Well, Robbie, poor boy had his adenoids removed today. It wasn't exactly a pleasant experience for him, especially after he came round after the anaesthetic. I went with him into the operating theatre and stayed with him until he was under anaesthetic.
The anaesthetist dealing with him was a very nice older lady, with a great bedside manner. I've noticed that when doctors are about to perform some invasive procedure on you they start chatting to you about a totally unrelated subject to distract you. So as she was about to insert the IV needle into Robbie's arm she asked him about his school. Awkward pause as Robbie looks at me. "He doesn't go to school," I say, "he learns at home." "Oh, with you," says the anaesthetist, "That's quite rare here". Comments the theatre sister, "I read an interesting article about it in the paper recently."
Then the anaesthetist switched topics to soccer (always a safe one with young boys at the moment) and said to Robbie, "So are you looking forward to watching Germany play Argentina tomorrow night?"
Thursday, June 29, 2006
Wednesday, June 28, 2006
26th Carnival of homeschooling
Dh has fulfilled his promise to take our two eldest children to a theme park today and I'm left at home with the two youngest (one of whom is in bed with fever).
I think I'll console myself by a visit to the Carnival of Homeschooling at the homeschool cafe(which features a post by me) and a lovely caramel latte.
I think I'll console myself by a visit to the Carnival of Homeschooling at the homeschool cafe(which features a post by me) and a lovely caramel latte.
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
Scatty's Taxi Service
We spent the weekend in sporting fever (and that doesn't include the World Cup soccer we watched). Saturday I had to run Rowena up to Bremerhaven (3/4 of an hour's drive away) to train in the hall where she would be taking part in the championship the next day. Then it was back down to Bremen to watch Robbie taking part in a soccer tournament where his team came last (which was predictable, considering most of the other teams were a year older than them, they were two players short and they were playing on a full-size field for the first time). I felt like a kind of emotional sink for Robbie's frustration and disappointment, which had me praying that we wouldn't have the same situation the next day with Rowena.
Sunday morning saw Rowena and I going bright and early to Bremerhaven for the State Championships in Artistic roller skating (not such a big deal because the state Rowena skates in is the smallest one in Germany and is just two cities). We came home at about 10pm that night, Rowena clutching the little trophy she got for coming in third place overall in her section.
One of the results of the competition is that she saw the dance skating (similar to ice dance) and now wants to start doing that as well. Most of the girls in her group are doing it but I had not wanted to push her into it. At this rate, we might as well put up a tent on the skating rink for her.
This is what our weekly schedule looks like :
Monday - I take Rowena to skating where she trains from 3.15pm till 8pm. (Including 45 minutes of ballet).
Robbie cycles to Karate and then to soccer training.
Tuesday - I take Rowena to her riding lesson.
Robbie catches the bus into the city to play Yugioh cards in the back room at a gaming shop. I fetch him at 7pm.
Wednesday - Robbie cycles to soccer training or I take him if I'm free.
Thursday - I take Rowena to her piano lesson.
Robbie catches the bus into the city (see Tuesday).
I take Rowena to skating training which on a Thursday is conveniently at the (defrosted in summer) ice rink, minutes away from Robbie's Yugioh activity. Rowena finishes training and I fetch Robbie.
Friday - If Robbie has no football matches I take him to chess and afterwards he goes to karate, which is right next door.
Now Rowena will also be having roller dance on a Friday, so I still have to get my mind around that one.
If Robbie has a match, we forget the above two things and take him there and watch him play.
Saturday - I take Rowena to skating training, hopefully leaving the two little ones with their father.
Sunday - I collapse. Or there's a tournament and I swear and wonder when I'm going to get the washing done. I'm hoping that Rowena won't get really good at skating because then she would be in the Bremen State team, which would mean training on Sunday too.
Both Robbie and Rowena are having their adenoids removed at the end of the week. The only good thing about it (besides the fact that it would help their breathing) is that they are not allowed to do any sports activities next week.
Sunday morning saw Rowena and I going bright and early to Bremerhaven for the State Championships in Artistic roller skating (not such a big deal because the state Rowena skates in is the smallest one in Germany and is just two cities). We came home at about 10pm that night, Rowena clutching the little trophy she got for coming in third place overall in her section.
One of the results of the competition is that she saw the dance skating (similar to ice dance) and now wants to start doing that as well. Most of the girls in her group are doing it but I had not wanted to push her into it. At this rate, we might as well put up a tent on the skating rink for her.
