Laowai

School has started. 

Brian and I spent a lot of time anticipating how Bea would adapt to school. She liked school in Switzerland and she got a lot out of it, but she had some big issues. So I worried and worried and worried some more. 

So far it’s been going really well and we are encouraged. Aaaaah – big sigh of relief.

She has been really chatty at times. Spilling lots of information about what her class did that day. Everything is super new to her. She thinks it’s odd that they don’t change into slippers when they arrive at school. She can’t understand why the kids – even the big ones – don’t walk to school by themselves. Staying at school for lunch is a new concept. No orange vest? – why she asks.

The school is nice. One of the first grade rooms has a fireplace. It has old charm and also seems completely up-to-date for our modern kids. We got to take a tour last week – it has some beautiful old murals in the auditorium. They must be around 75 years old – I’d like a closer look.

She’s made friends with the boys on either side of our house and they go freely to each other’s houses. To suddenly find a neighbor kid in your house when you come down the stairs with a basket of laundry – just what I wished for.

For me it seems really odd that it’s just Claire and I eating lunch. It snuck up on me – the fact that our hours on end, togetherness, days spent at home are over. It makes me think back to when Bea was little and we spent our days around here doing whatever we pleased – walking around at a toddler’s pace – it looks so rosey when I look back. And soon Claire will start preschool – two mornings a week. Then I will have to get serious about some projects around here.

I’m missing the beauty of Switzerland – I miss zoning out on the train while I look out at the scenery wizzing by. None of the ugly busy strip mall sprall that we have all around us here. I’m often annoyed at having to drive somewhere to do an errand. I shouldn’t be annoyed because in Switzerland I probably wouldn’t even be able to get the item that I’m going out to get. I just hate the parking lots and the hotness of the car and all the car seat buckling. I know this is silly stuff to complain about, but it’s the little things that all together make up a day and when I have to heft Claire into her car seat and fiddle with everyone’s buckles more than two or three times a day I start to get grumpy. I seriously miss the chocoalate. I want something sweet after I put the kids to bed and I plunk down on the couch. I miss going to our chocolate cupboard and breaking off a couple squares of something sweet and dark and nutty. It’s just not as available here. Even the smallish grocery stores over there have a chocolate aisle with so many bars of great quality chocolate lined up so neatly.  And one more thing. Americans are sorta loud – maybe I’m guilty of being loud too. But I notice it when I pick Bea up at school and it’s a little overwhelming – all the moms chatting and yelling out to their kids. Maybe the fact that I can understand what they are saying makes it harder to ignore – it’s just different.

Here’s a poor picture of the little back-to school party that we had on Monday. I’m still hoping to get a photo of Bea on her way to school – between the rush of getting out the door and Bea not being in a picture mood it just hasn’t happened.

I still feel a little like I’m waiting for something – I’m not sure what. Maybe just a feeling of being settled. Maybe waiting for the house to feel like our house with our memories.

I do think I need to get back in the habit of taking photos of my lovely daughters. I’m aware – when Claire holds my hand – that these things don’t last forever. We may not have the alps to gaze upon when I look out the window, but my neighborhood is beautiful and I should take notice. The sweetness and newness – I should remember it all.