journal of a wacky expat family
Back to work today. Luckily it was a slow-ish day but still plenty of action.
After giving the kids nearly three weeks of close contact inside our house, we are trying hard to find our polite, nice children. Towards that end ...
Read MoreJess told me an antecdote yesterday which I think is a perfect example of the types of frustrations you can have living abroad.
Last week Jess and Henry went to the grocery store to buy some groceries and she saw a pack of gum that she wanted to buy. The gum (apparently) was a new flavor that reminded her of the Wintergreen flavor that you can get in the US but you cannot buy here in Spain.
During checkout, the package of gum wouldn't ring up so the checkout lady was unable to sell it to Jess. In Spanish (obviously), the lady asked Jess if she really wanted to buy it. Jess responded with an emphatic YES. Each checkout counter has one of those pathetic help me lights that the checker can turn on if there is a problem. She turned it on. No one came. Jess is getting more annoyed, but she can't really say anything because she doesn't know how.
The lady looks at Jess. Jess looks at the lady. The lady asks Jess a bunch of stuff. Jess tells the lady she doesn't speak Spanish. The lady misunderstands Jess's Spanish (I suppose hearing the word 'no'), thinks she doesn't want the gum and puts it into her drawer and moves on.
Jess realizes she's been misunderstood, points at the gum, does one of those "I don't speak the language but I'm going to point and grunt until you realize what I want" motions and says (in English) that she really freaking wants the gum.
Checkout lady is frustrated. Jess is frustrated. Line of people behind Jess and Henry are frustrated.
Jess finally gives up, pays, and leaves hating Spain just a little bit more than when she left the house.
On the walk home, Henry doesn't understand what just happened. Who cares about the gum?
It's not about the gum.
It's about being able to communicate your wants and needs in a situation. Like an adult.
The only analog I can come up with is like trying to talk to someone on the telephone with a really bad connection. If you lose 1 out of every 4 words, the conversation starts to get annoying but you can carry on. If you lose 1 out of every 2 words, the conversation starts to break down but you can sorta kinda make it work if you really have to. If you can only hear 1 out of every 10 or 20 words, then you might as well hang up the phone because the conversation simply doesn't work. That's what it's like.
Not being able to communicate brings with it a lot of frustration that manifests itself in all sorts of fun passive-aggressive ways. And by fun I don't mean fun.
Spanish isn't that hard.
True, it's not.
The US Government lists Spanish as a Category I language for native English speakers. That means if I work at it like a second job and practice approximately 20 hours per week, then I should reach fluency in around 1 year. If I study less then the time scales out proportionally to multiples of years.
Am I here to learn Spanish? No I am not. Would I like to be able to focus on it? Of course I would. The honest truth is that we're not going to live here forever. The long term motivation simply isn't there for us to down prioritize other activities (that everyone has with a busy life, busy job, and busy kids) in order to prioritize studying Spanish.
Do I wish I could change that? Yes I do. Because until it does I'm basically walking around with a broken telephone, unable to talk. It's not the other people's fault. It's my fault. But at this point it looks like I'm not going to get a new phone.
Last night we started our Christmas vacation by having dinner with some Swedish friends. They have small children so they came over (much easier than going out) and we introduced them to homemade hamburgers with minced bacon inside them. BAM!
Friday was basically a lost day at school. The kids got to wear pajamas, eat snacks and watch movies all day. In fact, it's now Saturday night and they are still wearing those same pajamas? Does that make us bad parents? Probably.
Today we slept in and shifted into Christmas mode. We spent a few hours playing games and putting together our North Pole Christmas Lego set. Then we grabbed a quick FaceTime with Mom & Dad before watching Christmas movies. My fitbit is telling me I've only taken a few thousand steps today. If it had a face I'm sure it would be disapproving.
Working on the Lego Christmas set:
Finished product:
Olive did not participate in the Lego fun:
Jess and Adeline making progress on the wrapping:
Mitchell (to Jess): I really did have mono when I was younger.
Henry (overhearing our conversation): You had mono?
Mitchell: Yes
Henry: I thought you had dos manos! Hahaha!
Me: What are you going to get Mommy for Christmas?
