Language lessons

Ella had her first private lesson with a dedicated German instructor this afternoon, and she came home buoyant.  Other than learning that her teacher has 8 (!) cats, I’ve gathered that he’s quite good with kids.  Ella eagerly described all the games she got to play during instruction.

They threw a ball back and forth while they conjugated verbs: “Ich” (throw) “habe” (throw) “du” (throw) “hast” (throw). And he played a dice game with her as well: rolling a 1 meant she had to conjugate in first person singular, 2 in second person singular familiar, and so forth. It doesn’t sound like much fun as I type it up, but it made all the difference in her enthusiasm.  She’s so lucky that they’re offering her any kind of special instruction, let alone something so kinetic and targeted.

She had a whole stack of flash cards that she was supposed to learn, so I tried making up a game for her and Alex, as well, hiding little squares with stars drawn on them under some of the words. Happily, they’re young enough that something like that is exciting: “Mom, can you hide a purple one this time? I already have so many greens, and I don’t have a single purple one.”

Would you believe, we studied German for an hour an a half this evening, up until Dennis came home for dinner. Alex lost interest in less than ten minutes, but he joyfully helped me draw little stars for his sister to collect. I don’t know why, but it never really occurred to me that I’d have to spend so much time with the kids on language.  But as long as they’re as excited about it as they were tonight, I can’t say I mind much.

And Ella made another little friend today, and she ran out early after lunch so that they could meet up at the playground.  I can’t tell you how relieved I am that she’s finding her way in her school. I don’t think she’s ever been as happy in a classroom.


As for the boys, Alex had a fine day in school, and while he was there Joey and I colored a little

and played with dolls a little

And when big brother came home they read a little

and we, eventually, mustered up the energy to leave the house to go to the library and playground.  I can’t say my heart was in it, though: this cold is ridiculous.

There was that, and I was also carrying around a large bag of garbage with me the whole time I was out.  As I’ve mentioned before, recycling is something of a religion here, but it’s incredibly complicated.

Everything has to be meticulously sorted and put in the right bins, which are located in mysterious places scattered across the city.  Glass, cans, and oil can be deposited in bins one train stop away. Cardboard and paper can be recycled curbside, but only when the moon is full.  Milk and soda bottles need to be returned at the grocery store.  I still haven’t figured out where the rest of the plastic goes. I was under the impression that plastic bottles could be recycled up near Alex’s school, which was why I was lugging my empties with me, but no such luck.

Luckily, I left my pride in Seattle.