To School

My first blog posting. Not exactly a "first" that I expected to come along with Europe, but one of many. Today was back to work for me and Elena's first day at her new school. We all spent about an hour at Ukkie (which Elena has confused with "yucky"). Elena started behind parents legs with thumb in her mouth and progressed through a snack of juice and apple (you can sell that kid anything with fruit) to sitting on a potty and driving a mean fire truck before we left. It is different from her old school which we all miss, but will be a good experience for Elena. We all left today with a little more Dutch under our belts. It will be a slow process for Mom and Dad but Elena is such a sponge right now that the school environment should really move her along. There is a large contingent of kids in the +/- 2 range at school so Elena has a big, and boisterous, peer group that she will be learning and playing with and that should really move her along. After Ukkie Elena and Erin were off to the local 7-11 look alike (Food City Wilton ME is starting to look like shoppers paradise) to battle for more food. I checked into my new office, got the rundown of "rules" and got my computer set up -- some things never change. After a few hours at work I zipped home with my Christmas box (containing food and booze -- both of which are currently in short supply) and we went on more family errands. Our first trip out with a little more "traffic". The streets of Utrecht are controlled chaos -- barely -- one way, but two way for pedestrians and sneaky bikers, bus lanes, car lanes, cars, bikes, people all on an 8 foot road with buildings on one side and a canal on the other -- zippy and weavy. Fortunately the Gazelles (our bikes, mine green and Erin's blue) were up to the challenge. We hit the hardware store -- 12 foot ceilings with 3 foot deep wooden drawers all the way up. "I need pipe clamps" Out with the ladder, up to the top, out with the drawer, neatly divided lengthwise into little bins, grab the right size, the bin goes back up. The receipt is written by hand and the math is done in their heads.