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| The used to exchange spies over this bridge |
"I am a firm believer that one must struggle and be challenged to really grow. When I was younger I fell off tall things in a kayak or on skis to push this growth, now as I grow older I am attempting to do it with my family, not by the challenge of sport but the challenge of international living."
I wrote these words in August of 2012, almost a year ago now. We set off from Denver with this ambiguous goal of living abroad, and giving our kids an “international experience” for whatever that means, really at the time we had no idea.
We are almost at the half way mark in this little adventure of ours and I felt it was a good time to check in, on our progress. As I said last year I hoped that this experience would push us to “grow closer, grow a more global perspective”, and help our kids grow into something different then what they would have become had we stayed in Fort Collins. Not that staying in the best place to raise a family, Fort Collins, would have been a bad thing at all.
So let’s check in on our progress, I don´t want to come off like I am bragging, but this has been at times a very hard experience, and that struggle has left Erin and I with a sense of what I think is earned pride.
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| Owen loves his sister |
When we thought about moving here, we would add up the pros and cons of this move and our kids being bilingual would always be an afterthought. It made the list, but it was not near the top. Now Owen has as many German words as he does English, a number that recently has been growing almost by the hour. Addie, who was at first really put off by the 2nd harsh sounding language, has truly inspired me with her ability to wake up every day, throw herself into an uncomfortable situation (having to communicate in a foreign language with kids at her school), and really done one hell of a job! I am so proud of her, she struggled, accepted, found a way to make it work, and now knows more German then her mom and I, and recently has been doing some translation for us. Oh and the best part of this is that she learned that lesson all before she was 4. I am excited to see how this experience comes through in her character as she grows older.
The 2nd area of note is that our family almost spends too much time together. An example of this is yesterday when the kids came home Addie had some friends waiting for her. Addie took off outside and Owen was left inside not know what to do with himself, he ended up walking around the house calling her name until he figured out she was out back and then decided to sit on the porch and watch her play. It was kind of sad and touching all at the same time.
Our kids have grown used to the daily rhythm of wake up, take a 20 minute bike ride to school together ( with an occasional stop at a bakery for a treat), one or both of the us pick them up after their nap, and then we are all home between 3-4 depending on the day. From then on we make dinner together, play outside together, and just enjoy watching Owen walk around following his sisters every move, or Addie play Dr. or school. It´s times like these that I am so grateful to be given the time to watch my children grow.
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| Getting ready to go kayaking |
Professionally I have struggled with being out of the classroom, I really miss it, and am looking for ways to work with students more often next year. With that said I have learned more then I ever thought I would know about computers, and often wonder what my 23 year old self (when I was a climbing, kayaking, skiing bum) would say to this 33 year old self that lives in a city and works on computers for a living. I have also been keeping my teaching foot in the game with an online masters program that keeps me up to date on best practices, and hopefully keeps me pedagogically sharp!
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| Barbie dream house |
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| Our new cars |
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| Owen´s old man look |
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| His teachers call him a "gigolo" |
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