Open House

I took Guinness for a walk this morning and he did fairly well. He is nervous around other dogs and at one point four dogs surrounded him at once to check him out. Guinness stood there, but the hair on his back went up, prompting a woman to declare that he had "angst." I think she's right, but I'll probably have angst, too, every time I walk him as most dogs here are walked off leash. Guinness was approached several times by dogs whose owners were a little ways off. It's not the other dogs I'm worried about. Guinness can easily get riled if he feels threatened and he doesn't seem to like dogs with ears that stick straight up, like German Shepherd's. Most of the dogs we saw today were other labs, so no problem there. I've also seen many white golden retrievers like Oprah's dogs. I had never heard of them until recently, but they are quite trendy here.

Today was Open House at school and we just got word that ISF has a spot for James. Micaela has been placed in 6th and James in 3rd so they must have done OK on their tests. On the way, I needed to make a left turn and somehow ended up in a turn lane for oncoming traffic. I fully expected the driver who met me head on to shout and give me an angry gesture, and but instead he just cocked his head to the side and gave me a puzzled look. I quick turned right instead, but I have yet to figure out that intersection. I haven't been able to go left yet. I feel just like Chevy Chase in European Vacation, "I can't get left!" I'm expecting to make a wrong turn every time I leave home, but it is still so frustrating and dangerous!

On the way to school, we pass the Höchst industrial park which is a huge complex of dozens of chemical manufacturing plants. This complex was one my first views of the Frankfurt region as we drove away from the airport a week or so ago and gave me the false impression that the whole area was very industrial. As I look at the many smokestacks, I can only hope that the air the kids breathe on the school playground is OK.

The school was chaotic, which I expected. Had trouble finding a parking spot, lots of different languages being spoken, no one seemed to know where to go. We did manage to get to all the kids' classrooms and for the first time, they have male teachers. Emilie's and Micaela's teachers are British and James' is Canadian. We went back out to the playground where James took a big step and asked to join in a soccer game. Emilie, as always, just walked up to a few girls and started playing with them.