It is morning and I am sitting here in the livingroom with lit candles and coffee in the midst of a giant mess and candywrappers all over, while the rest of the family is slowly waking up. Ulrik IS awake (he is usually up early during the weekends) and is skyping with one of his classmates from Denmark, but the rest of us need more time.
Det var halloween i går og det blev udnyttet til fulde af os alle sammen. Ulrik var godt nok den eneste, der måtte have udklædning på i skole, og han drog derfor afsted i sit steam punk gear inkl skjorten! Han har fundet genbrugstøj til sit kostume og kom bl.a. hjem med en hvid skjorte, der ved første blik ligner en helt almindelig hvid skjorte. MEN den er foret og helt vildt mærkelig at røre ved. Vi har en teori om, at det er sådan en skjorte der er blevet brugt at landmænd til at malke køer sådan en råkold søndag morgen, hvor han ikke kunne nå at skifte tøj inden han skulle i kirke. Eller måske er det bare fra en hotel portier, der har skullet stå ude på gaden om vinteren..... Vi ved det ikke, men Ulrik kunne som den eneste godt holde varmen i går.
It was halloween yesterday and we all took full advantage. Ulrik was however the only one allowed to wear a costume to school, and off he went in his steam punk gear including the shirt! He has found some secondhand clothes for his costume and came home with a white shirt, that just looks like any average white shirt. BUT it has several layers and is kind of weird to touch. We have a theory that it might have been used by a farmer for milking the cows on a cold Sunday morning, where he did not have time to change clothes before going to church. Or maybe its just a hotel portier, that needed to stay warm on the streets in the winter....... We don`t know, but Ulrik was the only one of us that did not freeze last night.
There was not any halloween stuff going on at Teresas school, but as it was end of quarter it was almost like right before summer break, so they got to watch movies and even had a lollipop. On Monday the new quarter starts and this means that she will have a new schedule and new classes. Unfortunately two of her favorite classes will no longer be available (performing arts and ceramics) and she is not too thrilled about Physical Health Education as a substitute.
Luca havde Pumpkin Math dag, hvor Kristian var med som frivillig. Ungerne estimerede vægt og omkreds på græskar inden de skar dem ud og bagte kage. De fik også at vide, at hvis skolelederen kom forbi og spurgte hvad de lavede, skulle de huske at svare "math". Det går jo ikke sådan at hygge sig uden akademisk formål!
Luca had Pumpkin Math day where Kristian volunteered. The kids estimated the weight and circumference of pumpkins before carving them out and bakin pumpkin bread. They were told to remember, that if the principle came by and asked what they were doing, they should remember to say "math". It is no good having fun in school without any academic purpose, right?
Trick or treat time her i Ann Arbor er mellem 17 og 20 (hurra for google) og da der var arrangeret en lille fest her i lejeforeningen kl 18, tænkte vi at vi hellere bare måtte komme i gang tidligt. Vi valgte at køre hen i et andet område, men det var lidt akavet at være de aller første ude, og ungerne var da også noget skeptiske, da der ikke var et øje på gaden ellers. Men de kom i gang og så gik det ellers over stok og sten (og visne blade og gravsteder og havenisser):
Trick or treat time here in Ann Arbor is between 5 and 8 PM (thanks google) and as there had been arranged a small party where we live at 6PM, we decided to better start out as early as possible. We choose to drive to another neighborhood, but it was a little akward being the absolutely first ones out, and the kids were kind of skeptic, as we did not see any other trick or treaters. But they got started and faced not only doorways and lawns but also fallen leaves, open tombs and garden trolls:
It was pretty cold. Actually it started snowing, so no-one got upset about only doing 40 minutes of candy collection - we were all frozen.