This is what our weekly schedule looks like :
Monday - I take Rowena to skating where she trains from 3.15pm till 8pm. (Including 45 minutes of ballet).
Robbie cycles to Karate and then to soccer training.
Tuesday - I take Rowena to her riding lesson.
Robbie catches the bus into the city to play Yugioh cards in the back room at a gaming shop. I fetch him at 7pm.
Wednesday - Robbie cycles to soccer training or I take him if I'm free.
Thursday - I take Rowena to her piano lesson.
Robbie catches the bus into the city (see Tuesday).
I take Rowena to skating training which on a Thursday is conveniently at the (defrosted in summer) ice rink, minutes away from Robbie's Yugioh activity. Rowena finishes training and I fetch Robbie.
Friday - If Robbie has no football matches I take him to chess and afterwards he goes to karate, which is right next door.
Now Rowena will also be having roller dance on a Friday, so I still have to get my mind around that one.
If Robbie has a match, we forget the above two things and take him there and watch him play.
Saturday - I take Rowena to skating training, hopefully leaving the two little ones with their father.
Sunday - I collapse. Or there's a tournament and I swear and wonder when I'm going to get the washing done. I'm hoping that Rowena won't get really good at skating because then she would be in the Bremen State team, which would mean training on Sunday too.
Both Robbie and Rowena are having their adenoids removed at the end of the week. The only good thing about it (besides the fact that it would help their breathing) is that they are not allowed to do any sports activities next week.
Mission Impossible?
Last night, just as I should have been putting the little ones to bed, I got sidetracked. They were playing with lego and Leo wanted me to help him because he was having trouble finding some pieces. Our lego is stored in two rectangular bins and is frequently dumped out on the floor in the playroom. While I was searching for the pieces I realised that the smallest pieces always manage to end up at the bottom of the box. I had thought previously of sorting the lego and last night I tried out my idea. The next two hours were spent sifting through the boxes to find the small pieces and put them into little drawers, according to type - eg ones with only one connections (the really teeny tiny ones) together, the ones with two connections, pieces of people, etc etc. All the time I was saying to Leo, "Now you don't need to dump the lego out anymore, and you will put the pieces in the right place, won't you."
I think the lunatic asylum has a special straitjacket and padded room already reserved for me.
I think the lunatic asylum has a special straitjacket and padded room already reserved for me.
Monday, June 26, 2006
Socialisation quote of the day
Thanks to Janine Cate
I find it kind of ironic that one of the most frequent critisism against homeschooling is "socialization." Comments like, "They need friends!" and "What about the prom?" indicate a belief that school leads to friendship and connectedness. I think the opposite is true. School disconnects children from their families and from other children. More and more we see the "alone in a crowd" phenomenon, children with a pathetic need to fit it, but lacking any true relationships.
I find it kind of ironic that one of the most frequent critisism against homeschooling is "socialization." Comments like, "They need friends!" and "What about the prom?" indicate a belief that school leads to friendship and connectedness. I think the opposite is true. School disconnects children from their families and from other children. More and more we see the "alone in a crowd" phenomenon, children with a pathetic need to fit it, but lacking any true relationships.
Thursday, June 22, 2006
Update on our situation
In this post I mentioned that the education authorities had gotten wind of us and demanded that we apply for exemption of compulsory schooling. I sent a letter off requesting this, on the grounds that we move frequently and that we want to ensure educational continuity for our children.
Today I received a letter back requesting proof (eg. my husband's work contract) that we are not likely to be here much longer. For me this argument is problematical because it starts looking a bit silly if we are still here in two years time. The whole point is, though, that we can be forced to move at a moment's notice, even if we have the opportunity to live in one place for four years.
The letter stated the current legal situation (yawn - paragraph this and section that!)One thing that really jumped out at me was that "The state has control of education". I wondered why they can't at least exercise this control (or supervision or oversight, depending on which word you translate it with) by conducting regular inspections of homeschoolers, as is done in other countries. One country in which this works well is Ireland. I have spoken with a school inspector from the Irish National Educational Welfare Board, who is extremely positive to all manifestations of homeschooling, from curriculum-led to unschooling. I just think that the German authorities are too fearful and narrow-minded to consider this.
