Panama City Beach Weekend

We spent last weekend in Panama City Beach, FL at Jason's sister's friends' beach house.  We had an absolutely fabulous time speed- and sailboating, swimming, collecting seashells, catching sand crabs, and just hanging out on the beach.  Here are some pics of the weekend:

Family picture on the deck overlooking the Gulf

View of the beach house from the water

Lainey going for a dipGoing crab catching on Sunday nightCaught a few, but no big ones like this dead one that we found on the beach and put on Chris's head while he slept!Building sandcastles...Lainey said "this is the biggest best sandbox ever!"

Taking the Hobie Cat outAidan helping Chris get the sails setAidan jumping off the speedboat-Cannonball!

Having a screaming good time with Aunt Missy^

Hands up like a roller coaster!!

We are meant for the boating life!

The whole crew at Bayou Joe's restaurant.  We drove the boat right up to the restaurant!

Captain Chris and First Mate Aidan.  Aidan got to talk on the walkie-talkie to ask for the drawbridge to be opened!

Lainey waiting for her ride after docking the boat

Breakfast on the deck with Mamaw

Thank you so much, Patti, Chris, and Missy for a fantastically fun weekend!!!

Tea Party

Tea Party Princess

While Jason took Aidan to see the Lions practice, Grandma, Aunt Toni, Delainey and I went to a Victorian tea room to have tea and lunch.  Lainey LOVES tea parties, so this was the best day ever for her. She had to wear her fanciest dress and even a crown in her hair.  We all had tea in our very own teapots and we shared a selection of tea sandwiches and scones.  Delainey loved the cucumber sandwiches sans crust and the scones with clotted cream.  She had such fun pouring the tea for us all and adding the sugar cubes.  What a perfect day for a tea party princess!

Grandma, Lainey and Mommy

Scones are yummy!

Mommy, Lainey, Aunt Toni, and Grandma

Return to the Homeland!

We are in the US seeing mostly everyone who follows this blog, so I haven't had much to type about!  But, just for getting a blog on the log here goes...


We left Frankfurt on July 13th, just the kids and me.   The flight was one minor problem after another: no kids meals for the kids (which I ordered months ago), broken reading lights (only in our row of seats), no children's movies that in my mind are actually appropriate for children under 12 to watch.  But, even so, the kids were fantastic on the flight.  Thankfully, I had a laptop to play a movie on and I brought lots of snacks and other activities.

We arrived mid-day into Detroit Metro.  Customs took forever, and me with no cell phone.  We had to use a pay phone to call my mom to pick us up!  Who has used a pay phone in the last 10 years??  Luckily, she lives near the airport, so she came to get us quickly.  First stop: TACO BELL!  We drove thru as soon as my mom and aunt picked us up from the airport, before going to their house.  YUM.  Nothing tastes as good as something you haven't had in 1 1/2 years!

After catching up and oodles of cuddles from kids to Grandma and Aunt Toni and back, we all crashed into bed around 9pm (3am Germany time!).  We all woke up, bright eyed and bushy tailed, at 4:30am Michigan time.  There was no going to sleep again.  So we woke my mom and aunt up and we all went out to breakfast as soon as the restaurants opened.  I then realized why I miss America: $2.99 for a full breakfast of eggs, bacon, hash browns, toast and unlimited coffee!  Last time we had breakfast out, I paid 26chf for less food and coffee at Bohemia!

Since the first day, we have been going, going, going!  We've hit waterparks, the Detroit Zoo, the Henry Ford Museum, Greenfield Village, and every shopping mall within an hours radius!  I've gotten to see lots of friends, which is SO nice.  You know friends are real friends when you haven't seen them in 18 months, but it feels like you never left.  I got to see the 2 newest Twilight movies too!!!  Plus, 2 others.  No reserving seats or anything.  Just walked up when I felt like it and bought tickets.  $5 tickets at that.  Refreshing.

Today, Jason finally arrives.  He should have been here by now, but my dear husband truly needs me.  Getting to the airport on time is a challenge, and he lost the game.  Luckily, he was able to get re-ticketed and will arrive in the D 10 hours later than planned.  Only instead of going direct Frankfurt to Detroit, he had to go Frankfurt to Warsaw (Poland) to Chicago to Detroit.  What a difference 5 minutes of tardiness makes.

The kids have adjusted to being back, although they definitely have some accents.  German, English, Swiss, we don't exactly know but people are commenting on how they talk!  They are also noticing things that are different here.  For example, it took Delainey 2 days to figure out how to flush toilets here!  She kept asking "where are the big and little buttons?". 

Next week we are off to Florida, so hopefully the oil hasn't spoiled Panama City!  We are loving our time with our family and friends here.  As Dorothy once said "there's no place like home!"

Copenhagen, Denmark

I just returned from a long weekend in Copenhagen.  I went there to attend a teaching conference but we managed to do some sightseeing as well.  Copenhagen is one of the prettiest cities I've ever seen.  It's relatively modern, but really clean and friendly.  The Nyhavn  (or New Harbor) area is stunning and has a slight New England-y feel.  The city is built around a system of canals, so one is never far from water.  Boats are everywhere and so are people.  I was amazed at how many people (and locals) were out at sidewalk cafes, wandering around, or just sitting on the edge of a dock in the early evening until late, late at night.  Denmark must also have the maximum 35 hour work weeks, because it seemed that no one was at work!  Even with all the people out,  I never felt crowded or like I was in a tourist-trap. 

