Kid starts school tomorrow and after drop her off we’ll pick up keys for our rental house. So, we are moving into a new phase of this relocation; less limbo, more routine. Of course, we have no furniture, etc. yet (our container is somewhere … Singapore?) so we can only settle so much. But, as we’re kind of eager to get into the house, we might just get an air bed and some dishes and essentials at Target or the op shop (“opportunity shop” – like Goodwill) and camp out in our new place just like we did for the final few days at our house in Seattle.
Kid will be going to school at Caulfield Primary. We like it for a few reasons:
· It is small. This never seemed important before; the more kids the better in Kid’s opinion. But as a new kid in a new country, small seems right. And, while for some schools it is a drawback (not as many resources) here it doesn’t seem to matter because they still have drama and art and music and PE and swimming (yes, swimming!) because they get extra funds due to
· the semi-immersion program in Japanese. All of the above (arts, sports and so on) are taught in Japanese. Cool, eh? All Victorian primary schools offer a second language (they call it LOTE: Language Other Than English) – but this goes further than a lesson or two per week and we are pretty stoked about it.
· It is diverse (more so than it looks online – I was very pleasantly surprised when we visited when we first arrived). You know me – educating kids in a diverse environment is my soapbox issue. I prioritize socioeconomic and cultural diversity over a lot of other aspects of school / education. Here, there seems to be a higher percentage of white kids than at her old school (which would be the case almost anywhere considering her old school was about 85% kids-of-color) but there are more cultures and language backgrounds represented (including among the white kids - Russian, Greek, Dutch...).
· The neighborhood is great: amazing public transport, lots of parks with good playgrounds, a ton of cafes with many, many different kinds of food. And I love the residential architecture - some early turn-of-the century stuff (lots of filigree ironwork, like in New Orleans), 1900s "California bungalows" and 20s - 40s deco, which I think is my fave. The house we are renting is about 1.5 km from school and we can take the tram. When we buy, we’ll be looking for somewhere within walking or tram distance of school.
· The uniform is navy and PURPLE and the monkey bars are AWESOME! Um, these are not our reasons. Someone else had a say and this is what she said. (BTW, all schools here – public and private – (with the exception maybe of the really alternative Steiner-type places) have uniforms.)
So, she is snug in her bed – a bit nervous I think but mostly excited. She reminded me as I headed to Safeway that I needed to get bananas for her “brain boost” – they snack at 10 AM and it must be fresh fruit or veg. (They collect all the peels and cores and bits in a bucket for the resident possums.) Guy and I will go to drop her off then figure out what we need for the house until our stuff gets here. (Link to the house on the realtor’s site here … might not work since the house has been let. Exterior paint job aside, it is a great house and I think we’ll be happy there once our stuff arrives. Singapore. Sheesh.)
For the past few weeks we’ve been exploring and trying to make AUSTRALIA AS EXCITING AS POSSIBLE!!! (so as to ensure a fairly painless assimilation for Kid). To wit: the Royal Melbourne Show (basically, a state fair, much like our beloved Puyallup back home), the Aquarium, Lollipops indoor playground, many, MANY excellent outdoor playgrounds (our favorites so far being Glen Eira’s own Princes Park, Halley Park and Caulfield Park), the animal farm in Ballarat, the Melbourne Museum, Collingwood Children’s Farm, lots of afternoon stops at cafes featuring hot chocolate and pastries, and on and on. It has been a veritable feast-of-stuff-a-six-year-old-loves. I have photo-documented all of course so I’ll try to get those uploaded ASAP. In the meantime, cross your fingers and hope for a smooth transition to this next phase. (Oh, and please buy our house. Thanks.)