The First day of School


We were all up at 6:00 and out the door at 7:15. Cam had an entire stationary store (an expensive one) packed in his bags. We sauntered the five minutes to our local train station and climbed on board at 7:29 (there is a train every ten minutes here on the 9’s). All around us there were families with young children heading to school. A lot of the little kids had the traditional school rucksacks, small leather suitcases you wear on your back. They are really cute, but they look really uncomfortable.

Five minutes later the train stopped in Zehlendorf and we followed the waterfall of parents and kids toward the exit. OK, so we are in Germany right? And it’s the first day of school right? So of course a woman is handing out treats to all the people as they head down the stairs. Delicious apple pastries, bite size chocolate filled pastries.. oodles of them. Life is good…

So, anyway, we proceeded down the sidewalk toward the school. It’s about a ten-minute walk and the closer we got the more kids and parents there were. Finally, we entered the school courtyard. It is an unusual place. Very modern. White buildings with curved corners and large windows surrounded us. The other thing that surrounded us was a cacophony of voices speaking English or German, or both. I don’t know who was more nervous, the kids, or us. Actually, I think it was us. ☺. The bell rang, the kids strolled into school, and we exited, hoping we had made the right choice, and the kids would not only survive, but also bloom here.

Later, when I got home, I asked Jack how it went. “That was the best first day of school I ever had!” He has biology, algebra, geography, history, German, English, Spanish and French. Wow. Cam, as always, was a bit more tentative. That is one flower we will have to tend carefully.