“I was going to get her a diamond ring, but then I found out they’re really expensive.”
Luckily Jess returns today (Thursday).
I'm so thankful to have four days to hang out with the kids but, it's ... thoroughly ... exhausting ... to do both "kid stuff" and "work stuff". I'm in no way a Hilary fan but as she says "It takes a village to raise a child". Earlier this week I told Jess that I was "Friday tired" and it was only Tuesday!
I've prioritized sleep over blogging so I've missed a few days of exciting, action-packed updates.
Wednesday Morning Selfies:
Making dumplings:
Chilling outside his classroom door, waiting for school to start. #toocoolforschool
Tuesday Morning Selfies:
Good morning!
Today Adeline and Henry are having a christmas concert. Henry is playing his trumpet and Addi is singing. Its weird christmas is next week but we are having a christmas concert a week before Christmas; so confusing. Also Mom gets back today as well so she will be able to come and see the concert! MERRY CHRISTMAS!
We were the A-Team today. I got up as usual and did some work. Then got all the kids up around 7:00am. All three did great and were (mostly) helpful. We were out the door by 8:20. Record time for us!
The morning playlist for the kids to get ready to:
1. Roar - Katy Perry
2. Uptown Funk - Mark Ronson
3. Fun - Pitbull
We danced and jammed all the way to school.
Over the weekend Jess talked a lot with Truman about his uniform and they jointly agreed to wear the uniform shirt but he got to wear his own pants. He was pretty happy to go to school and I was relieved. After I dropped him off in his classroom, I was talking with one of our friends (who was going to pick him up from school) and I couldn't find Truman in the classroom to say 'goodbye'. I asked the teaching assistant and she said he was in the bathroom. Strange. I go into the bathroom and the poor kid has his pants half way off (they are european 'skinny' jeans so they aren't easy to get off) and he's trying so hard not to freak out. His assistant teacher told him he had to change pants (which is according to the teacher's policy). I told him he didn't have to but he felt like he needed to since his teacher told him. I felt so bad for him. I helped him get the ill-fitting uniform pants on and then he went back into the classroom. I told the teaching assistant he was going to wear his own pants for the rest of the week, and to please relay the message to the teacher. The poor teaching assistant was clearly uncomfortable but she agreed to relay the message. As a parent, you don't want to be a dick. Teaching is hard work and over-bearing and obnoxious parents don't help. But seriously, is it worth breaking a kid's spirit to force all 4 year olds to arbitrarily wear a uniform? I don't think so. Worse case, we pull him and teach him at home for the rest of the semester. I bet we can get through A People's History of the United States and Dying Every Day: Seneca at the Court of Nero before summer break. :)
He is not interested in going back to school tomorrow. Hopefully it goes well.
Morning selfies:
Bone Broth Breakfast:
More morning selfies:
Truman got a new for being brave while Jess is in London. He parked it on my gigantic nose:
Scheming ...
I couldn't keep up with Truman on the way into school:
Fang's payday. I love to butcher Chinese writing ...
We were so early that Truman got to read a book while waiting for his teacher to unlock the door:
Tonight at cubbies the kids made Olof (from Frozen) in clay:
Then enacted the Christmas story. Truman is Joseph. Henry was a wise man, Addi was a shepard (I think):
You can't really see, but all three kids, plus Olive are in Truman's bunk bed. As the only adult in the house, I got to do "fun prevention" and break up the party:
“I aspire to be the person my dog thinks I am.”
In some respect, Sunday was a comedy of errors. Around 7am, the quiet house got a whole lot quieter as the power went out. Not a critical deal since the temp is in the 40s - 50s, but annoying none-the-less. And the sun doesn't rise until approximately 8:30am so it gets pretty dark in a house without power.
We had to call the power company twice. If you ever want to be put in your place, come to Spain and call the electric company. You get to talk in Spanish and feel dumb. It's a good way to stay humble.
We have been wanting to try out a new church in Madrid. We left a little late because a certain 4 year old (who will remain nameless, but rhymes with 'THRUMAN') decided to throw a tantrum and delay us. We took off with the GPS guiding us a little late but I hoped we could make up some time on the way. You never want to walk in late on your first day.
