The Boys are back in School
Connor has been settling into his new daycare, where he started last week. It was a rough transition for him, especially since he's going to school alone, without Evan, for the first time. I think he understands that Evan isn't there, though I'm not sure that he's fully aware that Evan is hanging out at home with Mom and Dad.
Evan made his first visit to his new school today. In New Zealand, children start school on their 5th birthday, regardless of where it falls during the year, so he'll officially begin in a couple of weeks. He'll be in the 'new entrants' class, with the other five year olds, and today he spent a couple of hours there. He'll do that 3 or 4 times until he begins full days.
While he was there, the class was making 'thank you' cards. Evan's said 'Thank you Mom and Dad for bringing me here.' I think of all of us, Evan has enjoyed New Zealand the most. He likes going to the parks and to the beach. Yesterday he and I went to the library then to a local playground and on the way home he had this big smile on his face. I asked him, 'Are you happy?' 'I'm happy,' he said. 'I'm glad we moved here. This is a good place to live.'
But he does still sometimes talk about how much he misses his stuff--today it was his bicycle because I bought a new mountain bike. He told me that he wants to ride bikes with me, and wanted to make sure that his helmet made it into the container.
On the topic of libraries, the libraries here in Chch are absolutely amazing. The pier that I posted pics of yesterday actually extends from the New Brighton branch of the Chch library. Our local branch, in Spreydon, has a cafe in it. They are all nice, modern buildings. As you would expect, the libraries here offer all the services you would find in the US. However, some of the services carry fees. For example, to 'borrow' a bestseller, you pay $5 per week for up to 2 weeks. Older DVD's and CD's cost $1 per week to 'borrow'. There are also fees for interlibrary loans and placing holds on books. But, when you consider that a new book--nearly all of which are printed here in trade paperback format rather than as hardcovers--costs between $35 and $60 (or more) and paperbacks run at about $20, a few fees are not too unreasonable.
Evan made his first visit to his new school today. In New Zealand, children start school on their 5th birthday, regardless of where it falls during the year, so he'll officially begin in a couple of weeks. He'll be in the 'new entrants' class, with the other five year olds, and today he spent a couple of hours there. He'll do that 3 or 4 times until he begins full days.
While he was there, the class was making 'thank you' cards. Evan's said 'Thank you Mom and Dad for bringing me here.' I think of all of us, Evan has enjoyed New Zealand the most. He likes going to the parks and to the beach. Yesterday he and I went to the library then to a local playground and on the way home he had this big smile on his face. I asked him, 'Are you happy?' 'I'm happy,' he said. 'I'm glad we moved here. This is a good place to live.'
But he does still sometimes talk about how much he misses his stuff--today it was his bicycle because I bought a new mountain bike. He told me that he wants to ride bikes with me, and wanted to make sure that his helmet made it into the container.
On the topic of libraries, the libraries here in Chch are absolutely amazing. The pier that I posted pics of yesterday actually extends from the New Brighton branch of the Chch library. Our local branch, in Spreydon, has a cafe in it. They are all nice, modern buildings. As you would expect, the libraries here offer all the services you would find in the US. However, some of the services carry fees. For example, to 'borrow' a bestseller, you pay $5 per week for up to 2 weeks. Older DVD's and CD's cost $1 per week to 'borrow'. There are also fees for interlibrary loans and placing holds on books. But, when you consider that a new book--nearly all of which are printed here in trade paperback format rather than as hardcovers--costs between $35 and $60 (or more) and paperbacks run at about $20, a few fees are not too unreasonable.
posted by Jon A at
7:02 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home