The other has used bikes that actually look like bikes, and at least one at a reasonable price. So tomorrow I may have wheels with a basket. It will be like being a teenager again with the whole city of Seattle in my reach.

Got my new glasses in the mail this weekend, but that's a story in itself. Had to pay 25 pounds customs, that's 50 bucks. Maybe they'll show up in a picture. Sophia says they make me look 38.