The Clements Family Life: 9/19/10

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Day 2 of School

Ali surprisingly woke up cheerful about school. Curt took them without me so I'm not sure how the drop off went but it was a better morning then I had anticipated. I was slightly worried about Ali being scared or emotional but she was quite a big girl! She even had input on her hair design. Often she is too tired or grumpy to let me even touch it but today we spent quite a bit of time fixing it up. I think in the heat she just wants it off her neck...

Back to School

Finally.... here are some back to school photos. Sorry that they are so dark but I have yet to unpack my Canon camera (or any others for that matter) so I've been using my iPhone.

Terence and Mia's first day of school was last week on Wednesday / Mercredi, September 15th. Curt got up extra early to make delicious buttermilk pancakes while I got the 2 up, showered, dressed and ready. Ali stayed behind with our babysitter.

Since it was our first time to visit the school since the one time we were driven there in May, we followed our friends. I took a few snaps along the way in case I needed to look back and be reminded. However, it's very easy and I haven't had to refer back and have found it perfectly every time since on my own. Just for you to see what the route looks like from our current location in the Dubai Marina, check out these 3 photos.

Mia just before entering her building. Terence getting ready to enter his building (behind him). He was so embarrassed of the photos. Could you imagine if I had actually pulled out my massive Canon camera? At least the iPhone isn't so obvious.

While Curt took Terence into his classroom, I went with Mia to scout out hers. It took us a while but finally managed to find her lovely, bright classroom with her incredible teacher, Anne-Sophie.

She was given a cubby for her lunch box and other belongings.

She had a minute of embarrassment too.

Below is Terence and Mia waiting for school to start (can you believe the Clements family was actually early??) Ali was with us as we needed to go visit her teacher with Curt.

My big girl, Ali. On the bottom right is us waiting outside her classroom. There were a few other parents there, too, so we had to wait our turn to meet her lovely teacher, Anne, and her assistant, Benedicte. I think it was such a great idea for them to have us come one-on-one to meet, visit the classroom, get to know each other, ask questions and familiarize ourselves.

Then we had weekend so she had 2 days before her official first day. Yesterday was Ali's first day when she joined Mia and Terence. She handled it perfectly. Do you notice that they are sitting on their little lunch cooler boxes? Mia taught Ali to do this. They serve a dual purpose!

BIENVENUE! WELCOME! We were the first ones into her class. I think that made it a little less overwhelming as there will be 28 children in her Moyenne Section class with her!

What I've learned in Dubai so far

We are starting week 3 soon in Dubai and so far, so good. Honestly, I really enjoy it. I was so ready for a change. Even though I left part of my heart in Budapest, for several reasons (mostly just relating to the country and it's lack of advancements and improvements) we were ready to spread our wings and fly.

Luckily, we have a really adaptable family. We've always traveled frequently with our kids and since we are such a close family unit, we travel and settle well together.

Since we have been here, this is what we have done and what I have learned (in no particular order):

