Urine for a treat.

You know the feeling when you’re having a pretty good day: get to work on time, your outfit looks nice, and the fun new ideas you have for mother tongue/language day are well received? And then, you pee on yourself. I’m sure you know what I’m talking about. Doesn’t it happen to everyone?

I peed on myself today. Twice. I have NO idea how in the world I could have let that happen TWICE! The first time, a small part of the back of my skirt apparently got tucked up under me and I caught it before it was too bad.  I washed it out, dried it in the hand dryer and went about my day feeling okay.

Well, I drank a smoothie for breakfast,  two cups of coffee, and a water bottle full of water all before 10:30am. So, I wasn’t really thinking about anything but relief when I went to the bathroom a second time.  Uh huh. I did it again. And way worse. Almost ½ of my skirt ended up under me in the toilet and I proceeded to pee ALL over it before I even thought to look down. Tell me you’ve done this? Boys, I’m guessing that’s a no for you, but ladies? Help a girl out.

I washed it out with soap and then dried it for a while under the hand dryer. But my skirt is still quite wet, I think I smell a little like urine, and I have lunch duty in twenty minutes. Pray for me.

In other news… Here’s the link to our 2014 Schutz Family Holiday Video Card if you haven’t seen it yet. 
Love, cheer, and safe adventures in and out of potties everywhere to you all!

A Newcomer's Experience with the NHS

Let's be honest. I was a bit afraid of the National Healthcare System (NHS) here when we first arrived. I didn't even formally register with a clinic until November.  I know, bad mom. And you're right if you are thinking that I probably only registered because one of my kids was sick. True. I handed in the paperwork to the clinic and the same day got an appointment for K1. He'd been coughing for a couple weeks and I wanted to get him checked out. That was just before our Thanksgiving trip to Bruges. It is only four weeks later, and I've been back twice. All three times I have been able to get an appointment for one or both kids (and even Dave) the same day I call and everything is FREE. No co-pay, no questionnaire, no photocopy of an insurance card.

Sure, there are trade-offs. You can take a look at the office yourself. 

This is where you stare at the tiny LED screen and wait for your name to scroll across.

This is where you check in and make appointments. 

No bells and whistles. No kids corner with books and games. No comfy chairs or inspirational posters on the wall. Just rows of chairs facing a wall where updates scroll on the LED message board. The first time I came, I didn't know that this is where I'd find our name when it was our turn for an appointment. I panicked that I'd missed our name. No one will call your name out or come find you if your name scrolls by and you don't show up. You hear a quick BEEP and see this "K1 S ... Dr. Lawn... Room 11." 

Then you walk to the doctor's office/room yourself. Knock. And enter. No nurse to check things at the beginning. No waiting more inside after waiting on the outside. You are face to face with the doctor or NP. 

This is inside the doctor's office. Yep, K1 is in his pajamas.
And yep, there's dust all over the place.

In some ways it's a bit off-putting when the doctor doesn't immediately take my child's weight or shine a light in his eyes, but it didn't really bother me. Doctors are not quick to prescribe as I feel some of mine were in the states. If you do need a prescription, it's totally free for children. Adults pay £8 per scrip. Max. 

I chuckled when I opened up the lotion that was prescribed for K1's eczema though. Aveeno. Well, at least it was free! 

I recently asked whether I needed to bring my kids in for annual or semi-annual check-ups. This seemed to be totally up to me and if I want to do so there's a different pediatric centre to checkout. I'm not sure if I'm going to go through the trouble. If we have a problem or question, I can continue to see the doctor we've been seeing. We're figuring it out as we go, but for now the NHS has met our needs and then some. Sure I'm paying a zillion quid in taxes to cover our healthcare, but I am happy with the speed and service that we've received. And again, I didn't have to worry about extra payments at the clinic or for the prescriptions. I'm not sure how I'll feel if something more serious is needed, but let's pray we don't have to worry about that. 

Catching Up: 2 Countries and a Birthday

Nice, France was just what I needed. The educator conference I attended there the weekend before Thanksgiving included a multitude of sessions and keynote speakers, but my favorites centered around service and language. 
One of the most impactful speakers was Mark Cook who started his organization, Hope & Homes for Children.

When Mark retired as a British UN Commander, he decided to dedicate his life to children. Mark shared his journey and how he originally began trying to better orphanages around the world. He saw horrible conditions for children. We watched a short video showing these conditions and I can honestly say that I was quickly moved to tears and almost to the point of vomiting. Horrific conditions so devoid of love for children.

