Since we last wrote our medium-term plans have become more certain, though our short-term plans are a little more up in the air and life is definitely more stressful.
We found out that I was approved for a position in Germany, effective June 1st. We are glad to have some certainty about where we’ll be living for the next 3 years. However, now that we know, we feel like the clock is ticking to get everything prepared for us to move.
After quite a bit of negotiation and checking of schedules between the person who is replacing me here in Indonesia, the HR and relocation people in Germany, etc. we finally settled on a time for Heidi and me to go to Germany for a house hunting trip. And, much to our surprise my Mom has made herself available to come to Indonesia to watch our kids while we go. We are so relieved that she is going to be able to come and so thankful she will make the long trek here. So, as it stands now, Heidi and I will go to Germany a week from today to spend the week looking for housing, checking out schools, etc., then I’ll stay for an extra week to spend time with the person I am replacing so I can start learning about the job.
Our home will definitely be smaller in Germany, so we have started going through our stuff, sorting out what we really want to keep versus sell, give away, or throw away. Lots more to do, though.
Luke was in the 2nd grade class play this week. It was called the Dancing Pig – I think they said it is based on a folk tale from the island of Bali. He had some speaking parts, as well as singing with his class. He wasn’t nervous at all for his speaking part, and he hadn’t even really practiced it at home. We were impressed that he did so well with it.
Yesterday all 3 boys participated in a recital for the students at the music school where they have their violin & cello lessons. We didn’t know quite what to expect. It ended up being about 40 students, ages 4 – 12, playing one or two songs each on either piano or violin, and there was one guitar and one cello (Luke). For all 3 of them it was their first performance in this kind of a setting, and I think it was good for them. They haven’t really had too many opportunities to perform, and I think this gave them some motivation to practice a little bit more.
Mallory went on her first field trip with her pre-school last week. She was so excited to go on the bus with her class. They went to Taman Mini, saw some reptiles (snakes, alligators, etc.) and then saw a movie about the ocean at the Imax Theater.
There were several strong thunderstorms this week - one in particular with really strong winds.
Last week we went over to the home of our friends, the Ortons, for a turkey dinner to celebrate Easter. After dinner we played a game with the decorated Easter eggs, where 2 people take an egg then hit each others’ eggs to see which one cracks. We did it in a tournament style, and Heidi’s egg was the strongest.
