Hectic

Den her weekend er godt nok tiltrængt efter en uge, hvor hver eneste aften har været et logistisk puslespil af “hvem gør hvad med hvilke børn”. Skolen og I særdeleshed sports sæsonen er skudt I gang igen, så Teresa skal hentes I bil hver eftermiddag kl 17, og det skal vi også lige have vænnet os til.

Mit kørekort (eller mangel på samme) fylder temmelig meget, men det har hjulpet gevaldigt at jeg nu kan hente timer hjem ved at køre Kristian og ungerne rundt. Fx kørte jeg op til Teresas skole torsdag aften og videre ud til en sportsbutik I den anden ende af byen og så hjem. Jeg har dog stadigt et gevaldigt hængeparti med parallel parkering og jeg har kapituleret og købt mig til et par køretimer for at få det lært ordentligt. Tendensen ser ud til at være at Kristians og mit forhold vil lide irreversibel skade, hvis han skal prøve at lære mig den slags……….. (og nej, det behøver vi ikke gå mere I detaljer med!).

This weekend is highly needed after a week where every night has been a logistical puzzle of "who does what with which children." School, and in particular sports season, is on once again and Teresa needs to be picked up by car every afternoon at 5, something we need to adjust to.

My driver's license (or lack thereof) takes up a lot of practice time as well, but it has helped tremendously that I can now get my hours in by driving Kristian and kids around. For example, I drove to Teresa’s School Thursday evening and out to a sports store at the other end of town afterwards before heading home. I still need to improve dramatically on my parallel parking though (she said as the first woman ever ;-) and I have capitulated and bought a couple of hours of instructed driving to get the hang of it properly. The trend seems to be to that Kristian's and my relationship will suffer irreversible damage if he should try to teach me this skill ........... (and no, we do not need to elaborate on that!)

Tirsdag aften var der sværd på programmet. Vi har prøvet at finde en fritidsaktivitet til Ulle som både han og resten af familien kan holde ud. Vores oprindelige plan var at smide ham på high schoolens ro-hold, da vi havde hørt at det var super godt. Det er sikkert rigtig nok, men eet kig på trænings skemaet var nok til at overbevise mig om, at det aldrig ville fungere. Træning efter skole et helt andet sted (hvor man selv skal sørge for transport derhen også) hver eftermiddag + stævner stort set hver weekend her I sensommeren a la “vi mødes på p-pladsen foran skolen kl 5 om morgenen og er hjemme igen sent om aftenen”. Tak, men nej tak. Han har snakket meget om at gå til fægtning og det viser sig at der ligger en sværdklub næsten lige rundt om hjørnet. Der er begynder hold med fægtning hver tirsdag aften I en time og derefter er der “fri leg” for sværd nørder I alle alder. Det var en stor success og for første gang I alt for lang tid, var Ulrik ikke til at hive hjem.

Tuesday night was all about swords. We have tried to find an activity for Ulrik which both he and the rest of the family can keep up with. Our original plan was to throw him on the high school rowing team, as we had heard that it was a super team. It is certainly true, but one look at the practice schedule was enough to convince me that it would never work. Practice after school somewhere else (where you have to arrange for transportation to get there) every afternoon + meetups almost every weekend here in late summer a la "we meet at the parking area in front of the school at 5 in the morning and get home late evening ". Thanks, but no thanks. He talked a lot about trying fencing and it turns out that there is a sword club almost just around the corner. There are beginner classes with fencing every Tuesday evening for an hour and then there is a "free play" session of sword fighting until 10PM with sword geeks in all age. It was a great success and for the first time in way too long, we had Ulrik begging to stay, because he had so much fun.

Onsdag var der såkaldt “capsule night” på high schoolen. Konceptet er, at forældrene får lov til at følge I deres børns fodspor for en aften, med præcis samme skema og endeløs vandren ad lange gange. Ulrik virker noget mindre stresset I år og efter at have mødt hans lærere kan jeg godt forstå det. Han har “engineering” som valgfag I første time hver dag, og det lader til at være en legeplads af problemløsning, hvor de får lov at bakse med alle aspekter af at løse en praktisk opgave. Hans engelsk undervisning foregår I det hyggeligste klasselokale, jeg nogensinde har set, hvor alle vægge er plastret til I reoler med bøger og plakater, hvor der er sofaer til fri afbenyttelse og hvor læreren fik alle forældre til at tabe underkæben, da han brød ud I en solid omgang poetry slam. Hans vision er, at alle hans elever skal lære at at elske at læse (han er selv forfatter) og en del af pensum er, at de skal deltage I 3 litteratur relaterede begivenheder I løbet af året. Det er da engagement på højt plan! Der er tysklæreren som man dårligt kan høre er amerikaner, den søde søde historie lærer, der har været på skolen I 30 år. Og nå ja, den noget livstrætte algebra lærer, der måske skulle overveje at gå på pension. Just saying…….

