Rotterdam continued

Tues 16, March: After a leisurely breakfast, we were out the door in search of The American International School, Rotterdam where Jeff teaches middle school math and Beth teaches pre kindergarten. Following Jeff's directions, we had no trouble locating it. We biked through beautiful neighborhoods along canals and through a large public park the route Jeff, Beth, and the kids bike every workday. We got to the school and checked in. Beth was able to give us a tour of the school. She normally has a class of six, but today, she was filling in for a collegue who had gone to a conference in Estonia. Of the ten children in her care today, none of them spoke English as a primary language, and none of them spoke English as entering students in September. That said, all communication at school is in English. Their native languages include: Dutch,Turkish, Indian, Japanese, Russian, Portugese, Hebrew, and Romanian. Several of these kids spoke several languages. Keep in mind these are five year olds. All of this while we struggle with the idea of speaking even two languages in this country. Sheila and I spent the rest of the day biking around Rotterdam. We went to another large park and biked around a lake there. We stopped into a local eatery for fried potatoes and beer. We were greeted by the family dog, a very large very old bull dog. There was no shortage of locals in this place. We had landed on our feet once again. We were served the potatoes with what is called curry, but it's a mixture of mayonnaise, chopped onions, and what appears to be barbecue sauce. It's different but good. None went to waste. On our way back home, we stopped at the market for milk, eggs, and bread. Back at home, we were just settling in when the family arrived. Sheila and I made dinner: spaghetti carbonarra. It was delicious. More later. Love to all, Michael