The Stucki's: August 2011

The First Day of School ... Aug 22, 2011

The kids started school at Dulwich College of Shanghai, a British school and curriculum. We heard very good things about the school and figured that trumped putting the kids into the American system, particularly because they are young enough to be able to get in and out of this system without much issue. We were unfortunately still at the Kerry on the first day of school, but everything worked out fine. Katie is in Year 5 (4th Grade), Ashley Year 2 (1st Grade), and Ryan started Nursery (Pre-school). This is his first time in school and we were very worried about how he would handle it. The first day was very hard for us as we had to finally leave him crying. We learned he eventually settled down and after two weeks of leaving him this way, he finally let Heather leave without any tears. Ashley and Katie have adapted well, but it has not been super easy. They will all get used to it, I am sure.

The Kerry Hotel Shanghai ... Aug 11 - Sep 15, 2011

So, as is usual for us when making a move, we had to find a place to live for 6 weeks prior to being able to move into our house in Shanghai. We have moved now six times since we got married almost eleven years ago and every single one has been an international move, requiring sometimes significant time waiting for either our household goods to arrive or waiting for our house to be ready for us to move in. This time it is both. Our good friends from Budapest moved here a couple of years ago and they helped facilitate setting us up in a new hotel complex that had basically just opened. We got a two bedroom apartment there (similar to our apartment in Budapest at the Corinthia) that was perfect for us. So we had all the amenities of a hotel, plus a nice sized apartment (another room would have made it perfect but no way will I complain about our almost perfect situation at the Kerry). The hotel itself is great and they have an indoor play place that has some slides that even I was a little terrified to go down!
Every morning the Heather would take the kids to breakfast where the staff attended to them very well. They even always ensured that a pink plate was set for Sophie and a blue plate was set for Ryan. And they would even take Ryan to pick out his breakfast
Overall, we had a great experience, only second to actually being moved into our house.
While we were living in the Kerry Hotel, the kids started school, which was fine. I guess there were a few other kids from the school living in the hotel, so a bus stop was created to pick up the kids directly from the hotel.

This is the picture of Angela, who always ensured our family was well fed!

Katie's Birthday Party ... Aug 8, 2011

Katie had her birthday party with her friends at the pool a couple of days before we left to move to Shanghai. She will miss them but we know there are a lot more kids to make friends with in her new school (Dulwich College Shanghai) in China.

Quotes to Remember

We were in Munich and just checking into our Hotel and both the girls needed to go to the bathroom. We all ran upstairs to our rooms and they both bolted into the bathroom. They began to fight over which one was going to use the toilet first. They argue for a few seconds when Katie shouts, "Mom, which one of us do you want to pee their pants?!" (May, 2009)
We were driving home from church last week and I said something like, "We are going to buy a Toyota Sequoia". Suddenly from the back we hear our 4 year old, Ashley, pipe up ... "You killed my Father...Prepare to Die!"...somehow she confused "Toyota Sequoia" with "Inigo Montoya" from the Princess Bride! (May, 2009)
Ashley and I were playing a card game when she says to me, "pause the game, I have to go to the bathroom". This is when I realized the technology gap between my childhood and hers.
I asked Ashley what country she was born in (she was born in Canada). She told me that she couldn't remember, so I tried to give her a hint. I said, "you were born in Cannnn...". To which she immediately exclaimed in triumph..."CANDYLAND!!"
Katie woke us up this morning telling us we needed to get up. Heather told her that her head hurt and she wasn't going to get up yet. Katie responds, "But you don't WALK on your head, so get up!"