It's back to school for our kids and not only is it a new year, but a new school, new teachers and new students. The kids and I went to pick up uniforms a couple of days before the D-day and it definitely put them in the right mood. They were so proud of their new clothes and I have to admit, they looked pretty sharp too. The school uniform policy states what combinations of clothes are ok and even what color shoes, including P.E. are acceptable (=black). Girls can only wear studs as earrings and blue & red hair ribbons (I expect the color police to contact us soon as Raili's hair accessories are still a non-complying pink).

The first day of classes went fine with Kai settling in before I left comfortable leaving him while Raili and I had to have a rewards conversation before she let go of my leg. She was sad to see that she had no former classmates on her Year 2 class but the grade level has the same break and lunch times with other Year 2 classes where she knows kids from our compound as well as her school from last year. We pack lunch boxes to both kids each evening and a take temperatures every morning to ensure they are (mostly) compliant with school rules.

As new subjects this year, both kids will learn violin as a part of the school-wide curriculum. I've come to terms with it (it was my biggest sticking point with this school but the strong Chinese language component won over non-desirable, compulsory violin training, IMHO) so I've told Raili yes, I also know how to play but will leave it at that. She and Kai can make up their own minds about liking it or not. Raili was moved to a fast-track Chinese classes after the first week and now will need to learn 300 new characters before the school year is over. It was the right thing to do as she could already read the entire book that they were going to study for Fall AND Spring semester on her other class. The teachers were concerned that she would be bored and that it would impact other subjects as well (thinking everything was too easy). David has helped Raili to catch up to the fast track class and I'm sure she will be caught up soon (basic class does one chapter per week and fast class does three).

As a fun activity after school, the kids wanted to sign up for some soccer and last Wednesday, we made our way to the field bouncing with excitement. By five o'clock there were no signs of a coach or other kids so I called the sports office to see what was going on. They patiently explained to me they had decided to start the classes in mid-September since some students were still returning back to Shanghai and they needed to give everyone a 10 day "quarantine" (as recommended by the government) after returning from abroad. The best part though was that they told me all people who had signed up for the soccer class would be notified by Wednesday evening, "at the latest". No worries that the class was scheduled for 5 o'clock….I guess I was a part of the the group who received the notice after the fact.

Nevermind. It's a new semester with new rules. Better learn fast.