Our conference ended by 4:30 each day, and then people set off to wander until late at night.  It was weird because with so many people out and about and it staying light so late, we'd look at our watch and be shocked that it was 11pm or midnight already!  The only negative thing I can say about Copenhagen is that it is EXPENSIVE.  Even more so than Zurich, which I find  hard to believe!  But, the local pay is really high I'm told and the quality of life looks pretty darn good. 

Enjoy the pics!

 

The Little Mermaid's sister at Tivoli Gardens.  The real statue is on vacation in Shanghai, but the sculptor's family have loaned their copy until she returns.  Too bad there was a stupid seagull on her head.  I waited 10 minutes for that bird to move!

Cute Tivoli sign

2 teachers from the kids' school in Zurich that were also at the conference.  Don't we look like a diversity poster for teachers at an International School??

Tivoli at night

Nyhavn

On the canal where the real Little Mermaid should be.

Popeye lives in Copenhagen!!!

Want to Pimp Your Latte??

If I knew then what I know now...

I would have applied for teaching jobs at International Schools right out of college!

I am spending this weekend in Copenhagen, Denmark to attend a teaching conference. The kids' school in Switzerland is sponsoring me and allowing me to say that I work for them, but since I don't I am paying for this conference (well, GM is covering the conference tuition), my flight, hotel, and an extra $75 to the state of MI to earn a few SBCEUs for attending. All the other participants are International School employees who have been sent here for training by their schools. The schools are paying for EVERYTHING for them. Flight, 3 nights hotel, conference costs, dinner expenses AND most schools pay the teachers $100 salary per day!

I remember the time I wanted to go to the MRA conference in Detroit and PCCS wanted me to not only pay for the conference, but even told me I'd have to pay the substitute teacher!

So far, from what I've seen at our kids' school and what I've learned at this conference so far, the grass really IS greener on the International side of the fence.

Even though this is a lot of money for way fewer SBCEUs than I had hoped for, I'm glad I'm here. Copenhagen is a great city, but I'm more interested in mingling with the teachers who work in these schools all around the world. When I finish this conference, I will have a certificate stating that I'm a trained Primary Years Program teacher in the International Baccelaureate Association. If I ever want to apply at an International School, this is a great way to boost my resume. Plus, I love hearing what wonderful things you can accomplish in schools where they have plenty of resources, where they value and pay for staff to attend meaningful professional development workshops, where class sizes are less than 20, and where teachers are well-compensated.

The teachers in my sessions are so enthusiastic and passionate. There isn't the usual moaning of "sure, that's a great idea, but who's going to buy that new curriculum material" or "great ideas, but that will be a little hard to implement when I have 30 students this year, 5 of whom are special needs" or "I'd love to go there on a field trip, but our district has cut back on bussing and we aren't allowed to go on field trips anymore".

No, these are people who work at schools who have supplies provided to them (instead of those of us who spend hundreds of our own dollars on school supplies every year). These teachers are respected professionals, who are treated like business people when traveling on business. They are given a professional development budget of over $2000 per year to use on conferences, classes, etc. to improve their teaching. They are full participants in designing curriculum at their schools according to IB guidelines. They are given collaboration time with their colleagues on a weekly basis for planning. They are not just teaching to the test and constantly dealing with behavior problems or filling out child study forms. They get to do the kind of teaching I was trained to do at MSU and have always wanted to do and tried to do.

Can you tell I'm a little bit jealous?

Yes, I'm sure there are down sides. IB teachers have to do much more in depth planning. They have longer report cards to write, and portfolios to create. But, it seems like they have so much more support than any public school offers. These schools are not all private, either. Many of the people I talked to today work in tuition-free schools (but in countries like Sweden and Denmark).

It sure seems like a good gig to me. I'm just going to sit and absorb now, but maybe later I'll look into a new career path.

Our New House

We are finally settled in enough for me to post some pics! We are really happy with the house and how it's working for us. The kids have the 3rd floor all to themselves. Their bedrooms, bathroom, and huge playroom are a hit and they don't mind being on a different floor from us.

We had to buy a few (okay, many) new pieces of furniture to fill up the house, since it's twice as big as our Swiss apartment and we couldn't get any of our other stuff that's in storage in MI. But, thanks to IKEA, I think we are in good shape. (too bad I have blisters from putting all the stuff together)

So, here's a tour of sorts of our new humble abode: View of the Taunus Hills from our living room window and balcony

Our bedroom, with balcony

Entry way hall to dining room and living room

Dining room

One half of living room, with balcony

Other half of living room with doorwall out to backyard

Kitchen. Good size, but lacking storage space. I like that it is a room of it's own, not open in middle of the main house.

Playroom. This half also has a great view through skylights. This will be where we put a futon, along with the TV and my scrapbooking table.

Other half of playroom. This room (and the views) are what sold us on this house!

Aidan's room. The bottom bunk is now in the guest room on the 1st floor (no pics of that, too boring-just a bed in a room right now)

Delainey's room. Both kids' rooms have the slanted wall on the one side and a skylight window because they are on the 3rd floor.

View of the backyard from deck. Aidan's soccer goals look good up there! Our yard is all treed and very private. It's funny to see how happy the kids are to have a yard again. I hooked up the hose last week and it was hours of entertainment for them!

View of house from up near soccer goals. We have 2 doorwalls, one from living room, one from dining room. The little window on the right is a half bath, and behind the tree further right is the kitchen window.

We got Lainey a (tiny) sandbox because she kept digging in the flowerbeds! It looks like we have a dog or a mole. Hopefully, this will keep her satisfied!

Besides the rooms I've taken pics of, we also have an office, 3 full baths, and a guest room. Plenty of room for visitors!