School has begun!

Not quite like one of those office supply commercials with the mom dancing in the aisles but I was glad school started. I've been so worried that it must be incredibly boring for a teenager, especially one that we didn't have a lot of years to get to know/annoy, to just hang out with their family for weeks on end. I wanted a school-full of friend possibilities to start beyond the few gatherings we have had.

So we loaded up the station wagon and dropped the girls off in front of school and kept our fingers crossed. Success! Both of our girls are very glad to be back at school to be surrounded by other students. Not so happy to have to get up at a set time in the morning, do homework and then go to bed at a reasonable hour but a good trade in any event. Now weekends are special once again where you can revert back to a more relaxed sleep schedule.

As an added bonus the weather has changed to sunny and even waves of warmth (Oregon coast kind of warmth, not most people's idea but still warm). This might have seemed like a cruel twist to have such nice weather right when school begins but after such a lousy summer we are not going to complain one bit.

Iris has already come back from school with stories of other AFS students, new friends and the teacher who speaks Finnish. Unbelievable! I'm beginning to think this guy is Superman at night as he not only teaches the honors physics and math classes, he's involved in all kinds of volunteer activities and is a big family man and now he speaks Finnish!?!?!. (Ok, you should meat Wonder Woman, aka his wife.) Iris will be heralded all year with random Finnish in school so she definitely won't be able to just start thinking in English. Iris has also been experiencing a new kind of football (why does it take an hour when there is only 15 minutes on the clock?) and starting to plan for homecoming (shopping for a new outfit will certainly be a must).

This has been a great month and so far all is going well thanks to AFS opening this world of opportunity. Having coordinators that are knowledgeable, a liaison that has a wealth of experience and common sense (not to mention a place in town for an alternative home near the school!) and a student who is open to new experiences is making all of this a highly recommended experience. Who knows, we're already thinking about doing this again, and again...

For now its homework, football and dancing through this first part of school.