Week 16 - we limp to the end of term...

Monday – J got a very good mark for a maths test. More bouncing off the ceiling (from me, anyway), but with less energy, since I’m now rather tired… but no less elated. A friend has written to advise me that they are going through the same experience in another gemeinde in Kanton Zurich, with a daughter in Grade 4, and they have been told that her daughter’s marks are for “children like her” rather than marking her as if she is a Swiss child. I’m not sure of the situation with our two, but I still think that J's is a good mark. I need to remember to discuss all this with J’s teacher in January at our scheduled parent – teacher meeting. But in the meantime, I’m smiling. He could be floundering, but he isn’t – I’m not sure whether that says more about him or the system.

As the week progresses, they both get less and less homework – just as well, since they are now on their uppers.

There is some kind of playground spat involving C and J and some friends at some point in the week (I can’t quite work out what happened) and I am surprised and delighted with how J’s teacher deals with the situation: J comes home with two home made cards from his friends saying sorry and let’s make up or something like that. He’s very happy with how it’s been resolved.

More snow. Buckets of snow. In fact we could probably ski down the street if it wasn’t flat ;) C has a morning of iceskating planned with his extra German class but unfortunately it has to be abandoned as the bus can’t get up the hill to the neighbouring village to the ice rink. Shock, horror, unprecedented traffic chaos !!!!!! Hmm, maybe for 45 minutes ;) For those from the UK what this means is: one foot of snow - which would, literally, bring the UK to a halt and cause all manner of chaos, power failure and several old people dead from hyperthermia. Here, all the roads are cleared during the night but unfortunately the remains freeze under the ensuing blizzard so that the morning rush hour traffic is held up, and vehicles are sliding all over the place on the black ice under the fresh snow. People miss bus-train connections – for maybe 30 minutes. But then the next connection works and people get to their work place – up to an hour late (rather than after a day, or abandoning their journey and making their way on foot for 30 miles). By mid-morning the roads and pavements are all clear despite the continuing blizzard. It seems to me that in Switzerland extreme weather is expected, people know what to do and everyone just gets on with it rather than having a big drama just because snow fell. In Zurich the entire train network is running more or less as usual, with maybe up to a 4 minute delay (how dreadful !) on some lines. The problem – if there is one – is on the bus lines, where roads are full of slush and continually freezing, but the local authorities are dealing with it continuously. I doubt that the Swiss would let anything as minor as the geographical environment get in the way of industrious behaviour. How do you think they got to be one of the richest nations on earth, with one of the smallest populations and in one of the most physically difficult and vulnerable locations in Europe ? Swiss belligerence and a will to make their environment work for them and not against them, at any cost – otherwise known as Swiss engineering. Sermon over.

Other detatils from this week:


Tick jabs
Friday we have the bill for the boys’ jabs – approx CHF143 each for the first 2 jabs, which I expect to be reimbursed in full.


C sentence construction
My mother arrives and after 24 hours comments on C’s sentence construction, which had completely gone over my head. She’s not at all critical, just observant: he’s now using German sentence construction in English – “I also am hungry” – instead of “I’m hungry too”. Gosh – hadn’t noticed that at all. Must try harder.

And finally…..

Schulsilvester.
In a completely diva-like way, I was dreading this, and dreading the boys being late to school and paraded round the village like idiots. I don’t do mornings, so we had agreed that OH would take the boys to school and go straight to work from there. In the depths of my slumber I was dimly aware of OH getting up, then J getting up and showering and disappearing downstairs. Then silence (all this by 05.30).

At 07.15 light began to peep through the curtains and I became vaguely aware of some sort of commotion (kids laughing, banging drums, blowing whistles etc) on the main road, but nothing in the immediate vicinity of our house.

Hauled myself out of bed and got downstairs at 9.00am just at J arrived home – on his 10th birthday. C arrived 20 minutes later, having walked with a friend (yesssssssssssssss).

They had had a fantastic time. No-one had to wear the night cap or get walked round the village. All they seem to have done is played pool and other games, J got his hair dyed and C did lots of “turnen” – ie gym. They weren’t even in their classrooms, just the main school buildlings, and they appear to have had a well thought out and organised riot – and loved it. So – drama over.

Thanks for reading this far, and I’ll continue our blog in the new year. I hope you have a peaceful and happy Christmas.