Driving in Madrid is a lot like sailing into the wind. There are so many crazy roads, roundabouts and one-ways that it's nearly impossible to go directly you to your destination. Instead, you get close, then tack to another direction, then get close, but can't make the turn, then get close, but you're going the wrong way and there's no turn lane, then you get close, and .... there's no parking.
We gave up once we were 30 minutes late for church. Truman fell asleep in the car anyway so it was for the best.
Picture of the candles in our kitchen:
As I drove through our neighborhood I discovered that a transformer in our neighborhood blew up. Smoke and police cars everywhere:
Henry being Henry. Addi and Truman look tortured...
Truman slept with Henry last night. Henry complained that he "didn't get to sleep at all" last night. He's sleeping with me tonight so tomorrow I can complain "that I didn't get to sleep at all" last night. :)
Kick-butt yellow curry we had for dinner. I told the kids it was chicken and beef curry. In fact, I used left over turkey (from Thanksgiving) and beef liver. I'm freaking evil. MUAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! They loved it. :)
Last day before our travel day back to Madrid, school and work.
After a repeat of our "supplemental English breakfast" we hopped on the bus to Disney Studios. Disney Studios is very similar to MGM in Florida, only so much colder!
Little T-Rex hands:
Waiting for Disney Jr. Class Cooper face:
Handy Manny:
Stopping for crêpes. Apparently needed the energy since Disney Studios doesn't sell popcorn:
Truman gave a convincing argument to get his own crêpe:
Stunt show had a real-life Lightning McQueen!
Pork knuckle and sauerkraut for supper! :)
Henry tasting a waffle and jam in Disney Village:
Henry at the hotel pool getting soaked by a bucket of water:
Related Reading:
This was the write-up in the school paper. Henry was mentioned by name. It was a good confidence booster! His team is good this year: 4-0.
Yesterday Henry's class took a field trip to the Sofia Reina Museum to study art. One of the pieces he studies was Pablo Picasso's Guernica. Pretty cool!
Jorge Gonzalez's Seated Woman:
It's been a few days since an actual blog post since I'm still trying to post something from each day of our Paris trip. Let's see if I'm successful.
A few things:
Fourth day of trying to find a proper breakfast. :)
The hotel informed us that they had a breakfast buffet but if you wanted to have a "English breakfast" then you had to order and pay extra. We weren't really sure what that meant but upon further clarification, "English breakfast" meant "hot breakfast". Otherwise, they offered cereal, bread, donuts, croissants, hot chocolate and cold cuts. The kids were in heaven with the cereal and donut options. Needless to say, Jess and I opted for the English breakfast of over easy eggs and bacon.
After breakfast, we took the bus to Disneyland. My ever-organized wife had the tickets printed off in advance (of course) so we didn't have to wait in line to buy new. The park was decorated for Christmas which was a really nice touch.
On our way to Disneyland. Truman not being a team player:
We road several rides and had a few fast passes. Addi and I road on the Space Mountain ride together which was probably my favorite. The November weather in Paris was cold but not terribly cold. We had to deal with many people smoking in line (despite the signs posted saying 'No Smoking'). Oh well.
We really struggled finding a proper restaurant inside Disneyland so we made a last minute decision to leave the park and try to wait in line for a table at Mickey's Cafe (a mostly reservations only restaurant where the kids get to meet five of the Disney characters). Probably the best food we had while at Disney.
Main Street:
The specialty of the day. I didn't eat it but I'm sure one of the unintended side effects is it induces vomiting. Gross.
Buzz Lightyear. Jess beat us all.
Henry driving cars:
Remember, when you're on a ride at Disneyland, you can sit holding hands but spontaneous dancing is STRICTLY PROHIBITED!
This is my favorite picture from one of the rides. You can't see Addi, but look at Henry and Truman's faces. Compare that with my face and Jess's face. We look like we're sitting at a bus stop. :)
Eating Disney popcorn, waiting in line.
Christmas parade.
Dinner at Mickey's Cafe.
When we lifted up the carafe of water, it left a smiley face. Life is good.
