Not Sure What to Expect

This week provided us with lots of little unexpected events.

The morning was sunny and clear for our early departure from Les Coches. On our way out of town, we noticed many people putting chains on their tires as the roads were snow covered, but they had been plowed already. Maybe we spent too much time at Tech because we did not feel the roads were bad even though everyone else was driving with chains and going super slow. I even told Eric to pass a few drivers going too slow and constantly braking as I thought they were putting us in danger as we were descending the mountain.

We made it to the bottom of the mountain and passed over a dozen vehicles removing their chains. The roads were dry and we had a good seven hour plus drive ahead of us. We made good timing through France even though the traffic was constant and took the scenic route back to enjoy one last view of the mountain range. Unfortunately, we ran into our first unexpected event: an hour long traffic jam in Switzerland.  But some snacks and extra food helped tide us until Germany. We made it home safely in the early evening to reflect on our wonderful week in Les Coches with the Kopp family as we unpacked.

Monday morning came quick and with it brought much chaos. With the repair work going on in Emmie's kindergarten building, aka Gartenhaus, Emmie's class is combined with the other displaced class which means there are 43 children and 5 teachers crammed into a small gym. Though they asked us to keep our children home if we could to ease the situation, my Monday morning German class meant I had to take Emmie in, find a place to hang her coat on a little make shift rack in the middle of the hallway, and then search for her slippers to be worn in the gym. Emmie was just excited to see her friends, and thought it was neat how the gym had been divided into areas for playing.

When I dropped her off, there appeared to be only about half of the children present, but when I picked her up, it was complete chaos with all of us parents attempting to pick our children up that only attend half day  while dodging the meal carts trying to get to the classrooms for children who stay all day. I had a headache from the noise and commotion just from the ten minutes it took me to get Emmie.  I learned from one teacher that the number of children is less on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so it is not as crazy then.

In the afternoon, the girls were excited to attend dance class since they received ballet outfits for a Christmas gift. Adeline and Emmie were on cloud nine as they thought they are real ballet dancers now.

Tuesday morning, I kept Emmie home with me out of sympathy for the teachers and the situation they have been placed in. This was fine for Emmie since she did some English learning pages and helped me with some of the last unpacking and laundry from our trip.  I received an email from our kindergarten parents group notifying me there is going to be a parent breakfast on Saturday to discuss the kindergarten situation.

Wednesday morning, Emmie had a play date with Marta.  Marta's mom and I are collaborating to try to make the best of the issues at the kindergarten, and this helped me out while I headed to my last German class of the semester. 

The next unexpected situation was how dentists work in Germany. Eric made our appointments as we were due for our six month cleaning. It was very quick and an easy visit since little did we know, but in Germany, you have to make separate appointments for the dentist and for the cleaning.  I think it took me longer to fill out the paperwork, then for us three girls to sit in the dentist's chair and give us each an exam. He talked German with the girls and English with me. He said the girls have excellent healthy teeth, so no cleaning was necessary, which we found strange. As for me, he said I have a very minor cavity and needed a cleaning. So I made new appointments for my filling and with the hygienist but was told I could not make appointments for the girls because their teeth were in good condition.  We thought that might be due to the fact they get regular cleanings...

Upon leaving the office, I called Eric and informed him he made us appointments for the dentist and he needed to make additional appointments for him and the girls to see the hygienist. He called them immediately and the receptionist told him he had to wait to see what the dentist said which was on Friday. Then in order to get the receptionist to make appointments for the girls, he informed her the girls will get their teeth cleaned every six months like the adults as this is how we do it in America.

Toward the end of the week, we received further updates on the kindergarten problems. In a meeting between the city and our parents group, we learned the Gartenhaus - which is a container building - was supposed to be a temporary solution that has turned into 12 years. It was revealed the city did air quality tests in April 2011 and June 2011 which showed declines over time, but due to personnel changes the situation was never corrected over the summer which is how in December 2011, the air quality in the room was poor. When they pulled the floor up for repair work around the toilet areas, they found extreme amounts of bacteria and black mold. An inspector condemned the building and it is now to be torn down. The city has to wait for the next council meeting in a few weeks to be on the agenda to get approval and the funding for a new building.

Meanwhile, our children will attend class in the gym until a solution is found. In addition, some of the parents have been frustrated to learn that whether our not we take our children in, the city is going to keep charging everyone for the kindergarten. An email was quickly sent from the city to all parents regarding the contract we signed that states we will continue to pay for this based on a court ruling in 2010 and we will pay too if the teachers go on strike.  This was some of the quickest communication we have had from them on the subject.

To round out our week of unexpected events, Eric handed in his resignation letter. It was not an easy decision for us to arrive at, but we knew things would change when PRTM was bought by PWC. Eric has made some good relationships and we are grateful and thankful for everything the company has done for us. It is a sad time for us because we enjoyed being part of the small firm. Eric is unsure how these last few weeks will pan out as he concludes this part of his career.