Stopping and Going -- Mostly Stopping

These are the stop/walk lights from East Berlin. As you can see, the superior job security and daycare in the GDR created a space where creativity could flourish, evidenced by the jaunty cap on the Ampelmann from the east. The western counterparts were unimaginative capitalist copies of the same sorts of things we have in the US. After reunification, the Geher and Steher (go-er and stay-er, as they're called) were in danger of being replaced by their western counterparts. Thankfully, there was a hue and a cry, and the Ampelmaenner are not only preserved in the east, but are actually spreading in the west too. Our own intersection sports them, and we are way out west. Simultaneously, the Ampelmann stores which have sprung up all over Berlin have allowed Geher and Steher to get in on the capitalism too.
The Steher is how we are feeling right now. Just as we were getting things going (classes, kids in school, student on the mend, etc.) the kids came home squealing "Herbst Ferien!Hurrah!" and it turns out that they have two weeks off for fall vacation. I don't know who thought this up, but Rob and I are ready to sock it to them. My children have been in nine days of school since the end of May, and it is really starting to show! Thankfully, they went to two days at Westridge and their teachers both gave them lots of work to do. So I told them that if they didn't have German work, they were going to have to do American schoolwork. Not popular, but it is saving my sanity.
They were just getting better at going to school and we've been impressed with it so far. On one of his off days, Will got to the office and didn't want to go to class. The woman in the office pulled out a large jar of candy and told him they were 'courage pills'. She let him take some, and told him that if he lost his courage, that he could come back down and get more. He did well and was happily playing with dyes and water when we picked him up. He has friends named Oskar and Roman. I've only seen Oskar and he's very cute and very excited to see Will.

Maddie is a hot item in her class right now, with her weird American clothes and style. She always has some friend walking out with her and making her things. She likes her swimming class and her religion class (we decided to put her in Lutheran, but she comes home with things like Egyptian drawings. who knows?) but claims that math is hard (it was in Utah too).

Sebastian is talking all the time. Today Rob and I heard him singing to himself: "A'cause we awww the champions! We keep on fighting til the end . . . ." And they are. And they do.

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