We saw Mickey at Mickey's Cafe. Go figure.
The park closing show that night was a Christmas themed show. It was pretty cool.
Related Reading:
We set off again to find a good hearty French breakfast at a local cafe. The one recommended to us by the owner of the apartment was closed the first day, so we checked on it again today and it was open!
We went in and ordered drinks (coffee and juice), and then tried to look a menu. :) There were two choices of food with our coffees: croissants and little croissant rolls with chocolate inside them. We were a little surprised since the material we got with the apartment said we could get a typical breakfast at this restaurant. Only then did we realize that coffee and croissant is the typical breakfast, and if we wanted scrambled eggs and bacon we were out of luck!
After that we paid our bill and hit the road, a little disappointed but determined to make the most of our day.
Our missions for the day were the Louvre, Notre Dame, Starbucks, and then somewhere that sells a swimsuit in November (Jess forgot hers).
Success on all accounts!
French cartoons before bed:
Walking the streets:
This is the French equivalent of scrambled eggs:
Street markets:
The Louvre:
ML:
Ask Henry how to hold it when you have to go to the bathroom :)
Right now we're packing, packing and packing.
There's a saying in Ericsson that no vacation goes unpunished before, or after (i.e. You build up work before the vacation and then have to dig yourself out when you return from vacation). The same is true with family vacations I suppose.
Olive goes to doggy camp today. Then we head to the airport around 4:00pm or so. We'll be in our hotel in Paris before the end of the day. :)
Tired already. Not sure how that can be.
Getting ready for vacation in Paris Wednesday - Tuesday! That means lots of logistic work for Jess and lots of work planning for me (to be away from the office). It should be worth it though.
Luckily there is no time change and the currency is the same. Awesome.
Truman threw a huge fit about wearing his uniform yesterday. After I convinced him to put it on, he just threw himself on the floor in defeat. He was in complete denial that he'd have to go to school in his uniform (last week he refused and he got to stay home with Jess ...)
Addi reading to Truman for bed last night:
Saw these two super cool and hip people last night while we were putting the kids to bed so I needed to take a picture. I'm not sure who they were, but they sure looked awesome! I bet they are famous ...
Lots of down-time this weekend. It actually felt like we all got to hang out for a few days. I can't remember the last time that happened.
Henry and I rediscovered our love for Star Wars Monopoly. The weather is still nice here so we played outside on the terrace.
Now that Adeline is getting started on the piano, I thought it was a good moment for us to start learning Apple's Garageband software. We didn't know anything about it when we started so played around with it for a while. We still don't know much but we recorded our version of Buffalo Springfield's "For What It's Worth". You can listen to our little experiment here. Be gentle. :) I can't carry a tune to save my life but I'm hoping if we get the kids started singing they'll be great later on.
See if you can hear Addi's piano track in the background...
Teaching life skills:
Our professional "on-the-floor" recording studio:
Yes, they were all cheating...
It's not too often that I look forward to the arrival of a new month quite like I've been looking forward to November.
The last two weeks of October have seemed like a never ending Halloween party. We counted this morning and they celebrated Halloween five times with five different costumes!
What a difference a year makes.
Last year we drove across town to a village/town called Humera (south of Pozuelo which is where we live now). There are about 15 houses there that put on a trick-or-treat event. Nothing in our neighborhood. Nothing at the kids' school.
This year there were multiple activities at school. Multiple trick-or-treat nights (on different nights) plus Addi's Halloween birthday party.
On a side note: our house and car got egged last night. Silly Spanish kids.
On the way home from trick-or-treating last night:
The week is flying by and we are all gradually wearing down from the activities of life. About this time every week we ask ourselves if we have scheduled in too many activities in our weekly lives. I'm sure families everywhere ask themselves the same questions.
Truman is learning to cook. He helped make breakfast the other day. He's taking after his sister in that regard. He's really showing interest. On the other hand, Henry is unaware the kitchen even exists until the food is prepared.
Poor Henry jammed his fingers playing basketball. He now gets to wear cool medical tape on his hand to keep his fingers together. He wore a bag on his hand this morning in the shower to keep the tape dry. It was a funny sight but not the best time for a photo. :)