Austin and me after school. He likes to go get hot chocolate and talk about his day before we pick up Maddie Sue. It's been nice to have some time alone with him on this trip.

Maddie Sue shows off her new scarf- she claims she looks just like me now- great.

Maddie Sue with Austin in front of her pre-school showing off her new stoller that I bought to encourage her to walk to and from school and walking around town rather than just relaxing in her own stroller then have tons of energy at the end of the day while I have none.

In our kitchen- above our heads is a HUGE lobster poster that I have cropped out to spare you.

Eating the dinner that Mary and Andy made for us in exchange for letting them use our washer and dryer. Sweet deal; no one ever cooks for me.

Mary and Andy and Maddie Sue, who is in love with both of them. Of course, that doesn't keep her from making lots of noise running around the apartment early mornings when they are surely trying to sleep in their bedroom right below our kitchen.

Yay- a nothing to do day!!!

in our kitchen

I caved in . . . I'm a bad Mom.

Pizza Delivery Boy- his pizza was fine. The one Maddie Sue and I shared had been tilted by the delivery boy and the cheese was served separate from the dough.

At Andilli Playarea

Finally a boring day! The kids and I walked to the mall in the rain and we bought day passes to play on the indoor playground. I worked on a mountain of unfinished work I had brought with me from the States and Maddie Sue and Austin played.

Although they stopped for a quick lunch, they pretty much played nearly six hours straight and I was able to get a lot of work done. The fact that they serve espresso everywhere helps with efficiency too of course.

Late afternoon we walked home in (more) rain and I put Maddie Sue down for a short nap. Austin was thrilled to be allowed to go downstairs and order pizza from the restaurant across the cobblestone alley by himself. He doesn’t realize I can watch him from the windows . . .

After dinner I packed Maddie Sue’s bag for her field trip tomorrow. All I know is that they are going somewhere by bus and will be gone all day. She’s very excited. I’m just happy she isn’t in the 4-year-old class since on Friday the parents all delivered those children with large suitcases for their weekend field trip with their teachers.

The kids and I are now hanging out cozy in the upper half of the apartment with its' slanted walls. I have the angled windows open and the rain pounding on the panes of glass would be sooo amazingly relaxing if I didn't have a two year old jumping up and down on the couch singing LOUDLY "It's raining it's pouring". . . Explain to me again why we can't give little kids cold meds to "help" them sleep anymore.

Half-way through our ride taking a break at, what else, a bakery.

Playground on the way

Yes, she doesn't have a helmet. The rental place only had one and at some point early in our day after watching him ride far far ahead of me I took it off her head and made Austin wear it.

Bike path between two castles we visited. I have almost caught up to Austin.

My biggest mistake of the day was casually commenting to Austin at the onset of our day-long bike tour: "Last year you really stuggled with bike riding. I wonder if you are in any better shape this year."

Our entire day consisted of me trying to keep up with him and him calling over his shoulder: "Mom. Hey, Mom! You still think I'm out of shape?"

Sigh.

Finally Friday!

Watching "Zach and Cody" in German.

Everyone is showered and in PJs and ready for bed. We rented biked this afternoon and since sun is predicted we're going to bed early so that we can grab our picnic and have a long bike ride tomorrow before the storms arrive on Sunday.

Changing into "outdoor" shoes from the "indoor" school shoes outside Austin's classroom. Austin now stays for Hort- afterschool program. He's been having great days. There is currently construction going on at his school of an underground gym for the students. Until that is completed, three times a week the kids and their teacher jump on the public bus and take it to a gymnasium nearby.

Austin's multi-age classroom.

Maddie Sue in her pre-school's bathroom. She and a little boy across from her had just finished having a long conversation while using the potties.

This video is of Austin biking in a circle around the Theaterplatz this afternoon- The National Theater of Weimar is behind the famous statue of Goethe and Schiller and is where the Weimar Republic was founded in 1919 when the first Republican constitution was drafted. The yellow building is the museum of the Bauhaus University which was founded by Walter Gropius.

Field Trip to Leipzig

Gewandhaus Orchestra before the concert (click to expand pictures)

Parisa playing at the Mendelsohn Haus

One of the best things about Germany- life stops at 3 p.m. for coffee and cake

Mary (conducting teacher's wife) and me - chocolate factory where we ate lunch from 1775 in the background

Maddie Sue and Austin- breakfast this morning

Walking to school

Yesterday we took our first long field trip with the SMU students. In the morning I walked the kids to their schools then walked to the train station. Amazing that before 9:30 a.m. I had already walked nearly three miles without trying to exercise. That would explain why my calves are killing me I guess. It's also rainy and chilly- therefore you will see me in my "Germany only" purple rain jacket and obligatory German scarf. I'm not sure if I am just paranoid or what exactly, but Germans believe that you can catch a cold from wind gusts on your throat and so I wear my German scarf religiously as soon as I see other women wrap theirs around their necks.