Another non sequitur in the letter is that the state determines the curriculum and educational objectives and routes. I guess they just conveniently forgot about all those Montessori and Waldorf schools that do their own thing. Nor did anyone tell them that the educational authorities themselves are trying to go more in the direction of natural learning. Sheesh. And of course the fact that I stated in my letter that our goal is to prepare our English-speaking children for the Irish school-leaving certificate has no effect on them - while they are in Germany we can forget all that and let them fall behind (if we weren't unschoolers - I'm speaking hypothetically here) while they moulder in a German school.
If they ask us, then why are we in Germany if we don't want to send our children to school here, my husband says he will answer, "To make money out of you idiots, because the German education system is so bad they have to use engineers educated in places like South Africa to do the work here." Hopefully they won't understand him.
Today I received a letter back requesting proof (eg. my husband's work contract) that we are not likely to be here much longer. For me this argument is problematical because it starts looking a bit silly if we are still here in two years time. The whole point is, though, that we can be forced to move at a moment's notice, even if we have the opportunity to live in one place for four years.
The letter stated the current legal situation (yawn - paragraph this and section that!)One thing that really jumped out at me was that "The state has control of education". I wondered why they can't at least exercise this control (or supervision or oversight, depending on which word you translate it with) by conducting regular inspections of homeschoolers, as is done in other countries. One country in which this works well is Ireland. I have spoken with a school inspector from the Irish National Educational Welfare Board, who is extremely positive to all manifestations of homeschooling, from curriculum-led to unschooling. I just think that the German authorities are too fearful and narrow-minded to consider this.
Another non sequitur in the letter is that the state determines the curriculum and educational objectives and routes. I guess they just conveniently forgot about all those Montessori and Waldorf schools that do their own thing. Nor did anyone tell them that the educational authorities themselves are trying to go more in the direction of natural learning. Sheesh. And of course the fact that I stated in my letter that our goal is to prepare our English-speaking children for the Irish school-leaving certificate has no effect on them - while they are in Germany we can forget all that and let them fall behind (if we weren't unschoolers - I'm speaking hypothetically here) while they moulder in a German school.
If they ask us, then why are we in Germany if we don't want to send our children to school here, my husband says he will answer, "To make money out of you idiots, because the German education system is so bad they have to use engineers educated in places like South Africa to do the work here." Hopefully they won't understand him.
Didn't I say it?
A few weeks ago I stated that homeschoolers who argue along the lines of religious freedom in Germany are barking up the wrong tree.
A couple of days ago, the German Constitutional Court decided in a homeschooling case and I'm afraid the news isn't good for homeschoolers. They declared that, "freedom of religion doesn't give parents the right to keep their children away from school" and that no-one is entitled to protect their children from displays of different beliefs or or points of view.
I know that this is a case that goes back years and that once people have started arguing along one line of reasoning, they can't switch arguments and say, "Oh, actually, we're not doing this for religious reasons any more." I do hope that people start thinking about the way they approach the situation, especially the very well known US organisation (that I won't name, but I'm sure you all know whom I'm referring to) that supports and sponsors many of the religious homeschoolers here.
Of course, it goes without saying that this judgement has negative repercussions for all homeschoolers in Germany, even those of us secular types to whom it doesn't even refer. Yesterday my friend in Bremen received a letter from the education authorities in which this judgement was referred to, as if it now gives them more leverage against her family.
A couple of days ago, the German Constitutional Court decided in a homeschooling case and I'm afraid the news isn't good for homeschoolers. They declared that, "freedom of religion doesn't give parents the right to keep their children away from school" and that no-one is entitled to protect their children from displays of different beliefs or or points of view.
I know that this is a case that goes back years and that once people have started arguing along one line of reasoning, they can't switch arguments and say, "Oh, actually, we're not doing this for religious reasons any more." I do hope that people start thinking about the way they approach the situation, especially the very well known US organisation (that I won't name, but I'm sure you all know whom I'm referring to) that supports and sponsors many of the religious homeschoolers here.
Of course, it goes without saying that this judgement has negative repercussions for all homeschoolers in Germany, even those of us secular types to whom it doesn't even refer. Yesterday my friend in Bremen received a letter from the education authorities in which this judgement was referred to, as if it now gives them more leverage against her family.
