First month for Josh - new school, new everything!

On August 20,  Josh finally arrived in Berlin. He spent almost one month in Italy, with grandparents, cousins, aunts, and uncles playing, attending baptisms, visiting around...

 

 

and now he’s here, in Berlin.

His flight was obviously a nightmare: we booked 4 months ago a flight from Milano Malpensa with Air Berlin, the only company that flies directly to Tegel airport without stop-over. When I purchased his ticket, I was surprised that they would allow him to fly without adult supervision, but I was told by the company that he’s already 12 years old and he’s considered an adult. So I wasn’t worried. Still, two days before his scheduled flight, I called once again the customer service and again I was reassured that he wouldn’t need an accompanying adult since he’s not considered a minor (the website specifically states that unaccompanied minors > 12 years old do not need assistance). I gave all the instructions to his uncle, who was supposed to take him to the airport and then I waited, confident that everything was going to be ok. After all, he’s used to travel by plane, he’s been in several airports, he manages to speak fluently three languages and he’s a responsible guy.

Naturally, things didn’t work out according to my plans. Let’s just say that we encountered some problems at the check in (Italian rules vs European rules vs American rules) and that if it wasn’t for uncle Stefano’s genius idea, Josh wouldn’t be allowed on the plane….It’s Italy: where there is a rule, there’s a way to get around the rule!!

He spent the first week unpacking all his kit models and setting up his room, making sure that everything was in the right place. 

We also went exploring the forest around: unfortunately we realized that the closest park to us, the Grunewaldsee, is the favorite locations for dog-owners...and Josh is certainly not one of them! Dogs are allowed to run free here and they chase sticks into the lake. Fun for some, not exactly the best place to be for my son.

Enter in snow and ice at your own risk!

Of course, I had to spend most of the mornings to "train" him to the public transportation system: we obtained his Student Metro Card...

 ...and then I guided him several times from home to school and viceversa, making sure that he knew where to pick up the bus, where to change in order to take the next bus, where to hop off, and most importantly what to do in case he got lost (emergency numbers, address, etc). 

Then, on August 22nd, Josh and I attended the JFKS New Students Orientation Day..needless to say, I was nervous but Josh was even more tense. He just had a major melt down the evening before: "What if the school sucks? What if I don't make friends? What if the teachers are horrible? What if everybody hates me? What are we doing here? Why can't we go back to California?" and similar. It was hard for me to address all those questions but I did my best and somehow he woke up not completely discouraged. Still, while walking into the school, I could feel his palpable apprehension. 

We were immediately separated: I went into the Big Aula, for a meeting with the school Principals (two for the Elementary school and two for the High School - one German and one American each), while he was chaperoned by the JFKS Ambassadors in another class to meet his prospective classmates, counselors and teachers. 

I received all the information regarding school hours, class schedule (which took me about 1 hours to understand...), 

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as well as information on the parents Newsletter, the Parent Council, the Parent Facebook Group, the Monday Coffee Mornings (nice !!!!), school Cafeteria, the JFKS Verein (the school‘s fund-raising organization that is responsible for providing the lockers and organizing events and meetings). Quite an organization! I was impressed. At one moment during the meeting, the HS Principal was asked about the school policy for mobile phones. Contrary to my expectation, he replied that the school encourages the use of all sorts of mobile devices (I-phones, I-pad, etc) even during the class hours, since, if used appropriately, they can represent a practical device to research topics and encourage learning. I was startled! 

A couple of hours after, I was ready to pick up my son: he walked out from his meeting chatting joyfully with four other kids, laughing and smiling. Such a relief! He exchanged phone numbers, set up appointments to meet them again out of school, invited them over out our place...The sun was again shining over my son. 

Of course, the first month has been also challenging: the English, Math, German and Chemistry teachers are extremely strict and demanding. Every assignment is handwritten (cursive only, fountain pen only), tests are assigned on a weekly bases, and the scoring system is completely different (1 = 100%, 5- = 20%). Overall, I believe that it's a good tradeoff between the American system and the European system.  But perhaps it's too early to judge.  Josh also joined the Flag Football team, the Boy Scouts troop and next week will restart electric guitar.

The school organized last week a fund raising event, the Fun Day: the school ground was completely occupied by boots selling food, alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, toys, games, there was an orchestra playing, etc. 

Both Josh and I volunteered in the JFKS Verein boot, serving Prosecco and orange juice for 3 hours. Yes, sparkling wine and beer in the school, because this is Germany and I am loving it !!!