school days - the sequel

The week has come and gone. We now have two exhausted kids (and parents) acclamating into Swedish schools. Welcome to the fold. Sammy has been taking it slow. His daycare is divided into three age groups and the lead teacher for his group wanted to slowly work him in, getting familiar with her and the routine. She had me come along but sit in a room for parents while Sam hung out with her and other kids. Sam has never been to daycare so learning how to socialize and interact are only going to help. By Friday Sam's teacher was feeling really good about their chemistry and Sam spent just over a half day there including lunch. Monday we go for a little more time, including naptime after lunch.

Jakob has been doing great at his school too. Officially we knew his school starts this Monday, coming up. What we didn't know is that we had the option of getting him acclamated earlier this week, which we decided to do. Jake spent the last three school days meeting his teacher and getting familiar with his new school and classmates. Most of the students are enrolled in the afternoon program, as is Jakob, so this week of acclamation has basically been a lot of free time for the kids to bond and get use to somewhat of a routine. The big struggle here will be getting to know Swedish, obviously, but another is Jake's picky eating. The first day we went together for lunch in the school cafeteria, and though the head cafeteria lady brought Jake a plate of unmenued fruit, he refused to eat anything. Next day we packed a lunch for him to take along and his teacher said he ate everything and was a different boy. I bet after being hungry all day. We decided the more important battle right now is learning Swedish. Friday Jake spent a full day at school from start to finish and did great. He's also starting to hit it off with a couple kids, though formal language isn't always something they share.

Dad got a call from the Swedish language for immigrants people, to be called SFI for future reference, and they want to start me in a group that meets daily every morning with computer lab homework after lunch. It sounds more intense than some of my college classes. As long as they don't make me read 800 pages of Viking Beowolf, we're cool. With my language class routine starting out this next week it means the kids will need to be at their prospective schools early enough for breakfast and be able to stay til I get there after class.

Also, something my instructor told me is that there will probably be Iraqis in my Swedish classes. I told him - Iraqis might not be too happy with an American these days. He said, I never thought about that. I think it might be a great opportunity for dialog if it arises. I just hope it's in English. HA. The instructor said that many of the emmigrating Iraqis fled to leave Saddam or religious persecution. Many are Christians. I saw a news report in the States before we left that even now the number one place Iraqis emmigrate to outside of Iraq is Sweden. Last year Sweden took in close to 9000 Iraqis. The U.S. took in 200. This year Sweden is set to take in over 20,000. No matter how you feel about the war or the reasons that led up to it, one thing for certain is that it has taken a heart breaking toll in military and civilian casualties. For me this experience will put a human face on this headline called Iraq. Hopefully it will be a mutually benefitial experience.

I have had many, many discussions on America since being here, some very powerful ones. But that will be another thread.