Hell on Earth II

Sunday afternoon was Jasmine's 'Abschlussfest' (end of term party). They happen every year (naturally) and feel as though they last 365 days.
They are interminable, if I had a good excuse I wouldn't go, but it'd have to be an excuse that'd convince the kids, 'cos they like going - they get to charge about with their friends and have fun, I have to hang around looking like a spare part while all the other parents who known each other since kindergarten (more often than not kindergarten when they, themselves were preschool kids - I'm soooooooooo not joking) gossip in little huddles.

It's not fun.

And I have Ben's next weekend.

It started with cake, they always start with cake, kid's birthday parties always have the cake at the beginning, then the activity then the meal, so I should have known to expect a long, drawn out do shouldn't I?

So, 28 degrees, blazing sun, we're eating cake and drinking tea and coffee and chatting - well, when I say "we", I really mean "they". I couldn't face cake or tea or coffee in that heat, so I had some water - which was probably meant for the kids.

After an hour or so of "socialising" we got down to the entertainment. First the children had a little piece for us based on St Saen's Carnival of the Animals which they've been studying, and then we were taken outside for some "games"...

Imagine "It's a Knockout" meets school sports day and put 2 bossy German mothers in charge...there was tea bag throwing (tea bags here come with a string and a tag, so easier to throw), bobby car racing (small plastic sit on car for 2-4 year olds), apple bobbing (that I know), a tug of war (between the parents of years 3 and 4 - we won) hula hoop-ing, scooter racing, a water chain thing and a Dickmanns eating competition.
It was endless, and then there was a presentation from the children (or rather mother of one of said children) to Herr B the teacher, a song from the leaving children and then finally a song from the year 3's to the departing year 4's, which was quite sweet, or would have been if it had come earlier, maybe 3 hours earlier...

As soon as the last chords of the last song died away I was out of there, collecting my apple cake container and my tea thermos (we'd all been given explicit instructions on what to bring, I was instructed to provide apple cake & tea - had to borrow an apple cake recipe from a friend (and a tin to bake it in) as it's not one of my 'go to-s' when I think "let's bake a cake") and dragging my unwilling child behind me. Jas wanted to stay, not for the barbeque, but just for the fun of charging around in the heat with her friends. I was declared to be an unfit mother by her for ruining her fun, but as I told her - I had another child at home (there was no way on earth that Ben would have stooped so low as to join us, he's 13 for heaven's sake) who needed feeding, quite apart from the fact that they'd neither of them been to bed before 11pm on Saturday (Germany's thorough thrashing of Argentina had to be celebrated by children as well as adults - although they indulged with the soaking of each other with wet stuff, while we grown ups drank it).

At least for Ben's abschlussfest I will have Simon's company, he gets back from almost 2 weeks away in Korea & Shanghai on Friday evening and then is going to be expected to partake in one of the busiest Saturdays we've had in a long while, I should start taking bets on when he'll crash and burn...

Sunday Snaps 21

I saw these socks on sale yesterday in my local (not)supermarket.
You have to admire the Germans for their presumtious behaviour, if nothing else...

"Bookgroup"

We really do need to consider changing the name of our first Friday in every month meetup.

Last night we discussed the book (Terry Pratchett, Unseen Academicals) only long enough to agree that NO-ONE (apart from me, who read it aeons ago) had read it - yet. So it's kind of being carried forward, woe betide anyone who thinks they can get away with jumping straight to Vanilla Beans & Brodo or whatever the next book is called.

So what did we talk about if not the book? Let me try to remember...

- Nancy and Jenny had a great excuse for being late, they got lost, which surprised me as they've both lived in the city long enough to know their way around and we've been using the Black Cat as our venue for ages (mainly because of the extensive wine list and the delicious French cheese platters that are available, and it's no smoking before 10/1030) Then they confessed, they'd been on their way through a park and came across 3 dancers (male) playing football in just their Calvins. We had to agree that we'd have been a bit dazed and confused after that also (apart from Kamesh, who isn't that way inclined)

- Football, the Ghana - Brazil match was on at the back of the bar, mainly for the benefit of the staff, 2 of whom are Ghanian (hmmm, that doesn't look right, I know how it sounds though) we didn't actually watch, but were aware of the action by the noise of the crowd.