Thursday, June 01, 2006
Socialisation quote of the day
This time from my friend, Viola, whose daughter is a talented young figure skater in our club. She attends training four, sometimes five times a week (afternoons and evenings)and was recently in the newspaper, which gained her some negative attention from some of her schoolmates.
School can be a lonely place.
School can be a lonely place.
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
Socialisation quote of the day
I really like this one. It is an affirmation of something I wrote in this post
From Sue Fairhead at Education Otherwise :
People, on the whole, are social creatures. Being sociable is part of our nature. If we allow children to develop in their own way, they will begin to relate to other people when they are ready. Clearly children do need to meet people in order to be sociable, but home educators don't tend to be isolated from the community! A child is just as likely - if not more so - to be sociable with one or two people he meets at home than with a class of 30 children who just happen to be the same age as he is. More importantly, he is far more in control of his social life than he would be in school. Parents - who know their children best - can observe, and encourage, and introduce a shy child to other people at relaxed times, in safe environments rather than forcing them into situations where they may become withdrawn, or angry, or upset.
From Sue Fairhead at Education Otherwise :
People, on the whole, are social creatures. Being sociable is part of our nature. If we allow children to develop in their own way, they will begin to relate to other people when they are ready. Clearly children do need to meet people in order to be sociable, but home educators don't tend to be isolated from the community! A child is just as likely - if not more so - to be sociable with one or two people he meets at home than with a class of 30 children who just happen to be the same age as he is. More importantly, he is far more in control of his social life than he would be in school. Parents - who know their children best - can observe, and encourage, and introduce a shy child to other people at relaxed times, in safe environments rather than forcing them into situations where they may become withdrawn, or angry, or upset.
Monday, May 29, 2006
Homeschooling and freedom of religion in Germany
I've been thinking about this issue the last few days and today I heard a story that backed up my feelings. I reckon that religious homeschoolers here have been shooting themselves in the collective foot, and pretty much messing it up for everyone else, by arguing for their right to homeschool along the lines of freedom of religion.
This is an argument that has worked incredibly well in the USA, but it doesn't cut it in Germany. Although freedom of religion is theoretically recognised here, for a number of reasons it is pretty much ignored in the educational sector. One reason is that the government is terrified of hordes of (Christian and Muslim) fundamentalists taking their children out of the school and creating parallel societies where the children's constitutional rights are ignored. Really, German educationalists must be need their heads read if they think that their school system doesn't give rise to parallel societies. Anyone who has read about the rise of Neo-Nazism in the schools, or the immigrant gangs of various nationalities that make life difficult in inner-city schools, should know better.
When a family, like the one in Hamburg, says that their daughters are going to be nothing other than wives and mothers, the average German shudders because they are losing the opportunity to achieve their full potential. Well as a university graduate who has spent the last twelve and a half years bearing, breastfeeding and bonding (my mother-in-law used to call my LLL friends the B-ladies) with my four children, I can think of a lot worse things than just being a wife and mother. But then I'm not your average German - well I'm not even German for a start.
I heard about a case recently in our state where the judge declared that until the European court of Human Rights heard one of the German homeschooling cases pending there, he was suspending the proceedings against the family in question. Although this is a religious homeschooling family, they decided to play down the role of their strong Christian beliefs in their decision to homeschool. During the case, the judge apparently commented that if religion had been an issue here, he would not have been so inclined to find for the family.
There are many other good reasons to homeschool and religious homeschoolers who start out with their beliefs as their driving motivation soon find this out. If they have any sense, they will do as the family above did and play up the other reasons their chilren are home-educated instead of making it all about their religious beliefs.
This is an argument that has worked incredibly well in the USA, but it doesn't cut it in Germany. Although freedom of religion is theoretically recognised here, for a number of reasons it is pretty much ignored in the educational sector. One reason is that the government is terrified of hordes of (Christian and Muslim) fundamentalists taking their children out of the school and creating parallel societies where the children's constitutional rights are ignored. Really, German educationalists must be need their heads read if they think that their school system doesn't give rise to parallel societies. Anyone who has read about the rise of Neo-Nazism in the schools, or the immigrant gangs of various nationalities that make life difficult in inner-city schools, should know better.
When a family, like the one in Hamburg, says that their daughters are going to be nothing other than wives and mothers, the average German shudders because they are losing the opportunity to achieve their full potential. Well as a university graduate who has spent the last twelve and a half years bearing, breastfeeding and bonding (my mother-in-law used to call my LLL friends the B-ladies) with my four children, I can think of a lot worse things than just being a wife and mother. But then I'm not your average German - well I'm not even German for a start.