1. Arabic is written from right to left.
2. Arabic TV is boring (Curt always refers to it as Falcon hunting as this seems to be a popular sport televised on Arabic TV often).
3. The kids (and Curt and I, too) are loving fresh squeezed drinks and getting spoiled with them as they are offered everywhere.
4. I have not cooked much at all since we arrived as we are still in a temporary serviced apartment. However, it is still easy to get great fresh veggies, hummus, sushi, etc for healthy dinners and snacks. We have also had Papa Johns and Pizza Express pizza deliveries.
5. There are prayer rooms everywhere.
6. It has been over 40 degrees C every day since we've been here.
7. Driving here drives me crazy mostly because of the constant construction and lack of GPS capabilities.
8. It is incredibly diverse and international. I love hearing so many languages everywhere. The kids are tired of Curt and I constantly asking and / or trying to guess where people are from.
9. My three kids have all ended up with excellent teachers - all seem to fit their personalities really well. Terence has a young, male teacher and Mia and Ali both have very lovely, young female teachers.
10. The kids have already all made friends at school, which, I am sooo happy about.
11. I've signed all the kids up for activities but have only signed myself up for dragon boating. Still would like to find a good tennis league and resume golf again at some point. I have my tennis gear and golf shoes but the clubs are in our container (will arrive in about 2 more weeks or so).
12. I cannot find a proper Apple store but have found thousands of electronics stores selling Apple products.
13. I have only been in my bathing suit in the sun 1 day as we never have a spare moment! I thought I would have had a few lazy, poolside afternoons by now but will catch up on that when things start sliding into place.
14. We've changed our minds about neighborhoods 100 times. If we didn't have kids, I would so be living on the Palm. However, our kids wanted more of a community and now we are looking elsewhere. We hope to have signed on a rental property by the end of the week.
15. Curt shouts here just as much as he shouts in Budapest (it's usually customer service related).
16. Having a Friday, Saturday weekend is so confusing. I was on the phone with my US bank today and couldn't work out why they couldn't provide me with a normal business hour service. It was Sunday! A work day for me but not for others.
17. We bought a car today! A Toyota Sequoia so that is one step closer to settling in / down...
18. Our new car will have 2 built in cooler boxes - 1 in between the 2 front seats and 1 in between the middle seats. There is a 3rd row that seats 3.
19. Even though Curt may find certain things frustrating, he has been incredibly sociable in the pool, in the mall, everywhere. We are meeting so many people already and trying to increase the numbers of our upcoming house warming party! The list is growing!
20. We have been up to the top of the Burj Khalifa - the tallest building in the world - on the night before school started for Terence and Mia. We had made a promise to Terence to go up before school began. The lift took us to floor 124 in 60 seconds. Our ears popped and my knees wobbled while up there...
21. The kids have take a pack lunch every day in a cooler box with a ice freeze thing (you put in the freezer overnight and stick it in with their lunch / drinks so it keeps cold).
22. Terence and Mia are taking their first golf lesson tomorrow.
23. Ali is obsessed with swimming and has swam probably every day (except for today) since we have been here.
24. Mia made a good friend at school today who takes ice skating lessons indoors at the Dubai Mall (largest mall in the world).
25. I have never seen so many fancy cars - Bentleys, Rolls Royces, Ferraris, etc. Terence is learning them and pointing them out to me as I cannot tell the different usually.
26. I cannot get used to so many people (in the office, in stores) calling me Madame.
27. The kids said they are boring as they only speak 3 languages and most of their classmates in Dubai speak more than 3 languages!
28. We found a French tutor already. His first evening was today and it went better than I expected.
29. I drink more coffee here but from familiar chains like Starbucks and Costa Coffee.
30. The other day a Costa coffee attendant came up to my car while we were pumping our fuel. I was so excited to be able to multitask: fill up car and get an iced latte!
31. I'm really enjoying the longer opening hours of so many stores.
32. Mia went down the Leap of Faith - killer water slide - at the Atlantis' hotel's Aquaventure Park. I'm so impressed with my very brave 7 year old!
33. I miss our dogs (and cat) so much!

I promise to post the kids' back to school photos shortly....

Warmest Regards, the Clements Family in Dubai x o x o

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QUOTES OF THE DAY:

Today, July 1 2010 while driving through McD's drive through Terence and I got to talking about what a job at McD's would be like. I told him that my brother worked there and that was one of his first jobs. I explained how he was in charge of the french fries and used to come home with lots of grease burns. T told me that if he ever worked at McD's he wouldn't be able to work on the Big Mac assemblies as they would all end up disappearing. The Big Mac is his favorite!! He's not a french fry kind of guy, just a burger boy!

June 10, 2010. Ali has been a bit curious about dying lately. Fortunately, she doesn't remember anyone close to us that has died but she hears Mia and T sometimes talking about it. The other day, she came up to me very sad and said, "Mama, I don't want you to die." I told her that I don't want to die either and this is why I have to exercise and take care of myself so that I can stay alive and healthy longer. She nodded in agreement and then, while playing with my pink wallet on the table, she followed up with, "Mama, if you DO die, can I please have your wallet?" Glad she jumped back so quickly...

Today, May 24 2010, is a public holiday (Pentecost). Ali woke up - only at 9am - and since she had no idea of the time I reminded her that there was no school today. She smiled and said, "Yeah! I'm going to stay in my pjs ALL day". Later she asked me about the cat's birthday. I told her I did not know. She then asked me when Blue, our border collie's bday is. I told her it was in August. She smiled and said, "Let's have a birthday party for him. What kind of cake do you think we should make for his party?" We decided to make him a dog food cake! However, she is now trying to figure out if it is better to give him a cake with or without candles...