All but one of the ten students made it to the station on time. The last student was able to run and jump on the train just seconds before it pulled out of the station on its’ way to Leipzig. In Leipzig we braved the cold wind and the students learned a lot about the inner-city area of Leipzig (which covers only one-half of a square km) our two hour walking tour. I ate lunch with the other “adults” on the trip at a fun chocolate factory that first opened in 1775. In the afternoon we toured the Mendelsohn House and one of our SMU graduate students in piano played in Mendelsohn’s concert room.

I spent the afternoon drinking café au lait, eating rhubarb cake and shopping for gifts for celebrations that we have been invited to attend during our stay. The more often the kids and I come to Weimar, the more people we meet and the more invitations we receive. Although I love Weimar, it is very much a tourist town and not the best place to buy gifts, so it was fun to go shopping in a large department store.

That evening we took the students to listen to the famous Gewandhaus orchestra. Since our music students are studying conducting we bought seats in the choir loft and had an amazing view of the 27-year-old conductor and his orchestra. Although we had chartered a small bus to take us back to Weimar we still did not get home again until after midnight. The babysitter had picked both kids up at school, fed them at her house and then brought them back here for baths and bed.

Luckily, although they both like to wake up with the early rising German sun (or clouds as the case is today), at least they are over their jet lag and no longer wake up in the middle of the night anymore and think it’s time to play.

One of Austin’s favorite parts of the day is going downstairs and just one building over and buying our breakfast bread by himself each morning at one of the many bakeries. After we eat breakfast together we bundle up and depending if Austin has his first class first or second period (each day his schedule changes), we either walk Maddie Sue to her school and then him and then I walk to work or we walk him first and then drop off his sister.

This afternoon we are picking up the bikes that I rented for Austin and me- mine with a baby seat on the back. Although it is now pouring rain, I have high hopes that it will be a gorgeous day tomorrow. If not, no matter, we’ll still take a picnic and bike along the river to a nearby castle. Hopefully now that I've been walking a week the biking won't be quite so hard. With Maddie Sue pushing 45 lbs I have a feeling it's going to be tough going up the hills. . . At least I won't feel guilty when 3 p.m. rolls around and we stop for coffee and cake!

Austin's 1st Day of School

This afternoon we walked to the mall. There is a great indoor playground there where you can pay by the hour and let kids just run wild. Since bathrooms are free- woo hoo- no paying a Euro ($1.25) each time (!), with a potty training toddler it’s pretty much a wash even though you have to pay to play.

Today was Austin’s first day of school. In usual German school fashion they went on a field trip of which I was completely unaware. There is a circus training school in Cambodia that had partnered with Austin’s German school and the whole school walked and saw a preview performance today in town. Many of the kids recognized Austin from last year and he has a really good day. This evening he had even switched over to talking to me in German sometimes.

Tomorrow is a long day. Maddie Sue and Austin will be picked up at school by their babysitter and spend the evening with her and her kids while I take a train in the morning with the SMU students to Leipzig for a day filled with a walking city tour, a tour of the Mendelsohn house and in the evening a classical concert by the famous Gewandhaus Orchestra. We take a chartered bus back to Weimar, but still don’t get home again until well past midnight. I don’t mind the length of the day, I’m just hoping that the reports of pouring rain storms prove to be wrong because it's been my painfully learned experience that city tours go on regardless of the weather.

Grocery shopping without a car- when you live on the 4th floor of a building with spiral staircases you gain a whole new understanding of shopping for "light" groceries . . . (Goethe's house in the background)


Austin and me eating at my favorite place- an organic grocery-cafe that serves only soup and espresso drinks- my two favorite things. The soups are all strange sounding, but good. Today I ate white asparagus soup with strawberries . . . I look so tired bc the kids were awake talking from 1-3 a.m. - I hate jet lag.

Maddie Sue outside of the pre-school for her first day of class. She wasn't too sure what to think . . . It turned out great. She didn't cry at all apparently. We'll see how she is tomorrow since she already told me this evening "I don't need to go back to school. I already tried it."

Here Austin is putting together his Lego loot from the toy store. This afternoon we stopped by his school and got him all signed up, bought school supplies and now he's all ready for his first day of school tomorrow. Well, I am at least.

How long can a child go commando without confessing?

Welcome Dinner

Weimar City Tour between bouts of rain

Weimar Town Square- Town Hall in background- our apartment is the left pink building- floors 4 and 5.

Windy Day

Italian pizza yesterday and Italian ice cream today. Thank God for immigration.

Maddie Sue and Austin both slept in until 11 this morning, which was a real blessing since Maddie Sue was chipper and talking up a storm from 2-5 a.m. this morning. Since the stores were still closed we settled on French fries, ice cream and a banana a woman at the bakery gave Maddie Sue when Maddie complained that she hadn’t had any healthy food since we left the States.

This afternoon we met up with the SMU students and had a 2-hour walking tour of Weimar by a dramatic guide named “Dieter.” Although the skies opened up and poured down rain twice, we were able to take cover under the huge Ginkgo trees Goethe brought over from Asia that now line many of the streets of Weimar. Then, this evening we hosted a nice welcome dinner for the SMU students at the Residence Palace Restaurant.