I heard about a case recently in our state where the judge declared that until the European court of Human Rights heard one of the German homeschooling cases pending there, he was suspending the proceedings against the family in question. Although this is a religious homeschooling family, they decided to play down the role of their strong Christian beliefs in their decision to homeschool. During the case, the judge apparently commented that if religion had been an issue here, he would not have been so inclined to find for the family.
There are many other good reasons to homeschool and religious homeschoolers who start out with their beliefs as their driving motivation soon find this out. If they have any sense, they will do as the family above did and play up the other reasons their chilren are home-educated instead of making it all about their religious beliefs.
Sunday, May 28, 2006
Coming out of the closet
We received a letter from the local school yesterday. I had semi been expecting something like this, because our third child has to be registered at the school for the school year 2007-2008. (It's so far in advance so they can check their level of German and give them a whole year's worth of tuition so no-one supposedly starts school with a language disadvantage).
I had phoned and spoken to the Director of the school, telling her that we wouldn't be registering him because we didn't intend to be here any more by the time he was due to start school and she asked me to write a letter stating that, for her records, which I did. I was sort of hoping that that would be the end of the story but obviously not. Two years ago we had the same story with my daughter, with the school insisting she attend even if we were only staying for a short time. When we received notification of a fine we officially left Germany for the UK. When my husband's working contract was renewed for another year, we registered officially as resident here, but didn't hear anything more from the school. Till now.
The biggest surprise about the letter is how positive it is. In contrast to two years ago, when all they had to say was, "Send your child to school or else!" this time it stated that our children are Schulpflichtig (have a duty to attend school) and if I want to avoid prosecution I should apply to the State department of education for exemption from compulsory school attendance.
In one of my very first posts on this blog, I bitched about how nothing has changed in Germany on the homeschooling front. Maybe I'm wrong.
At least this means that I don't have to sneak around with my kids during school times. We can be out and about and open about it now. And I can start doing some serious advocacy work, contacting politicians and suchlike. Maybe even the odd TV appearance ;-). Lol, I think my preteen son would die of embarrassment if a TV crew were to come along to film him at his Yugioh league day, as they did with my friend's sons during their cathedral boys' choir practice.
I had phoned and spoken to the Director of the school, telling her that we wouldn't be registering him because we didn't intend to be here any more by the time he was due to start school and she asked me to write a letter stating that, for her records, which I did. I was sort of hoping that that would be the end of the story but obviously not. Two years ago we had the same story with my daughter, with the school insisting she attend even if we were only staying for a short time. When we received notification of a fine we officially left Germany for the UK. When my husband's working contract was renewed for another year, we registered officially as resident here, but didn't hear anything more from the school. Till now.
The biggest surprise about the letter is how positive it is. In contrast to two years ago, when all they had to say was, "Send your child to school or else!" this time it stated that our children are Schulpflichtig (have a duty to attend school) and if I want to avoid prosecution I should apply to the State department of education for exemption from compulsory school attendance.
In one of my very first posts on this blog, I bitched about how nothing has changed in Germany on the homeschooling front. Maybe I'm wrong.
At least this means that I don't have to sneak around with my kids during school times. We can be out and about and open about it now. And I can start doing some serious advocacy work, contacting politicians and suchlike. Maybe even the odd TV appearance ;-). Lol, I think my preteen son would die of embarrassment if a TV crew were to come along to film him at his Yugioh league day, as they did with my friend's sons during their cathedral boys' choir practice.
Saturday, May 27, 2006
Socialisation quote of the day
This one is a beaut. It's originally from this post at Jennifer's really pretty blog (I just love her pink stripes). Thanks to Henry Cate for pointing to it. Henry also has a link to an article by the author of the quote and an interview with him.
"Accusing a homeschool kid of missing out on socialization is like accusing a work-at-home entrepreneur of missing out on corporate politics." --Perry Marshall
"Accusing a homeschool kid of missing out on socialization is like accusing a work-at-home entrepreneur of missing out on corporate politics." --Perry Marshall
Friday, May 26, 2006
Socialisation quote of the day
I have decided that every time I come across a good quote about homeschooling and socialisation I would save it so that I can have a collection of statements at hand to use in the event that I am talking to school officials, politicians, writing letters to editors or just debating with anti-homeschooling types. Then I thought that it would be fun to post these quotes on my blog so that others can also enjoy and use them. Maybe the title "Socialisation quote of the day" is a bit ambitious, implying that in a year's time I will have amassed 365 of them, but I'll give it a good bash.
