Can you see it? Is there a picture up there? A picture of the kids in their school uniforms? If I could only tell you how much time and energy I have put into trying to get this picture posted. I even wrote an entire blog entry, which seemingly never made it because the picture wouldn't go through. Anyway, so picture this: Navy blue shorts (skirt for Sarah) and crisp short sleeved button down finely pinstriped blue/white shirts; white socks and black leather shoes. Sarah came downstairs the first day of school and said "I look like a flight attendant." She was right. She did. But they were very cute flight attendants! I bemoaned the whole uniform thing at first, but now that I see how it eliminates fights over what to wear in the morning, I am a convert.
So here is school thus far in Shanghai. Every morning I must take the kid's temperature. I then record it on a sheet of paper which the kids present at the front gate upon arrival to school. Awaiting the receipt of the sheet of paper is the school nurse, thermometer in hand in case anyone arrives sans sheet, and the security guard with the big Purell bottle. He squirts some into each child's hands. At least we start the day out germ free!
Kids apparently do not have playdates during the week here. Partly because of the transportation issue. Most expat families are like ours - one car w/driver. The driver needs to be on his way back to Puxi (other side of the Huang River) by 5:30 or 6:00ish for a grueling hour-and-a-half trip to pick up Jeff from work. There are many, many taxis, but not something suitable for children to travel in regularly. They are dirty, no seatbelts, smoke filled, and the driver may or may not be a crazy man on the road! The other reason for no weekday playdates is the huge amount of homework. This is a bit of a shock to the kid's system. Zach, who is homework resistant to begin with, is particularly shell-shocked by this fact.
Even so, the kids seem to love school. Sarah really loves it. She even wishes she could go through the weekend. She comes home and sits right down and plows through her homework. Its an amazing sight. Zach likes school if it were not for the homework. And Max is making that typical first grade adjustment to academia all day, every day. I remind myself that he would have the same adjustment issues back home the first month of school and that he will survive.
the shoes.. laces or loafers?
Posted by: steven | 08/25/2009 at 12:15 PM