Tomorrow Maddie Sue starts pre-school and our students begin their first day of classes. I have put Maddie Sue down to bed, which she doesn’t understand since the sun is still shining despite it being nearly 9 p.m.. Austin is watching soccer on television. He gets to stay up longer since I promised him that he could wait to begin school until Wednesday since I apparently forgot to pack him underwear. He only just now shared with me that he’s been going commando since we arrived. I wonder if he hadn't been about to start school tomorrow and trying to get one extra vacation day how long he would have waited to tell me.

Top floor of our apartment- lots of naked statues and breakable items. This is our third year and the kids haven't broken anything yet . . . (double click photos to increase in size)

Town square- on the left is the famous Hotel Elefant- a three hundred year old 5 star hotel where Goethe, Herder and later Liszt, Wagner and Schiller hung out. It is also known for Hitler having slept here and giving a famous speech from the balcony shown. The hotel was closed down after WWII, but not for long. On the left-hand-side behind the tree is our apartment which overlooks the town square from the 4th and 5th floors.

Austin and Maddie Sue eating pizza.

Austin carrying pizza- he snuck in those Crocs last minute, but apparently Crocs, to my dismay, are popular here too.

Our apartment is about 100 ft up the cobblestoned street on the right. This is a pedestrian and bike zone only.

Despite being awoken by cheers of joy which then sadness during the German soccer game last night, and then again for what seemed like never-ending bells calling people to church this morning, the kids and I fell back to sleep and slept until nearly eleven.

Our morning was spent unpacking and organizing, skyping with Jordan and Dylan, getting pizza from Austin's favorite Italian restaurant and eating in the park. Eating in the park is always kind of a dicey thing since Germans LOVE the sun and making sure they are evenly tanned is apparently of great significance. This combined with a town filled with students from two universities makes the park far more than a place for exercise and relaxation. Luckily today, although we were surrounded by students in avarious quantities of clothing, Austin proved himself too young to appreciate exposed breasts or students making out just 20 feet away.

This afternoon, my boss, her sister and the guest conductor teacher who accompanied us this year came over for Kaffee and Kuchen and then the kids and I headed back to the park and I led them in a variety of racing games in the hope of tiring them out. I'm not certain if they are particularly tired, but I am, so I guess either way I'll be able to sleep!

Our students have all arrived safely and are settled in their dorms. This year they are being housed in an original East German dorm that also is home to the University pre-school and one of the popular University sponsored bars. I'm curious about their reactions once they settle in and take a good look around.

As for me, I am watching German news (the economy is a huge issue here-more about that later) and drinking fruit tea which, according to my German friend, will cure me of any and all stress and exhaustion. Of course, the tea comes in only second to the healing I would experience were I to sit naked in a co-ed sauna. However, since the later is unlikely to happen any time soon, I think I'll sip my tea and head to bed.

Travel may be fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness (M. Twain), but the getting there is usually hell

in Weimar waiting for taxi to take us to the Jugendweihe (double click to expand)

on train to Weimar

at DFW waiting for flight

The secret to surviving transatlantic flights with young children surely has to be expecting the absolute worst and being fully convinced that every single person onboard will hate you at the conclusion of the 10 hour flight. Then, if that is not completely the case, one can deboard the plane pleasantly surprised.

Lucky for me, the honor of despised parent belonged to the mother of a young toddler who screamed for seven out of the ten hour-long trip we shared from Dallas to Frankfurt. And, although our own trip started with the pilot announcing: “Flight attendants, please be seated for take off” and Maddie Sue responding in an equally loud voice: “I’m pretty sure I’m about to have diarrea,” after fifteen frantic minutes of me singing “The Wheels on the Bus” until we reached cruising altitude and could get into the bathroom, one tossed pair of panties (thank God for gallon zip lock baggies) later we were set for a relatively calm, if not relaxing, flight.

Our 3.5 hour layover in Frankfurt was made much more pleasant by plying the kids with German bakery goods and me downing espresso. On the train ride to Weimar, the comfy seats paired with pure exhaustion from not having slept in nearly 24 hours finally lulled both Austin and Maddie Sue to sleep.

Once in Weimar we helped the students who had traveled with us find their way and then took a taxi to our apartment and after showering and dressing we caught another taxi to the "Jugendweihe" (traditional East German coming of age celebration) of the teenage son of our German babysitter. We left early since Maddie Sue fell asleep and Austin was fading fast. Unfortunately by the time we took a taxi home again and I got them both to bed and found someone to keep an eye on them, all the grocery stores were closed. Tomorrow is Pentecost and despite rarely attending church, Germans take off work both Sunday and Monday on such religious holidays. This means nothing will be open for two days except the bakery at the train station and the ice cream stores. I think the kids will be thrilled with my food offerings for the next two days . . .

Lastly, on my quick run this evening to look for a place to buy groceries I couldn't help but be amazed at the number of couples holding hands. I'm not sure if this is so noticable because there are just so many more people wandering the streets of the town and therefore the law of averages says more people would be holding hands, if this is a particularly romantic city, or what exactly. However, it was amazing and heartening to see so many people, many mid-thirties and above wandering the city holding hands and talking. They seemed to be enjoying each other's company and in no hurry to rush off to anyplace else. How refreshing.