More Sick Week

On Tuesday 1/3 of our staff was sick at school - Naomi included. I was at home sick for the first time on Thursday. Strangely, the students had almost perfect attendance. This last week was a tough one to get through...but we may have found a house for next year! More on that later. For now we are finishing packing up for our trip to Sardinia and the East side of the Netherlands. We get the whole week off for Spring Break!!

2 x 14

This week was a bit difficult - but also good. School was pretty intensive as we had two 14 hour days. The first was an open night for primary school kids and it turned out pretty well. I set up a little room with activities for them to work on - giving a glimpse of some things we do. Mostly they skipped the activities and just asked a few questions. Most were a bit nervous about having two major subjects taught in English. The parents were generally pretty supportive of the idea though. We have to do the same thing again on Tuesday.

The second fourteen-hour day was on Friday. We went to a conference as a staff because we won a prize for the most innovative school in the Netherlands. This conference was our prize. There were a couple good sessions, but it was mostly a waste of time in regards to content. The main thing was just spending a day together outside of school.

I also had my final lesson observation this week. The results determine whether or not I will be offered a job this year. My supervisor was positive about it. It is a big relief to have finished my 'trial period' - a bit of a weight off the shoulders.

We have been working on wedding plans recently. It is a bit tricky planning two weddings - most couples don't need to think about that. At least they are two small weddings. So that helps. Now that some of that stuff is knocked out, along with taxes (we both got a refund!!!), we have started looking for a house.

The market right now is pretty unstable. Lots of houses have been sitting for a long time with no buyers. On the one hand, this could mean a good time to buy, but on the other we could be teetering on the edge of a landslide. The latter, along with the fact that houses in this area are below sea level, and that we are not attached to the area, make us look into renting.

Renting is really expensive for what you get compared to most places in the States. We toured the ultimate starter home yesterday - one of the cube houses I mentioned earlier. There are three for sale and we found out recently and additional unit is for rent. So we toured the rental. It would be a really amazing place to live as it is so unique and interesting. The location is also amazing - right in the heart of Rotterdam. The problem is that just rent is 1200 Euros a month and there are lots of additional costs on top of that. It is also 30+ minutes away from school.

Today we will check out a more reasonable option. It is close to where we live now and is a mostly stand-alone house - almost impossible to find here. I like this because we can play movies and music as loud as we want. It is significantly bigger than most places and has a backyard (also rare). The annoying thing is that it is right by the railroad tracks and a road. The price is right tho at 911 per month. Half the distance to school as the cube and nearly twice the space (depending how you look at it). Not nearly as cool though.

It is a gamble to figure out when to move. We save so much money by living here; but we would really limit our options if we wait too long. I think that if we find the ideal place, we should make the change. It would be sad to leave this place early...but it was only temporary anyway. We shall see what the future brings.

Sick Week

This week was a rather difficult one. I was rather sick on Wednesday and Thursday, but still managed at school. We made water clocks on Friday – students cut the tops off of some bottles, put a plastic cup with a hole in the bottom over the top, and let water drip thru for a minute, marking the level on the bottle. It was the last part of the day with two classes together. I was with another teacher who was a big help. He is more experienced and we work well together – a perfect support.

So anyway, I taught two classes at once and ran a successful activity. Then I did the same thing the next hour. The kids really liked it and nobody got seriously hurt and nothing important was broken. One of the administrators was even there for part of it and he gave me some nice compliments. Not a bad way to wrap up a tricky week at school.

This weekend we booked a car for our vacation to Sardinia – this was quite a hassle. But now we know how some things work. I also filed my taxes!!! Big job. Got it done. I don’t have to pay any to the States, and I even get a refund! Crazy. With the money I saved by doing it myself and the refund, we can pay for the vacation in two weeks!

Winter!

February was the beginning of winter this year in the Netherlands. Doesn't that seem a bit late? The birds and flowers are getting quite the shock right now. Last week there were daffodils blooming by the side of the road. The roses had not stopped in our garden. The thermometer dipped below freezing only a few times.

View from the living room.

This past week, it has not been above zero! The coldest week in 17 years or something. And to top it all off, it snowed on Friday! We got about an inch, but this pretty much shut things down. Trains not running, people not wanting to leave home, etc. Biking home was a bit of an adventure. We helped one truck get going at a stop light - there was a slight incline and it was glare ice. Pushing was tough as we could hardly stand on it.

View from the office.

Yesterday the park across the street was full of kids sledding down the little hill and skating on the ice. Naomi is hoping that they will soon start the skating extravaganza in the north of the NL. This happens once every 10-15 years that it gets cold enough for the canals to freeze over and people from all over the country come to skate (or watch) the 100 some kilometers of frozen canal. Even the royal family gets involved!

View from the kitchen.

Kubus Continued

(From Sunday) This week flew by. I can hardly remember if the things I remember were from this week or some other time. I know that I went to the gym once or twice. I also know that I didn’t get to spend much time with Naomi until the weekend.

Friday was supposed to be reserved for a dinner that two of my pupils invited Naomi and me to. They wanted to cook for us because I am their favorite teacher. It is very sweet of them. Unfortunately, one of the boys was sick all week, so we will have to postpone it.

Yesterday Naomi’s best friend came for a visit. We saw the cube houses again as I am obsessed with them still. There are three for sale – and one might be coming up for rent in May. Today we got a lot done around the house that has been postponed for ages. Unfortunately there is still a lot to do. For now it is bedtime. Tomorrow is a new day.