Wednesday 7/1/15
The girls are so excited! We are off to our second welcome event of the week! This time it is a casual coffee in the sports foyer, The lions Lair, with new folks and old, a chance to meet some new people. I first must stop in to the counseling office to talk about Danny's German class, at the teachers request. I send the girls off to the coffee on their own-I don't even walk them over. Let's see how they manage. I am floored by the level of interest in how Danny is doing after only TWO days! Pam Mobley, the counselor, is waiting to chat, and Mr. Lowry( first name?!) comes in as well. They are both so full of time and interest--wow! I do go into our family situation a bit to them, the fact that Danny's sisters have ID, because though to me all seems well with that and it is just a fact of life to him,who really knows? Pam's office is so relaxing and calm I want to lay down on the couch next to the fluffy stuffed elephant and stay there all day! She assures me that this is helpful and that her door is open to anyone anytime. She may be sorry she told me that! ( side note-- I ask her about what brought her to St.Johns and she and her husband, a teacher at the NATO school in Brussels, have a non-profit Christian mission! I will look forward to learning more about that) Both of them tell me how swell Danny is (duh!). As far as the German goes, obviously he is behind a semester, and we will consult with his teacher to get her recommendations on catching him up. They assure me the teacher is happy to have him in the class.
Over to the coffee I go the girls already have name tags on and crumbs around their mouths, so obviously they are getting along just fine. One gal gives a little welcome speech and encourages us to contact our buddy family or anyone else. I try to decide which group to bust in to...and end up chatting with a nice gal from Germany who has been at the school 2 years. She has K-2-4 grade kids. Leinchen, pronounced like Gretchen with an L she tells me, is a chatty and friendly person. While I am telling her a bit about the girls and my hopes for their experience in Belgium, she says "the person you need is Jo Taylor, the elementary principals assistant! She knows everything, I will take you there and introduce you" excellent! So as the coffee finishes up we head over. She kindly explains that she was lost in the school for the first few months, which is nice because I have no idea where we are going! I recognize Jo Taylor from the orientation on Monday and introduce myself and the girls. I explain a bit about what jobs they liked in the states,what my hopes are, and leave our contact info. Later when I check my email at the hotel parking lot, she has already responded! The elementary principal will meet us on Wednesday and interview the girls, then show them the early childhood area and the cafeteria, and we shall see! I think this is tremendous progress for our second week here, and I have high hopes for next week!
The girls and I then walk to town to tackle Proximus again re: phones, ING re; bank
cards ( no luck) and visit HEMA for our euro coffee pods. Lucky to have a HEMA right in town. Quick stop at Carrefour for the heaviest groceries I can find and then home again
We love it when Danny comes home from school. We all sit in my warm kitchen and tell all about our various days, encounter by encounter, school period by period. Such a fun together time!
Charlotte sporting her SJIS hoodie!!
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