School

Today was a special day for the kids: they were able to spend two hours in school this morning, getting to know their new classmates and teachers. Quite exciting.

The morning started pretty slow. After a week of sleeping in (mostly due to jet-lag) it was not easy to get up before 8:00h. Especially Luka was struggeling to roll out from under her comfy bedsheets. Or maybe it was nerves…

But in the end she got there and we made it on time to school. Rolling down-hill on their scooters, with their brand new helmets on, our two almost look like locals (except for the school uniforms).

After parking their vehicles it was off to the front office, where we were picked up by one of the assistant school principals and led to the classrooms. Luka went in first, then Kai.

Leaving them behind was pretty hard on Willemijn. It’s not easy letting them go, knowing that they don’t speak the language and must feel pretty anxious. But this is what we have chosen to do and at some point they’ll have to make the jump into the deep end.

And we were proven right. When we picked them up two and a half hours later, they were in high spirits. Seems that the students were extra nice, the teachers understanding and playtime in recess a lot of fun. Kai – of course – immediately found a group of boys playing soccer, and Luka found a few girlfriends to play with. Both had big smiles on their faces. Everything will be all right.

Except for the choice of clothing, of course. So in the afternoon it was off to the local school uniform store to deck them out in their greenery.

We spent a good hour in the store, and the kids were really going to town. Checking out this shirt and these pants. As this is something new to them (no school uniforms in the Netherlands…), we were not sure how they would take it. But having seen all the other kids in school wear them, they were eager to blend in.

And good, too, as this stuff is expensive! We’ll have to see whether there is no second-hand trading going on here somewhere.

Bottom line: it was a good day for Kai and Luka. They made their first contact with the local kids, got to spend some time in school and, it seems, mostly lost their apprehension about going to school in this strange country. Let’s just hope this carries over once it becomes routine (and full-time).