The house was unusually quiet today, due in part to the fact that the kids went back to school today after a two week long break. Erla goes to kindergarten for several hours in the morning, Ellert goes to school for a half day, and Embla goes to school until late afternoon. Lots of kids here walk or bike their way to school, and you can see them pass by in the mornings hear their happy chatter as they come and go.
Today was also the very first rainy day we've had here in Germany. There was a thunderstorm last night that woke us up and had us scrambling to close the large bay windows of our room, but it was mostly a grey drizzle as we unpacked and did things around the house.
We also managed some laundry and hung it up on the drying racks Arnheidur has in the computer room. Most German and Europeans in general don't use dryers, before they even moved, this was how she did laundry. I rather like the idea, as the clothes tend to last longer since they are exposed to less heat and this method is not dependant upon the use of electricity.
The time came for the subject of Homework to be tackled. As such, Ellert and I, along with Aunt Rachel's moral support, began to work on it.
I assisted as best I could. If you think math can be a pain, try doing it when the instructions are in a different language. Even my young pupil, who has become fluent in German for a year and a half, couldn't decipher some of the words, most of which were certain math terms in German.
Yeah.
After much toil, we completed a grand total of one and a half pages. A picture was take to commemorate the occasion.
A break was very much in order, according to Ellert, and thus we dismissed for the time being to continue later on. Aunt Rach and I had a snack and some tea while we watched a BBC TV series episode for good measure.
Later on, I heard a excited cry of
"Ma-git! Ma-git!"
Soon enough, Erla came into view, three snails in tow. "Es ist Schnecke!" (snail in German= Schnecke)
They provided much entertainment.
Went to wash my hands after snail #3 left a sticky trail of slime on my hands, and when I came back (and before I could intervene) there she was, digging snail #1 out of its shell....with a fork, no less. Thankfully this was the only casualty, and the others remained more or less intact, but a good deal harassed.
Later in the afternoon, the rain had let up so we made a run to the store. As I have explained before, nearly everything is closed in Germany on Sundays and Mondays, with the exception of non-chain stores, such as the grocery store I mentioned that is just down the street.
Shopping when hungry is never a very good idea, and as such, we came out with quite the haul.
Dinner was a quite yummy meal of cream-curry chicken, rice, and a German strawberry-lettuce-balsamic salad. Oh, and a little GF pound cake Aunt Rach found at the store.
With berries. And whip cream.
After the dishes were done, I introduced Aunt Rachel to one of my favorite BBC TV series, North and South, and we watched several episodes.
A splendid way to end the day and she loved it, of course. ;)
No comments:
Post a Comment