Kids have survived two weeks of classes while the parents are still struggling to comprehend the amount of homework required for six year olds. We spend a minimum of two hours each night coaching Raili through the required exercises. And I'm not taking about begging her to do her homework for the entire evening. She is writing English and Chinese, solving math problems and memorizing new words. For two hours. Then there are also "optional" assignments given for extra credit but seriously, who in the world has time or patience to sit through 2+ hours AND optional "fun" assignments each night? (Definitely NOT me) I say give us the optional "fun" assignments to begin with and we’ll see how it goes...  And to those of you who are wondering, as Murphy's Law would have it, yes, Raili absolutely LOVES her violin classes. So there it is. :)

Suomi-koulu also started last Saturday. Suomi-koulu or the FinnishSchool of Shanghai has 45 kids from age 3-13. The teachers make the lessons all about the Finnish culture and the changing seasons so it's fun for Raili and Kai to already be in the "know" (or so they feel). In fact, the kids did so well this week that after the busy Saturday morning, we decided to go have lunch at a local McDonalds. While I was getting the order, Raili and Kai were sitting at the tables waiting. Of course the lines were long and my order took forever so they got into a fight and while I was paying, I could hear Kai screaming across the restaurant. When I got to the table, there was a McDonalds "Team member" (young girl in her 20's) trying to comfort Kai. When I asked him what was the matter (in Finnish) both Kai and the girl jumped up. Turns out, this young woman had been an exchange student to a small town in Finland and spoke fluent Finnish. Fluent. Yeah, that's right. So there we are, in the middle of Shanghai, staring at each other; me not being able to comprehend that this young Chinese girl speaks Finnish and she not believing that she ran into some Finns during her shift. We exchanged email addresses and I hope she will be able to volunteer at the Finnish school this semester as she told me she was having a hard time finding Finnish speaking people in Shanghai. No kidding. I don't think we even intellectually realize there CAN be Chinese students who speak fluent Finnish. Talk about chance encounters.

It's so amazing how some of these things work. I mean what's next? Kids who clean up after themselves?
Ok, ok. Now I'm pushing it, I know...