This Saturday morning (April 17, 2010) I am at home with Ali while Curt is doing the dance and football taxi service. My main responsibility is to work on our US visit travel schedule (flights, rental cars, hotels, etc.) It always takes a lot of coordination but it's all worth it as we love our summer returns to the US. Anyhow, I was telling Ali what I was doing and she asked me to remind her who we were going to see again. The main people I mentioned were Nana, Papa, Aunt Sally and Uncle Mike as these are the first people we will visit. I asked her what we should take to Nana for her birthday present. She thought for a second. Then, her eyes grew wide as she thought of a great idea. Her animated answer (she always uses lots of hand motions when talking - is that from me?) was, 'A nice hat, a scarf and if you have a dress that you out grow then we can take it for her!'. Funny little monkey... Don't worry Nana, I won't be bringing you any hand-me-downs! x o x o

Yesterday (Feb 24, 2010), while Ali went to visit her old nursery school, I took Terence and Mia for lunch before picking up T's new passport at the US embassy. There is this little cafe that I really love and they have great wraps, onion rings (I have a weakness for good onion rings), burgers, salads, smoothies, coffees, etc. Terence decided on a plain burger with onion rings and Mia decided on a bacon cheeseburger with onion rings. I got a smoothie and hoped for some bites of both of theirs... When the burgers arrived, they both lifted off the top bun and frowned. T grunted, "I asked for a plain burger. Not a burger with this sauce!" The sauce was sort of a 1000 island dressing type of tangy sauce. Mia pouted about this matter, too. I immediately got upset with them and told them not to judge it until they tried it. Then, I followed with, "you both need to become more adaptable." After a second of silence, Mia told me she was going to tell dad. I asked her to clarify and she told me that she was going to tell dad what I had said. Again, I asked her to clarify as I hadn't said anything rude or even a bad word (I sometimes have trouble with the latter). She then told me very angrily, "I'm going to tell dad that you want us to be adopted!" Adapted ... Adopted ... Pretty close!

During our ski trip to Schladming, Ali and I often spent some time together in the afternoon (after her morning ski school) drinking hot chocolate at the top in one of the restaurants. One afternoon she made a funny observation. Actually, she made 2 observations that went like this: "Ma!" she began. After I responded "yes", she asked me, "why are there some teenagers working here?" Before I had time to answer, she asked me another question. "And, why are there so many teenagers kissing?!" I looked around and there were 2 young couples nearby kissing... on the mouth! She was very interested. I answered to her that many teenagers worked when they were on break from school and regarding the teenagers that are kissing, they must love each other. She took this in and thought for a while. I told her that I'd like it if she also worked when she became a teenager and asked her what she thinks she'd like to do. The response has had us giggling for a few days. With little hesitation, she answered that she wanted to be a penguin when she was a teenager. I asked her where she would work as a teenager and who would pay her money. She thought for only a second and then answered, "the Four Seasons Hotel. They will pay me and I'll work there." I bit my tongue and asked her what she would do in the Four Seasons dressed as a penguin. She looked at me like I was an idiot and said, "Ma! I would swim!" She said this with a slight roll of her eyes like I was born yesterday. What else would a penguin in the Four Seasons be doing???

Just yesterday (Sept 18, 2009) I heard Ali saying to Mia, "drink me". I had to turn around and see what they were talking about. Mia was holding Ali's cup while she sipped out of it. Ali must have thought 'drink me' was the way to ask to be fed (?) a drink. We do say 'feed me' but what do we say if it's a drink item and not a food item?

The other day (early June 2009) the girls were taking a bath together and Mia blurted out "Oh Man" about something. Ali thought she was referring to her as a 'man' and shouted back at Mia, "Me not a MAN, me a LADY!" For obvious reasons I have never called her a 'lady' but she's somehow picked the word up. Loved how she defended herself as being a lady...

Yesterday, March 31st 2009, Terence, Ali and I were sitting at the table and talking. Terence made a joke about going to jail. After Ali laughed, I asked her if she knew what 'jail' was. She answered 'yes'. So, I asked her if jail was a place for good guys or bad guys. She correctly answered 'bad guys'. Then, I asked her, "How does Brigi call 'jail'"? I know this is correct but this is the way Ali would understand me asking how would she say 'jail' in Hungarian. Brigi, by the way, is her Hungarian nursery school teacher who she has a very close relationship with. Her answer to my question, "How does Brigi call jail?" was "with a telephone".... Very clever she is...

This afternoon (Jan 28, 2009) Ali pulled out a DVD and asked, 'we watch this when dada come home?' I looked at it and said, 'Ali, that's not a good one for you. It's a little scary.' (it was Men in Black II). She had recognized it and was ready with her quick reply: 'Don't worry (pronounced woowwee) Mama. Me cover my one eye with a pillow (piwwow).'

On Ali's birthday (Jan 24, 2009) while we were driving to Aquaworld, I turned around and offered the kids a stick of gum. I guess normally I / we say a 'piece' of gum. Curt then followed up with a joke asking if any of them wanted a 'stick of dynamite'. The girls were a bit confused but T, without missing a beat, said 'we can't buy dynamite, only people like miners can buy sticks of dynamite.' This is something he got out of one of his books that he loves to read. I believe it's the Richard Scarry What do People do All Day book that he has practically memorized and still goes to bed reading it and examining all the detailed pictures every night.