So here is my first quote. It was in a comment by momofmine on this blog entry.
So how will my kids assimilate into a diverse society? Simple, they won't have to as they're already a part of it.
So here is my first quote. It was in a comment by momofmine on this blog entry.
So how will my kids assimilate into a diverse society? Simple, they won't have to as they're already a part of it.
Essential science lesson
Thursday, May 25, 2006
My mother-in-law is at it again!
Not satisfied with rearranging my furniture every time she comes to visit, my mother-in-law, that interfering shopping receptacle, has gone and booked us on a cruise from Genoa down the west coast of Africa. Damn her. Doesn't she realise that I have no interest in spending 20 days relaxing in the sunshine, being waited on hand and foot while sampling a variety of Italian dishes (no I didn't mean the sailors).
By the way, just in case anyone gets the wrong idea, I like it when my mil rearranges my furniture. She has tons better taste than I do.
By the way, just in case anyone gets the wrong idea, I like it when my mil rearranges my furniture. She has tons better taste than I do.
Monday, May 22, 2006
Don't you just love it...
when your three old, who got woken up way too early by his older brother, spends the whole afternoon being clingy and whiney (compounded by the fact that this one decided that he was a baby dragon and so refused to speak a word all afternoon, communicating only in squeaks and grunts), and then doesn't fall asleep on the way home at 6.30pm as you'd hoped, which makes him overtired and then he goes crazy till he finally collapses just after 10pm. Goodnight.
Saturday, May 20, 2006
And the winner of the Eurovision Song Contest is ... Mordor (oops, I mean Finland)
That celebration of inanity, that refuge of the talentless, that hive of musical and lyrical cliches, the Eurovision Song Contest, has cult status in our household. Every year we sit down and yawn and groan our way through over 20 mostly insipid performances.
Tonight it was dh and Rowena and Adrian and I (Leo was asleep and Robbie was doing his first professional stint as a babysitter for our neighbours, where he was watching the Eurovision on his own). Watching the results being announced makes for a great geography lesson. Each of the 37 countries who entered the contest gets to vote (people phone in or sms their vote for all countries but their own) for its top 10 of the 22 countries that performed in the final tonight. Our favourite game is to guess in advance, for which neighbour a country is going to give its top vote. For instance, it's pretty likely that Belarus will give its top vote (and 12 points) to Russia, or that ex-Yugoslavian republics will vote for the other ex-Yugoslavian republics. Russia in particular seems to benefit from this as there are many Russians living in various Eastern European countries. Another thing that comes through quite clearly is which countries have a large Turkish population (the Netherlands and Germany) as these two countries voted strongly for the absolutely awful Turkish number.
The clear winner was Finland, though, no favouritism there. Just about every country gave one of their strongest votes to the monster rockers. I don't know if I would use the word refreshing, but it was great to see a group win that didn't have half a dozen sexy female dancers gyrating in the background.
Here are some titbits from interviews with the band's lead singer :
Here are more highlights from Mr. Lordi.
“You know, we are meat eaters in a vegetarian café,” said Mr. Lordi when asked how the band feels to be in Eurovision.
Surely Lordi and Christianity don’t go together? Sure they do. “I am a member of a church and our drummer Kita actually wrote and played some church music.”
“I don’t want to burn in hell, I want to go to heaven.”
When Finnish TV invited Lordi to take part in Eurovision, Mr. Lordi thought that they’d got the wrong number.
“We think we look pretty. We look like monsters.”
“Lordi is actually my nickname. It was given to me by friends.“
“We toured last year through the whole of Europe. And we toured extensively in Germany.”
“Our future plan is to get back to our normal heavy metal routines.”