Wednesday was "capsule night" at the high school. The concept is that parents are allowed to follow in their children's footsteps for a night, with exactly the same classes and endless wandering up and down long hallways. Ulrik seems somewhat less stressed out this year and after meeting his teachers it makes sense. He has "engineering" as an elective course in the first hour each day, and it seems to be a playground for problem solving, where they are allowed to wrestle with all aspects of solving a practical task. His English Language Arts lessons take place in the friendliest classroom I have ever seen, where all the walls are covered in shelves with books and posters, where there are sofas, and where the teacher made all the parents drop their jaws when he broke out into a solid Poetry Slam poem. His vision is that all of his students should learn to love reading (he is also an author) and a part of the curriculum is that they must participate in three literature-related events during the year. That's what I call a motivated teacher! There is the German teacher you can hardly tell is American, the most emphatic history teacher who has been at the school for 30 years. And well, the somewhat weary algebra teacher who might consider retiring. Just saying .......

Torsdag aften var det Teresas skoles tur. Hun har fået en advisory lærer (kan sammenlignes med en klasselærer, men grupperne af børn og lærer skifter hvert år) hun var lidt bange for. Der var vist noget med en episode hvor Teresa havde forsøgt sig med liiiige at klemme sig igennem en dør samtidigt med hende, og det var IKKE gået så godt! Ja, hun er en skrap afroamerikansk dame, men det lyser ud af hende, at hun brænder for børnene (og for amerikansk historie). Hun har været med på den obligatoriske 8’th grade tur til Washington DC I 18 år I streg og når ungerne spørger hende, om hun ikke bliver træt af at gøre det igen og igen er svaret “men det er jo nye børn hver gang, og jeg ser det gennem deres øjne”. Der er den alt for flinke tysklærer, der troligt fodrer dem alle samme med Haribo vingummibamser og tager dem med til tysk julemarked I Chicago. Og så er der den temmeligt kontante og lidt skræmmende idræts lærer, der sørger for, at karakteren afspejler viljen til at prøve frem for talentet (eller mangel på samme). Igen og igen oplever vi at skolesystemet her I byen overgår vores forventninger og det kan mærkes på alles trivsel

On Thursday night it was time for Teresa's school. She has got an advisory teacher (comparable to a teacher, but the groups of children and teacher changes every year) she was a little afraid of to begin with. Something with an episode where Teresa had tried to squeeze through a door at the same time as her, and that did NOT go well! Yes, she's a tough African-American lady, but it is obvious that she is passionate about kids (and American history). She has been going on the mandatory 8'th grade trip to Washington DC for 18 years in a row and when the kids ask her if she doesn’t get tired of doing it over and over her reply is "but it's new children every time, and I see it through their eyes". There is the far too sweet German teacher who feeds them all Haribo Gummy Bears and takes them to the German Christmas market in Chicago. And then there's the rather strict and a little scary sports teacher who ensures that the grade reflects the willingness to try rather than talent (or lack thereof). Again and again we see that the school system here in Ann Arbor has exceeded our expectations and it is highly affecting everybody’s wellbeing in a good way.

Fredag var det Luca’s fødselsdag og selvom det var 10 år denne gang, kunne han dårligt være I sin krop af begejstring og stod da osse MEGA tidligt op og kom nærmest grædefærdig ind og vækkede os, da han var sikker på at vi havde glemt alt om det. Men fødselsdage her I huset starter altså ikke før EFTER kl 6,så I stedet fodrede han hund, klarede morgenluftetjansen og smuttede I seng igen så vi kunne “overraske” ham kl lidt over 6 med sang og gaver. Den slags bliver kun hyggeligere, når man tilsætter begejstret hund I sengen og kan komme hjem fra skole og bruge tiden på at bygge lego I stedet for at lave lektier, OG når man selv kan vælge dessert (bemærk lysene med farvede flammer).

Friday was Luca's birthday and even though it was 10 years this time, he could hardly contain the excitement and got up VERY early being almost tears as he was sure that we had forgotten all about it. But birthdays in this house do not start until AFTER 6AM, so instead he fed the dog, walked him and slipped back to bed so that we could "surprise" him a little later with singing and gifts. This whole thing only gets better when you throw an enthusiastic dog into the mix and when you can come home from school in the afternoon and build lego Instead of doing homework, AND when you can choose dessert (note the candles with colored flames).

Lørdag ser ud til at blive en våd omgang, og selvom Lucas største fødselsdagsønske var en campingtur kun for ham og hans far op til Mackinac Island, så var det vist et meget godt valg at aflyse fremfor at tilbringe en nat I telt I tordenvejr og derefter stå op til silende regn. 

Her til sidst får i lige et billede med af årets jordbær høst. Jow jow, vi har skam grønne fingre!

Saturday seems to be a wet day, and even though Lucas biggest birthday wish was a camping trip just for him and his Dad up to Mackinac Island, it seems to be wise choice to cancel rather than spend a night in a tent during a thunderstorm and then get up to pouring rain. 

Last but not least is a picture of our strawberry harvest this year. Very impressive.......