This morning (Jan 27, 2009) when we were hunting for Ali's shoes for school she looked outside and said, 'Mama, it's raining'. I turned to look out the window she was looking out and replied, 'Ali, I don't see rain'. She then followed up with something in Hungarian that I didn't understand. When I asked her to repeat it she looked at me, switched back to English and said 'It starts snowing after Halloween'. Not sure what this meant, why she said it, how she even remembered what Halloween was as that was ages ago in her little lifetime. Very sweet.

Mia's newest line (as of this first week in Sept 2008) is "I'm having the worst day ever". She's also been saying, "I feel like an idiot". She tends to say the latter when she's feeling a bit shy or lost for words. The first one is usually after she falls, stubs her toes, gets hurt or drops something. I have no idea where either lines have come from. Very funny to hear a 5 year old talk like this...

Every summer we take our 3 kids back to the US to re-familiarize (I'm sure this isn't a word...) them with their American roots. They were born in Europe and have only lived in Hungary their entire lives. Terence, our 7 year old, knows he's American. However, sometimes when he's asked 'Are you English?' he answers 'yes'. I think I've finally gotten it through to him that just because he speaks English doesn't mean he is English. In America (and several other countries), English is spoken... He now gets it and corrects people if they guess he's English. You may think that they would recognize his American accent but I think this misunderstanding usually happens when he is speaking Hungarian or French.

Mia, on the other hand, thinks we are Hungarian. When we were talking about Hungary beating America for the gold medal in water polo, she shouted out 'Yeah, we won!'. We had to explain that Hungary won and not America and we are American. She answered something about us living in Hungary which makes us Hungarian. Needless to say, she is a work in progress.

Then there is Ali who is only 2 1/2 and is still trying to not mix up English with Hungarian in her speech so she has no idea where she's from but will in time.

Anyhow, going back to our trips to the US. Curt and I like to give them an all-American cultural experience whenever we are in the US which includes baseball games, summer camp, carnivals, dunking machines, donuts, bagels, catching lightning bugs, looking for Cardinals and Blue Jays, spotting alligators in the lakes in Kiawah and this year a rodeo and a demolition derby. In addition to introducing our American favorite pastimes to them, we also have to teach them how to talk about it. For example, when our plane was landing in Kansas City on July 4th 2008 we had a perfectly clear day and could see everything. Terence looked out the plane's window and in his loud voice shouted to me, "Look at that baseball court mom!" I could hear heads turning wondering why the American accented boy who should be in at least his 3rd or 4th year of little league just called it a baseball 'court'. Well, that was at the beginning of our US summer trip... ;-)

Tonight (July 11, 2008) on our way home from the Sedgwick state fair (hee haw), Ali shouted from the back seat, "Mama, home now! Me tired!" It was about 9:30pm so way past her bedtime. I told her that we were on our way home (or at least Nana and Papa's) and would be there soon. I followed up with something about daddy is driving as fast as he can. Then, she shouted, "Dada, faster!" She is so funny and so expressive. It's funny to hear her bark her commands. And, when she is tired, she tells us....

This morning (June 24, 2008) as Mia was changing from her PJs to her school clothes I noticed her PJs had several holes in them. I mentioned it to Mia and suggested that maybe we just toss them in the garbage as it was so torn and damaged (plus small on her) that it wouldn't be easy to repair. Mia nodded her head in agreement but then asked me to do one favor for her. She asked, "Mama, can you please just toss them after I go to school? If I'm not here, I won't see it and then I can't get sad."

One morning while we were near Notre Dame in Paris (May 29, 2008), a group of school kids walked by where we were sitting. I heard T say to Liam, "Don't they sound like the kids at the French school?" Gee, I wonder why? haha

Two nights ago (around March 27, 2008) while Terence was getting ready for bed he said, "Mama, you know what?" He always begins his stories like this. After I asked 'what?' he proceeded by telling me the sweetest thing. He said, "I really like being a kid". I have no idea where this came from or why it occured to him at this point but I think it was really sweet. I know earlier in the evening his stomach was hurting him a bit and I was nurturing and taking care of him. I think maybe that is why he decided that being a kid and having a mom (and dad) take care of him when he needed it was okay!