After some time, Mark soon realized that fixing up the exterior and interior of the orphanage didn’t really better the care of the child. Instead, he had what he calls an “epiphany” that he could just get rid countries of orphanages in the first place. He introduced the idea of foster homes in countries like Rwanda, Romania, and Sudan to name a few and was responsible for the closing of hundreds of orphanages across the globe. Here’s a quote from his website, "When we began work in Romania in 1999 there were 100,000 children trapped in institutional care. Today the figure is approximately 9,000 and the Romanian Governments has committed to working with us to close every state run institution by 2020."  

I am in awe of this man. I am so moved by hearing stories from people, like Mark, who a truly making a difference in thousands and thousands of lives.  Utterly inspiring.

And then there’s Bruges, Belgium. Wow. First let me say that we have found many things in the U.K. to be more difficult than we every imagined. Somehow, driving our car onto the Eurotunnel and over to an entirely different country was as easy as pie!

The kids were happy and comfortable and we were excited to drive on the right side of the road for a change. 

After only 36 hours in Bruges, Dave and I decided that we’d like to retire there. Seriously. Kind of. It is an idyllic city that seems to be a cross between Amsterdam and Venice but more laid back than both. The kids loved all the Belgian chocolate treats that were passed out at the Museum of Chocolate and that we felt compelled to purchase simply because of their beauty. We indulged on a boat tour on the canals and a horse-drawn carriage ride through the city the morning of our departure.

I highly recommend this travel spot to any and all. If possible, rent a bike and spend time biking around town and to the nearby village of Damme. Dave and I lucked out and each got a bike ride in while the kids were napping. That how it works when you travel with young kids…you take turns sitting in a dark room while children nap! At least that’s how we do it and it seems to work well.

Please find the rest of our pictures at the end of this post.

And finally, it is K2’s birthday today. 

Our beautiful and bright boy is now 5. He celebrated with 5 friends from school. Each boy was given a cape and mask upon arrival. We then walked to a nearby park and the kids took turns flying through the air on the zipline. It was awesome and nice to do something so simple and easy at home. No bells and whistles, just star-shaped PB & J’s, a park, chocolate cake, and a few minutes of Christmas Kung-fu Panda on Netflix. The sunshine helped the low 40 degree temps feel more like 50 and the whole thing was over and done by 1pm. A win for everyone!

And now for the picture roll...

White Wine in a Paper Cup

I’m sitting in the dark on my hotel bed, drinking wine from a paper cup, and thinking about how I will redistribute the weight between our suitcases for our flight back to the U.K. tomorrow. The boys are sleeping, hence the dark room, and I’m not far behind. It’s not like I had a physically challenging day, but there is definitely an energy toll we pay for dealing with STUFF.

We were originally supposed to fly out today, but the visas were held up in New York and we had to remain in limbo. Not knowing if they would be ready in one, two, or four days. So, more time on the phone with the car rental place, more time booking hotels, more time cancelling and rebooking flights, and more time trying to entertain two very active boys in a hotel room. Those things are stressful.

I hide it well. I try not to get overly emotional or negative, but I have my moments. Dave is confused though because he hasn’t seen many of those moments and he’s starting to think I have a heart of stone or something. That’s certainly not it, but I do feel like I need to hold it together for the kids. Plus, I try not to get too upset about the things I/we can’t control. What can we do? Just move on.

Most of our trip was really quite wonderful. The kids fell in love with their grandparents all over again, we got to cuddle my new great nephew, Archer, I had time for a massage and new color for my hair, we had time to reconnect with friends, and the kids visited almost every playground in Winona. And Dave? Well, he basically worked the whole time. While the rest of us were here on an extended vacay, he went into work in St. Cloud. Still, reconnecting with coworkers is important and luckily, he truly enjoys the people he works with.

We are a day behind schedule and the costs that go along with that one day are HIGH. I really just want to put this trip and this whole visa debacle in the past. It has been our biggest headache and I just know it will feel good not to think about it anymore. K1 won’t be in school illegally once he has his special stamp, and Dave won’t get questioned about his lack of a UK bank card!

We will arrive back in England on Thursday morning (30 October) just in time to participate in the Trunk-or-Treat at school on Friday and of course celebrate Dave’s birthday.

I’m not going to share a lot of pictures with this post. I just don’t have that many on my phone and Dave isn’t around to share his tonight. Stay tuned for a post of mainly just pictures.

What am I good at?

Hampton Park Palace

All teachers need to have an after-school duty/activity that they lead or assist at least two afternoons per week until 5pm. I need to do this for two out of three trimesters. After looking at the list of opportunities when I first arrived, I chose to assist with middle school yoga and couldn’t wait for class to begin. Unfortunately, it never did. They didn’t need me after all. 