- Cricket, we're trying to arrange a day for us expats to get together & 'play' cricket, this is the brilliant idea of Jenny (Australian) & Kamesh (Indian), the one is hideously competitive no matter the subject and the other is (allegedly) quite good. The rest of us are going along with the idea because it sounds like fun. Actually, that's not true, it doesn't sound like fun to me, but hey, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em.

- The heat, 32 degrees for 3 days running is not normal, Kamesh said even he can't deal with it having lived too long away from the heat of India.

- Rebecca received an emergency phonecall from her husband who we'd merrily left in charge of her 3 kids and 1 of mine (who refuses to stay home alone with her elder brother "because he's too bossy") The 2 eldest (mine being one) had taken Sam's cigarettes and broken them all up and thrown them in the bin. Their motive was well meant, Jas had 2 years schooling in the UK where it's drummed in at an early age that SMOKING IS BAD & CIGARETTES KILL & Jack is concerned about his father's life expectancy...the result was 2 packets of fags purchased and dropped off by Emma on her (early) way home with baby (3 months old & tetchy in the heat).

- More football, as in "where are you going to watch the Germany vs. Argentina match on Saturday" (this from Jenny, who, despite the Aussies being sent home early for playing so badly, is still trying to watch as many of the games as possible) I joked that I was considering going shopping as the shopping centres would not only be nice and cool and air conditioned but also empty & Rebecca laughed that she was thinking of going to one of the open air swimming pools for the same reason (the lack of people, not the air conditioning) in this weather the open pools are not for the serious swimmer, they are (so I've heard, having managed to avoid that particular hell on earth so far) so full of people it's standing room only, both in the water and around the sides. How can that be fun? Anyway we came up with a cunning plan, barbeque at my house, with the proviso that Rebecca's husband does the charring of the food - it's man's work, I don't know how to bbq and nor do I plan to find out thank you very much.

Quiet evening really, quite how we managed to drink so many bottles of white wine I don't know, I blame the heat...now where's the corkscrew?

Konfused* of Kettwig

Dear Sirs

I'm a little bit confused, you see, I thought children went to school to learm stuff, get an education and such like, so that they could carry in the footsteps of their parents (looking after said parents, by getting good, well paid jobs, paying into pension schemes and NOT putting the much loved parents into 'old people's homes', but instead installing them in a granny** flat, that would of course (in Germany) be part of their own abode.

I thought (silly me) that school terms were when children learned stuff, had proper lessons, sitting at desks, homework etc. etc. - come on, if you can read this you've clearly had enough of an education to know how it works. And that there was a clearly delineated (see, I've had a proper education, me, I can use 5 syllable words - even if I do have to check their spelling) beginning and end to that period of learning.

Back in the day (inside joke, sorry) when I was at school (yeah, I hear you, it was a longggggggggggggggggggggg time ago) we had lessons from 9am till 3.45pm from the start of term till the very last (but one***) day - when we could bring in board games or in high school maybe the teachers relented slightly and we did "amusing" quizes.

But of course, that was in England, "cough" years ago (although, I don't think the teaching regime has changed that much over the last "cough" years) Here, in Germany, where I'm still reeling from the godammed stupid 'hitzeplan' we're being inflicted with just because the weather is being so terribly mediteranean, my high school son is taking all his text books back to school tomorrow, 8 school days before term ends...

HELLO?!

What the hell are they going to be doing at school for the next week and a half? That is of course in the 3 1/2 hours that they're actually in school at the moment...

He, of course, is filled with glee, no proper lessons for 8 "whole" days - ooh, make that 7 days as I've just remembered they have a day off (well 3 1/2 hours to be precise) next week so that the teachers can confer over the end of term reports, which I don't understand the reason for either, seeing as Ben seems to come home every day telling me the history teacher says he'll get this grade and the English teacher says this grade (it better be a 1 btw, or his allowance is being seriously reduced).
So, 7, 3 1/2 hour days with no text books, lots of education to be got methinks...not.

I'm confused, I thought we sent our children to school to get an education?


* Yeah, I know, but it looks better OK?
** Sexist, I know, but have you ever heard the term 'grampy flat'? Grumpy flat maybe, grampy flat, no.
*** Doesn't quite have the same ring to it, hence the brackets, sorry.