Mia woke up crying 2 mornings ago. She was actually whimpering. I gently stroked her back and kissed her face while whispering in her ear "Mia, you're dreaming. Wake up. It's okay. I'm here. It's mama and I'm here". I repeated these soothing words over and over until she half opened her eyes and started mumbling. I leaned in to try and hear her better. I asked her what was upsetting her. She then said a bit more clearly, "The Easter Bunny pulled my hair!" Oh no. Poor Mia. "Why did the Easter Bunny pull your hair?". "He came in through the bedroom door and pulled my hair while I was sleeping in bed!" I reassured her that the Easter Bunny would NEVER do such a thing. I explained how gentle and giving good ole EB is. However, this morning (2 days later) she asked me how many 'night-nights' until Easter. I told her it was 2 weeks away (aka about 14 night-nights away). She then looked relieved and then asked me if she could get her hair cut short!!

I've been wanting to add another funny Mia quote that occurred over our New Year's (Dec 2007/Jan 2008) ski holiday. One night when Mia was having trouble falling asleep she crawled in between Curt and I as we were still awake talking. She explained that she couldn't fall asleep so we told her she could stay in our bed until she did. She closed her eyes for a couple of minutes and then started smacking herself in the head with both hands. I asked her what she was doing and she replied that she couldn't get it to stop. Curt and I were confused and asked her to elaborate. She said, 'I can't get the voices in my head to stop'. It was so funny as I immediately knew it was her thinking that was in her head. Curt asked her what the 'voices' were saying and she said it sounded like 'blah, blah, blah, blah, blah'. Curt couldn't resist by saying that he knew the feeling!

Last week (January 10, 2008) Mia came with me to the Indian Embassy in Budapest to pick up Curt's and my passports with Indian visas. She always makes me laugh as she's full of questions but never discreet. One of those kids that have to announce to an entire room that she has to go to the bathroom - even though she's only talking to me. While at the Indian Embassy she looked around at this new environment taking everything in. She had so many questions, "Mommy, what's that for?" or "Why is that over there?" She then noticed two paintings. At about the same time as she noticed them one of the consulates sat down next to her and said 'hi'. She returned the gesture with a shy 'hi' and then turned back to me to ask me who those people are in that painting. I had no clue and didn't want to embarrass myself in front of this Indian embassy employee. So, I asked him if he could answer my daughter's question. He looked at her and said, "That's our president". So then I showed Mia the map of India and told her that was the country we were going to. She returned her attention to the man and the woman in the painting and asked who the woman was assuming it was the man who was the president (reminder - she's still not 5 years old). The nice man had to explain that it was the woman who was the president and the man was the prime minister. Then Mia had to ask why the president had the red dot on her forehead and the prime minister had the pretty blue scarf (turban) on his head. She then saw a statue of Ghandi and asked me who he was. I knew that answer but had trouble explaining in 5 year old language why he was so famous. On and on and on she went... She had all the employees listening and entertained as not only was she interested but she was extremely complimentary. Many kids would say, 'that's weird or strange' but Mia found it all interesting and beautiful. They loved that she thought the turban was pretty, the red dot looked nice on the president and in another very Indian photo the traditionally dressed Indian woman looked so pretty with her gold bangles, henna covered hands, and gold outfit. Phew, I was on the edge of my seat nervous she would say something that might not be so kind. Instead she left them all with a smile on their faces and a very proud mom!

Yesterday (Nov 23, 2007) Terence came up to me and said, "Mom, I know America is one of the newest countries in the world but which is the oldest?" I said, "I'm not really sure but what do you think?" This kid is too much. He replied, "I'm not sure either but I would guess China." Not sure if this is right or wrong but it amazes me that he can even come up with something that is a really good guess. Will google it tonight for sure! If anyone knows, please send me the answer.

Last night (Oct 19, 2007) Terence asked me the loaded question: Do we come back to earth after we die? We spent a long time after the girls went to bed talking about it. I explained how different people believed different things and what I believe is that we do. He then asked me if we'd still come back as a family. I realized he had tears in his eyes with worry that he'd have to be part of another family so I answered 'yes'.

Terence asked me the other day why so many ants were eating our tree. He asked how they got onto our property when we have a fence all around it.

In first grade Terence is working on days of the week and months of the year. I asked him to recite what he's learned in French. After he said the days of the week perfectly I asked if he knew them in English. He couldn't think of them but suddenly I heard Mia's voice without hesitation say, 'Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday... etc'

Ali's word of the day was purple yesterday. Okay, so it didn't really sound like purple but it did sound like 'poopoa'. We were both wearing purple shirts and I pointed it out to her. That's how she repeated it after me.

The Clements Family Life

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Day 2 of School

Back to School

What I've learned in Dubai so far

About Me

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