Middle School

Iam subbing in the middle school this week and I can emphatically state that middle schoolers are the same all over the world. Race, nationality, language, race, income, or opportunity don't really factor in much with this bunch.

I'll take elementary school any day.

International School

I have been subbing in the 6th Grade for the past few weeks and I have discovered a few striking differences between the International School and your basic American public school.
Here are a few examples:

• Maude and Charlie tease each other in French (not the class, the language).
• While researching refugee camps, Karl refers to experiences of his Grandfather in Gaza to illustrate the challenges.
• Stuffed red peppers and salmon fillets are served in the Elementary cafeteria.
• While brainstorming ideas for a persuasive writing topic, the kids come up with things like "Animal Rights," "Stop Global Warming,"and "Extending the School Day." I was expecting more on the lines of "Less Homework"and "More Recess."
• There is a high probability of having two, even three kids named Kazuki in one class.
• Kids go outside for recess in the rain.
• It is not unusual to see 1st graders dressed in Armani and Dior.
• The kids can spend the better part of an hour feverishly working in groups on one complex math problem and love every minute of it.
• Nerdy kids blend in really well.
• The school buses are not yellow and they have really nice cloth seats.
• We come to expect reports such as this: "As part of our ongoing initiative to reduce waste at ISB, we now have five wormeries set up in the ECC. Students in Kindergarten, Grades 1 and 2 look after the worms, feeding them leftover food and scraps. The compost produced by the worms is in turn used by the students to grow cress, which is then added when planting bulbs around campus... "
• Not everyone in the class can name a Disney movie.
• Geography is not an abstract concept.

Now, I am not saying that you can't find these things in the US, because I'm sure you can--especially in a private school. But some days the uniqueness of this experience just hits me. I can't wait to ask our kids in a few years what memories ISB holds for them. I can't quite decide if I want them to grasp the singular nature of it, or just remember it as a place where they were happy and learned more about the world.

Berlin Part 2?

I have to confess something...

I have lost Berlin. Not the experience or the memories or the fabulous wool shawl that I bought at the Christmas Market in Gendarmenmarkt (thanks Betty and Gordon!). Just the pictures. I have no idea where they are. I try to be marginally organized with my pictures, and I have to say that digital photography has changed my life in good ways. I no longer get angry at my kids for taking 25 closeups of Pokemon cards or a whole slew of pictures of the current episode of American Idol as we are watching it for example. And I create nice little files on the computer to store the pictures in rather than have them slide off the dining room table in reoccurring avalanches waiting to be scrapbooked (not going to happen). So I can't quite figure out what happened to Berlin. I know they are in there somewhere because we have Berlin Part 1. They should be in MyPictures/Brussels 2008/Christmas/Berlin, but strangely, there is no such place. I will keep looking.

I haven't given up on Christmas cards yet either... can I file for an extension?

New Year in Berlin

Our quest to see as much as possible of Europe continued post-Christmas with a week in the German capitol of Berlin. The drive was long but we had heat! (Long story, but happy ending for those of you familiar with the chilly details) One of David's colleagues offered us her apartment in the most incredible location--formerly East Berlin within walking distance of Museum Island and Alexanderplatz--we couldn't have asked for a better spot.

DAY ONE: Drive for 9 hours. This begs the question: When does the vacation really begin?
DAY TWO: Five hour walking tour of Berlin in sub-zero temperatures.In keeping with our tradition of mostly benign torture, we started the day with a forced march around the historically significant section of Berlin. It was cold, but we were prepared--I think the most prepared sported seven layers. Fortunately the enthusiasm levels increased as we progressed. Here are before and after pictures:Beginning of the tour (Notice the excitement on our faces...)
At the Berlin Wall (The Australian in the back really wanted to be part of our family)

We finished our tour at the Berlin Dom, a gigantic church just around the corner from our apartment. We actually didn't know at the time that we were just around the corner and ended up walking quite a distance in the opposite direction looking for lunch. Oh well...

We did finally find some fabulous bratwurst at the Christmas Market in Gendarmenmarkt. Great Square, great food!

DAY THREE: A Bit of a Mix-up followed by an Insane New Years Eve.So we had this fabulous suprise planned for today and we drove an hour outside Berlin to the fabulous suprise and we were suprised to find that they were holding a special New Years Eve event and it was not open to the general public. Fabulous suprise postponed until Day Four.We did get to see Berliners completely loose their Germanic reserve and go absolutely crazy. The fireworks started at about 4:30 pm and continuted pretty much non stop until about 5am. Even the big kids were a bit wide-eyed at the display.

