School!

Well, we are here in Istanbul, in our new apartment.  Selcuk found a really nice place for us to live.  It is in a section of town called Levent, and our area is called Levensim.  It is in the European side of the city, very close to the Bosphorous.  We are up on a hill with a nice view and our apartment gets good light and there is a nice breeze blowing most of the time.  We can walk to the sea and walk along a fun area with little shops, cafes and restaurants.  We have decided, however, never to take the children to a restaurant again, or at least until they are both over the age of 10.  We keep thinking eating out would be either easier or more fun than eating at home, and then spend the time being horrified by Nehir's table manners and frustrated by having to chase Taylan around or watch as he throws food on the floor. We end up bolting our food so we can end the misery.

The big news, however, is not the move to Istanbul, it is Nehir's first day of school!  He is going to a great school with a wonderful teacher.  Selcuk and I were both carrying some fears about how Nehir would do in school, but we are both heaving sighs of relief after meeting Hulya Oregtmen (her last name is not Oregtmen, that is how they refer to their teachers).  She has been teaching for over 30 years and has taught at the best schools in Turkey.  This is her first year at Nehir's school.  Surprisingly, she knows Ebru (our dear friend) very well!  Ebru was the assistant principal at a school where she used to work.  She was very fond of Ebru and was sad when she left.

We got the drop off time wrong and took him in for his first day a half hour early, so he got to have special time getting to know her.  He told her he likes science (how cute!) and so she read from a science book and showed him some activities they have in the classroom related to science.  We told her about our fears and she reassured us that she is very experienced with all different kinds of kids and loves children very much.  When we picked him up he had had a great time and she told us he had done really well, he was very well behaved and seemed to really enjoy himself.

It is hard to imagine our little guy is starting the long journey of school.  I think having such a wonderful teacher will help him decide that school and learning is enjoyable.  Selcuk and I felt so relieved and enthused about his school and teacher we both were secretly wondering if we should move here for good.  Like Waldorf schools, teachers stay with a class through fifth grade. Despite this, we also realized that is not realistic and we can find excellent teachers in the US as well, but giving Nehir a great experience in school is very important to both of us.  

This week, only the first graders go to school, so they can get used to it and not feel overwhelmed.  They go from 9:30 to 12:00.  Next week regular school starts and the schedule is 8:30 to 4:30.  A long day for little dudes, but that includes their sports and other extracurriculars.  From what I gather, they do different extracurriculars every day, and all the students do them.