So then I was tapped to lead Lower School Art Club. Yeah Right. They obviously haven’t seen my version of an art project. The parents would have rebelled in no time when kids started coming home with plates of glitter and yarn. I declined the invitation. So…I ended up without an activity to be a part of for the Fall Trimester. In the grand scheme of things, this worked out well because I have more time to figure out how life works here and juggle kid transportation at the end of the day.

But recently I started stressing again. What activity could I be a part of for the winter and spring trimesters? The activities secretary just emailed and asked if I’d coach cheerleading. Um, NO. It would be fun for about 15 minutes. I learned that from my short stint as a dance coach for EHS.

I proposed a study skills class for struggling learners in the middle school…but there really aren’t too many struggling learners so it was rejected.

As I sat brooding about the options, my co-worker posed the question, “What are you good at?” Huh. I was stumped. What am I good at? Really good at? I don’t sew. I’m not crafty. There’s no sport I’m knowledgeable enough to coach. Kind of depressing.

I came home and posed the question to Dave, “What am I good at?” Funny how I couldn’t think of anything and immediately he responded with “service.” Ding, ding, ding. Yes! I love to serve and volunteer. I love working with people. I love helping. And yes, I think I’m good at it. So…I reached out to the woman who runs the service trips and service learning department and low and behold she’s in need of some help! We met and hit it off right away. Deep exhale of relief and happiness.

I will take on the service learning component for the lower school (elementary), help with the K-12 service learning vision, and international student service learning conference held at TASIS this coming February. I am SO excited. I can do this. I’m good at it.

And finally, the flea update you’ve been waiting for: THE NEW CARPET IS IN!!! The fleas are dead and gone and we can sweep our kitchen floor now without finding cat hair everywhere! Life is good.

Hampton Court Palace

Tour of Britain

Thorpe Park Triathlon (Sprint Distance)

Meal from one of our favorite Indian restaurants. We can walk there AND I can speak Bangla with the servers. Love it.

The cake at the birthday party Kaler attended last weekend. 18 kids. Wow.

A Day of Firsts

Windsor Castle

Today is officially the first day of school for students at TASIS and this includes K1. It's his first day in pre-kindergarten. It’s also my birthday. Yup. Every year I get the fun of pretending that having my birthday in the midst of school chaos with gifts of back to school clothes and back to school ice cream socials en lieu of birthday parties. 

As an adult, I find it’s a hard time of year to plan something special. People are busy. And tired. I am also one of those people. So tonight we sat down to a fancy crock pot dinner of chicken korma that Dave thankfully put together. I added the brown rice once I got home from school with the boys. The best part was the chocolate cake that Dave picked up, but decorated himself! K2 dove in as if it was his first piece of cake ever. His clothes were promptly put in the washing machine.

K1's classroom.
He's on the top floor of a quirky old building.

 

K1's breakfast with dad in TASIS dining hall

This is the wellie room. Please don't put your wellies on the ledge!

We’ve had our first visitor! Molly, Dave’s cousin, came to see us on her way into London for a work this past Sunday. She brought our final suitcase filled with coats and clothing for winter AND Annie's mac n' cheese and Jif crunchy peanut butter. Thank God.

We ventured out to Windsor again. This time we saw the inside of the castle and then picnicked on the green. This upcoming weekend we are excited to see friends of mine from the Peace Corps who are travelling through on their way to a sabbatical year in Spain. We hope to meet at Hampton Court Palace, also a 20 minute drive from us. Love that! 

Dave has finally been able to get out on his bike. Biking is a bit frightening here as there aren't really any shoulders and bike paths are minimal. Still, he's figuring it out. He rode with two of my colleagues' husbands. Sounds like they like having him on board since he pushes them faster than they'd normally go. 

Now let me take you back to school for a moment as I reflect on the changes for my own profession this year. I have to say that I have never felt so welcomed, included, and special by a school or employer before. Sure, TASIS has some money to throw around, but they are intentional about spending it as well as time with their new staff. We have had loads of barbecues with amazing cheeses and wines, an opening banquet with champagne, and even a welcome bag for the new families. The welcoming picnic for students and families had bounce houses and a DJ. I truly feel like I was asked here for a reason and that the school is happy to have me. I already feel appreciated and I haven’t even done anything!

I didn’t get the marching band welcome that Edina has each year, but I didn’t need it. It would have been too loud…I’m still recovering from all that wine and champagne. Truly though, the faculty and staff have gone above and beyond to make me feel at home. 

Finally, what you are all waiting for…an update on the flea issue. Our place was fumigated on Monday and we’re getting new carpet in about two weeks. Our new ikea furniture covers just showed up too, so we’re feeling a lot better. K1’s bites are all scabbed over and slowly disappearing. You can take my word for it. I’ll spare you the photos. Cross your fingers that we are flea free by this time next week.