Tonight it was dh and Rowena and Adrian and I (Leo was asleep and Robbie was doing his first professional stint as a babysitter for our neighbours, where he was watching the Eurovision on his own). Watching the results being announced makes for a great geography lesson. Each of the 37 countries who entered the contest gets to vote (people phone in or sms their vote for all countries but their own) for its top 10 of the 22 countries that performed in the final tonight. Our favourite game is to guess in advance, for which neighbour a country is going to give its top vote. For instance, it's pretty likely that Belarus will give its top vote (and 12 points) to Russia, or that ex-Yugoslavian republics will vote for the other ex-Yugoslavian republics. Russia in particular seems to benefit from this as there are many Russians living in various Eastern European countries. Another thing that comes through quite clearly is which countries have a large Turkish population (the Netherlands and Germany) as these two countries voted strongly for the absolutely awful Turkish number.
The clear winner was Finland, though, no favouritism there. Just about every country gave one of their strongest votes to the monster rockers. I don't know if I would use the word refreshing, but it was great to see a group win that didn't have half a dozen sexy female dancers gyrating in the background.
Here are some titbits from interviews with the band's lead singer :
Here are more highlights from Mr. Lordi.
“You know, we are meat eaters in a vegetarian café,” said Mr. Lordi when asked how the band feels to be in Eurovision.
Surely Lordi and Christianity don’t go together? Sure they do. “I am a member of a church and our drummer Kita actually wrote and played some church music.”
“I don’t want to burn in hell, I want to go to heaven.”
When Finnish TV invited Lordi to take part in Eurovision, Mr. Lordi thought that they’d got the wrong number.
“We think we look pretty. We look like monsters.”
“Lordi is actually my nickname. It was given to me by friends.“
“We toured last year through the whole of Europe. And we toured extensively in Germany.”
“Our future plan is to get back to our normal heavy metal routines.”
Thursday, May 18, 2006
My pool date
Does the title sound alluring? Actually, the date was with my 12 year old son. A friend who owed me hours of babysitting and wanted to unload some of them before her vacation in England (she must have just touched down as I write this) offered to babysit for me one afternoon before she left. Funny enough, I didn't have any great need to go off and do something alone.
Then I remembered that Robbie had mentioned that he would like to play pool with me without us being distracted by the two little ones. Rowena was visiting another friend yesterday afternoon so I left the two little ones with my friend and off we went to a local indoor playplace to hog one of their two pool tables for a couple of hours. We had a really lovely time. I can't really describe the feeling of joy that came over me, watching Robbie having such a good time and my undivided attention. I surprised him (and me) with my not being a total dodo at pool. Maybe I could log it as a geometry lesson.
That was generally the high point of Robbie's day yesterday. In the morning he went to the ENT for an allergy test (negative) where he was diagnosed with unusually large adenoids. You should have seen his face when the doctor told us. Rowena had been there the previous week, with the same texts and diagnosis and the doctor had recommended that they be removed surgically, as they are causing her to struggle in sporting activities.
In the evening he played in a soccer match, which his team lost after getting some really unfair offside calls from the referee. There were a couple of grandfathers there who were way better mannered than the last time. Then later, Robbie watched his favourites, Arsenal, getting clobbered by Barcelona in the UEFA Champions League final.
Then I remembered that Robbie had mentioned that he would like to play pool with me without us being distracted by the two little ones. Rowena was visiting another friend yesterday afternoon so I left the two little ones with my friend and off we went to a local indoor playplace to hog one of their two pool tables for a couple of hours. We had a really lovely time. I can't really describe the feeling of joy that came over me, watching Robbie having such a good time and my undivided attention. I surprised him (and me) with my not being a total dodo at pool. Maybe I could log it as a geometry lesson.
That was generally the high point of Robbie's day yesterday. In the morning he went to the ENT for an allergy test (negative) where he was diagnosed with unusually large adenoids. You should have seen his face when the doctor told us. Rowena had been there the previous week, with the same texts and diagnosis and the doctor had recommended that they be removed surgically, as they are causing her to struggle in sporting activities.
In the evening he played in a soccer match, which his team lost after getting some really unfair offside calls from the referee. There were a couple of grandfathers there who were way better mannered than the last time. Then later, Robbie watched his favourites, Arsenal, getting clobbered by Barcelona in the UEFA Champions League final.
Monday, May 15, 2006
Murphy strikes again
One homeschooling family we know has three children, two of whom love playing music. It's almost impossible for them to walk past the piano without banging away on it and they will spontaneously pick up their violins and practise them. What a dream, children who don't need to be reminded and nagged to practise their musical instruments. But what a recipe for conflict that is when they have a big brother who can't stand music playing, especially when he is trying hard to study for his big exams. Why does life have to be so complicated?
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