Our first parent/teacher interview

It was pretty cruisey. We arrived just after 4 pm and we were out of there again by 4.30 pm; Even though it was a first come first serve policy. We were lucky in that we only had to see 3 teachers as Jordan's form teacher, teaches most of her subjects.Plus Jordy's History teacher requested that we NOT see him as he can't speak English and since we don't speak German, he thought it would be too embarrassing for all involved.

We are pleased to report that Jordy got a good mark for all her subjects. And the one subject she didn't do so well in, German, they didn't record her mark so that she would have the best possible chance of being accepted into a Gymnasium next year. ( Gymnasiums are for people who intend to go on to University). And of course we were also informed that Jordy continues to talk a lot.

Bought a bed.

As per usual our purchase was prompted by the arrival of guests. When Nicole and Robin came to stay, we bought sheets, blankets, and curtains. A bed was on the list but we ran out of time, so we put it on the list for "next time".

Well, "next time" arrived sooner than expected. Our friends Simon and Manon Dixon came to stay with us for a few days before they moved to London. So off the three of us went to get a bed for sure definite this time. We had tried many times previously but were always foiled by clashing tastes, differing preferences, Greg wanted a big bed, I didn't want one taking up all our lovely space and of course Jordy couldn't care less because she already had a nice bed.

One thing is for sure. I am totally over this whole "moving your furniture on public transport" thing. As can be evidenced by the complete and utter lack of pictures to document this event.

And actually, now that I think of it, we haven't really got a bed. To be strictly honest, we are now the proud owners of a bed frame because that's all you get here. Everything else is extra. But we were able to scavenge the other necessary pieces from the 2 single beds we already have. So now Greg and I have a lovely bed to sleep on and Jordy now gets to sleep on the floor. heh heh heh.

So now unlike Robin and nicole who knew of our furnitureless state and so asked to sleep on our floor, any future visitors are welcome to sleep on our futon, with sheets and blankets and even towels are provided.

Gotta love us.

It's funny when Im told some local NZ news by an Austrian. One of our friends told us about the iceberg floating near NZ. So I semi-rushed to my computer to google more info about this. Apparently some funny guy placed the ice-berg on "trade me" and the current bid is just under $1,000,000 dollars.

Trade me has a history of running some funny auctions. The iceberg has some funny Q&A's. check it out yourself on www.trademe.co.nz

Here is a sample -
Q.How much does it weight? I may need to rent a trailer...
A.I dont want timewasters here mate. You dont use a trailer to remove an iceberg. Come on, you are being silly.

Q.Hi. Nice looking 'berg. What would you estimate the temperature to be? I'm after one that's quite cold.
A.I checked and can confirm 'Quite cold'. I dont know much about these technical things - but my mate reckons 'Freezing' if that means anything to you. He has had these before and knows his stuff.

Q.You can't seriously be selling an iceberg?!
A.Of course not. Im selling it in a silly way. Does your care giver let you use the computer alone?

You wouldn't recognise it....

....even if it was hitting you in the face. I've always wanted to something like that. And now I can because it was true!

When Jordy and I went to go out for the day, we opened the door and saw a whole lot of white things falling out of the sky. My first thought was that it was blossoms. But the voice of reason quickly intervened and said, "That's stupid. It's autumn and almost winter.So logically it has to be snow."

I then enlightened Jordan by saying, "It's snowing!"
Even though she had been yearning for this very moment, she still didn't believe me. The snow only lasted for 2 days. So the novelty has yet to wear off.

Arrrrgh!

We all know that learning a new language is not easy. And that even if you can speak the language there are always a few expressions etc.. particular to a region. However, what we have yet to understand, and we would really like someone to explain this to us, please, is what difference one word can make.

For example, if we ask for a schnitzel, everyone looks confused and has no idea what you are talking about. But, use the magic word, Wiener with Schnitzel, (Wiener Schnitzel), furrowed brows clear and we get the "why didn't you just say that in the first place" look.

Say to an American you had mince for dinner, same scenario. The magic words are minced.....meat. So the question goes out there. Are mince and minced meat two completely different things?