First (and Second) Day of School

Waiting for the bus (in school uniforms!)

Yesterday was the first day of school for the Virkler children - Stamford American International School was officially in session!  After much confusion concerning the buses and their arrival times, we met the school bus at 7:55am outside our back gate (they told us the front gate but luckily someone was standing at the back gate as backup and then the kids had to take off running (on crutches no less for Ella) for the back gate.  You should have seen their surprise when they laid eyes on their bus - not like any bus in the USA!!

 The "school" bus - a very comfy touring bus - schools in Singapore do not use standard school buses in an effort to not have the kids stick out (possibly drawing attention to kids as potential kidnapping targets, is what I've been told).

The first day of school was successful and no child came home crying (some were crying the night before so I saw the first afternoon's lack of tears as a good sign!).  The kids all love their teachers and while they are amazed at the size of the school - 2,200 students, average size school for Singapore - they still thought that it was a cool campus.

This morning, Day Two started in a monsoon and we learned that catching the bus in the rain isn't nearly as much fun.  The path to the back gate was basically a raging river and Ella nearly wiped about three times while going down the ramp.  Luckily, the weather didn't last long and the rest of the school day was beautiful and dry.  The second day was even better than the first and everyone seems happy - as happy as they ever are about going to school instead of staying home playing in the pool!  

First Day of School family pic in their new uniforms!

August 18, 2014