Vi kom op til vore "clubhouse" som de allerførste. Det er første gang de holder en fest her i Briar Cove, så de anede ikke hvor mange, der ville komme, men jeg tror de havde hygget sig med at købe halloween effekter og slik. Stort set alle andre, der mødte op er "expats" ligesom os og vi var en broget forsamling fra Iran, Tyskland, Brasilien og Filipinerne samt en flok temmelig højtråbende unger, der kun havde kigget ind i håb om at der faldt noget slik af. Der var den klassiske "pak hinanden ind i toiletpapir" konkurrence (som Teresa vandt i overlegen stil):
We arrived at the club house as the first guests. They have not had these parties at Briar Cove before, so they did not know how many people were going to show up, but I think they had a good time shopping for Halloween gear and candy. Almost everybody were expats like us and came from Iran, Germany, Brazil, and the Philipines. Also there was a rather load bunch of kids, who were only there because they hoped to get some candy. There was the classic "wrap eachother up in toiletpaper" contest (that Teresa won easily):
En pinata havde de også flottet sig med:
They also had a pinata:
There was even food, but it was not a big culinary experience (garlic bread and pasta marinara) and as we were going to Mrs Beechs haunted house later, we did not stick around.
Jeg har desværre ikke billeder fra huset, da det var ret mørkt og min telefon ikke ville makke ret med blitzen. Haven var SÅ flot lavet med hjemmemodellerede gargoyles med røg ud af munden, en creepy kirkegårdsindgangs portal og en overdækket gang af presenninger og edderkoppespind rundt om huset. Vi blev derfor MEGA skuffede da vi kom frem og Mr Beech sagde, at de desværre ikke lukkede flere igennem pga at det var mudret. ØV. Vi var på vej tilbage til bilen da vi helt uventet blev reddet af Mrs Beech, der kom forbi i mørket, straks spottede Luca og trak ungen med mens hun sagde til sin mand "This is one of MY students". Vi andre fik allernådigst lov til at følge med og det var altså godt lavet og ikke en oplevelse vi ville have været foruden (og fik jeg nævnt at Mrs Beech er så sej en lærer, at jeg næsten må knibe mig selv i armen over, at Luca har været så heldig at få netop hende?).
I do not have any pictures from her house, as it was rather dark and as my phone would not collaborate on flashing. The garden was amazing with home modelled gargoyles with steam coming out of their mouths, a creepy cemetary entrance and a covered tunnel made of tarps and spiderweb around the house. We were SO dissapointed when we arrived and Mr Beech said that it had gotten muddy, and they had chosen to close down for the evening. We were on the way back to the car, when we were unexpectedly saved by Mrs Beech who spotted Luca right away and dragged him off while saying to her husband "This is one of MY students". The rest of us were tolerated as well, and it was a really nicely done haunted house and not an experience we would have liked to miss out on (and did I mention that Mrs Beech is the coolest teacher EVER, and I almost do not understand how lucky Luca has been to get exactly her?).
Resten af aftenen blev brugt hjemme foran pejsen med slik spisning og hyggesnak. Selv Ulrik og Teresa, der nogle gange opfører sig som hund og kat, sad i samme sofa, delte slik og snakkede med hinanden. Og lige der gik det op for mig, hvor glade vores børn er lige nu, selvom de ikke har fundet sig venner de kan lave legeaftaler med endnu. Hvor er det skønt (og vigtigt at sætte pris på, når vi nogen gange stirrer os blinde på alt det vi IKKE har).
The rest of the evening was spent in front of the fireplace eating candy and chatting. Even Ulrik and Teresa, that sometimes behave like cat and dog were sitting in the same couch, sharing candy and chatting. And right there it dawned on me how happy our kids are right now, even though they do not yet have friends to go visit. It is really great (and also important to be grateful for when we sometimes focus too much on all the issues we have not solved yet).
Lige her til sidst får I lige Teresas kostume inkl neongrønne øjenvipper (og Ulrik - suk):
Here at the end is Teresa wearing both her costume AND her neongreen fake eyelashes (and Ulrik......):
Ingen kommentarer:
Send en kommentar