S'Cool to go to School

Our morning ride to school takes us past the affluence of the seaside homes along the coast. Today is spectacular with the sun low in the morning sky reflecting off the calm waters of the Sound. Tom, Maja and I are riding our coaster bikes along the quiet road on our way to school having a few laughs and enjoying the view of a cruise ship, some sailboats and a rowing club out for a morning rip. People come out of their houses wrapped in housecoats and walk to the nearest jetty for a quick dip in the ocean. This is the idyllic ride to school that I had imagined from way back in Edmonton.

People who live along the Gammelstrandvej often have a little private beach or sitting area surrounded by hedges and many have their own swimming pier. No pictures of morning swims - swimsuits are not common and swimmers are typically quite wrinkled.

Maja and Tom have started school in the regular program with all the Danish kids. Typically, newcomers are placed in a language intensive program called M1 or M2 (depending on age), but their big brains and lack of peers in the M1 program prompted the school to start them directly in the regular curriculum. They are loving school here and who wouldn't? It sounds like a lot of fun and games. This week is a "market" at the school where they work at booths making and selling things to each other. I suggested we fill a shipping container and sell the goods to Toys 'R Us but the damn socialists won't let me. 

Steen started into the M2 program about 2 weeks ago. His response to the first day of school was "That was the best day of school I've ever had!" There is only 10 kids in his class, all from other parts of the world who are learning Danish together and (somewhat) keeping pace with regular math and science. They will get moved into regular programming when they are ready. Day one consisted of obtaining an iPad, creating a shopping list and walking to the grocery store to purchase ingredients to the lunch they will cook on Day 2. Day 3 of school was cancelled because the teacher had an appointment! This is starting to sound suspiciously like NAIT!

What is up with this country and their commitment to sport? Maja went to her first gymnastics class yesterday and the instructor noticed some raw talent (gee, thanks Kerrie) so she was invited to try out for the team. Four sessions per week, 3 hours each. "Twelve hours a week?" I ask mathematically.  She looks at me seriously and says "We want to be the best. We are all here to be the best in the country. That takes a lot of time and commitment." Next we get Steen into rowing and we'll find out he needs to take a private jet to train at Oxford on the Thames … if he wants to be the best.

Slowly but surely we fill up our calendar as we get the kids established and start to plan out holidays and vacations. It's always a delicate balance between travel and budget, sports and family, rural drives and urban hikes, beer and milk in the fridge.