Stay tuned for the rest of the story...

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Merry Christmas!

We had an absolutely blissfully lazy first week of break. We slept like teenagers (even those of us who aren't), watched countless Christmas special, baked lots of goodies--some of which made it to other people, and occasionally left the house. Wow, are we good at lazy. NATO closes the Monday before Christmas and doesn't open up again until well after New Years, so David was able to join in the general laziness guilt-free.

Here are some of our favorite things about Christmas:

No School
The general sense of happiness that comes with the season
Opening advent calendars
Making sugar cookies
Christmas Music
Danny Kay and Bing Crosby in blue feathers
Christmas lights
Eating homemade caramel
Nativity scenes
Shopping for those we love
Christmas Cards (Yeah, I know, you haven't seen one from us yet--sorry!)
The smell of Christmas trees
Rearranging Christmas ornaments
Visiting with family and friends
Playing games late at night
Reading Luke 2 on Christmas Eve
Christmas morning in new pajamas--Here we are in ours, plus our new Euro-scarves:

Happy New Year!

We hope yours is safe, healthy, and happy.
We hope ours is too.
XOXO

Matthew in the Spotlight

Matthew played a duet in the band concert last night. That may not seem remarkable to many of you, but here are a few things you need to know about Matthew: He hates to be in front of people--he has yet to sing with the primary for Mother's Day. He hates to get dressed up. He hates to be the center of attention, unless of course he is talking Pokemon Mystery Dungeon strategy. He is not big on collaboration. He is not much for extra effort.

Now, here are a few things you need to know about last night: He volunteered to play the duet. He wore a white shirt and a tie AND his shoes. He stood at the front of the stage. There were several hundred people in attendance. He played with another person. He bowed.

Wow, that is just about all I can say...wow. I wish I had had my camcorder.

PS: Matthew plays the baritone. He didn't mess up.

Thanksgiving

Happy Holidays! I have just completed what I hope is the busiest week of the year, and now have a few moments to catch up on recent events. Thanksgiving is the Passey family's favorite holiday. There are several key ingredients to a successful turkey day: No school, lots of food, and lots of people. Traditionally, the no school is a no brainer, but since Belgium is a special case, no school has become an issue. Only Americans and Canadians celebrate Thanksgiving--Belgians celebrate Beer. Consequently, school is in session on Thanksgiving day. Last year I made the kids go half day. What a colossal mistake. I ended up spending an hour of prime cooking time running all over Brussels collecting children. Lest you think I exaggerate here, Sarah had a special off campus service project at the Salvation Army home for "stinky, creepy old men" (her words, not mine) in downtown Brussels and I went around the same statue several times and the wrong way on at least two one-way streets trying to find her. This year I learned my lesson and we all slept in--Heaven. Part One--check.

Part Two--lots of food. That is not a problem. But I must discuss part three so you can truly appreciate part two.

Part Three--lots of people. At home in Texas, family fills this requirement. We haven't had any luck so far in importing relations for our Belgian Thanksgiving, so we have to resort to begging friends to eat with us. This year the begging paid off so here are the details of Part Three--lots of people combined with Part Two--lots of food. Robin and John Keesling with their two boys, Dallin and Pierce, brought three pies, sweet potatoes, and drinks. Alicia and Jean Paul Chausee with their two girls, Giselle and Valarie, brought a turkey, rolls, and three pies. Karen and Tim Forsyth and their son, David, brought green beans, flowers, and two pies. Ilene O'Dwyer and her daughter, Monica, brought brownies. And Reece and his girlfriend Magoscha who is Polish and had never experienced Thanksgiving, brought flowers and a very open mind. I made Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potato pie, Grandma Passey's Red Cabbage, Traditional Penrod Cranberry Jello, rolls, and three pies. For those of you math wizzes out there, that equals alot of dessert. Parts Two and Three--check.

The kids worked off their desserts watching movies (surprise, surprise) and we adults had great fun talking traditions, politics, and telling stories on our kids. After everyone left and the dishes were done, the kids declared the day a success. "Not quite the same as family, but pretty fun." High praise from a teenager.