School and Insurance Update

Well, we haven't had good news in either department - school nor Health Insurance.

The kids in front of JFK - our Hopeful Photo

We have been swinging wildly about what to do about school for Benjamin.  He was not been officially accepted into JFK but neither was he officially rejected.  For the longest time we assumed we would hear something this week about whether he was accepted or not.  NOT ONE WORD.  Just a reminder school actually starts on Monday, the 21st.  Yes, in 3 days.  School also starts the same day at BBIS, the school he was officially accepted into.  After talking with a few Germans we know they all suggested that we just wait it out.  They say that if there really was no chance or it was unlikely they would definitely have rejected us.  Officially.  A couple of days ago I had to drop something off for Josie at JFK.   Really, I was just using it as an excuse to check in on Benjamin's status and I'm sure the secretary could see right through it and kind of rolled her eyes.  I don't blame her. I've worked in plenty of schools and being a school secretary is NOT an easy job.  They are the gateway to the rest of the school and probably have to answer the same question(s) 1,000 times per day.  And I can only imagine how many other parents are in our same boat and asking her about acceptance for their child/children.   I'm sure I'm only one of the many frantic parents who just want to KNOW.  But on Wednesday, late afternoon, she told me that they "haven't even touched new admissions" since returning from vacation and "likely won't until after the first day of school"  Oh, great!! At least it has kept me from checking my phone for an email every 5 minutes.  I've reduced it to every 10-15 minutes.

Today we had orientation for Josie at JFK.  We all went together as a family.  We had pre-purchased school supply kits for both kids before we left the states.

 So, we picked up both supply kits, and sit through a brief orientation.  Then they ask us to break out by grade level.  We figured we might as well "own this" so Marty and Benjamin went with the 2nd grade class and Josie and I went with the 5th grade class.  Josie and I sit through a short presentation with the 5th grade teachers - 5 of them. They all seem energetic and excited about education.  There are two teachers from Germany and 3 teachers from the US.  I get a really good vibe from all of them. The head teacher for the 5th grade is an older, German woman who is calm and comfortable and you can tell knows her stuff.  She is a veteran of the art and you can tell.  She leads the presentation, takes questions and then divides the kids into classes.  There are only about  12 students because the orientation is only for new students to the school.  Apparently there are about 25 students per class.  Josie's new homeroom teacher will be the older, German teacher who is the lead teacher. She will also have a completely different art, music, science, PE and Ethics teacher (We didn't meet these specialist teachers) She will also have "mother tongue" English with one of the three American teachers.    Josie's very first reaction to finding out who her homeroom teacher was, was excited that she "would learn a lot more German" if is German which is most definitely true.  I absolutely LOVED Josie's attitude about it. I actually LOVED her attitude about everything.  She was not at all meek or shy.  She walked into the school and her classroom with confidence and curiosity.  We all are SO excited for her year there.
We are reunited with Marty who says that the head teacher for the 2nd grade, the one that lead his break out group, was really nice and was really helpful.  He talked with her about the fact that Benjamin has not officially been accepted and she immediately said that they try VERY VERY hard to get siblings in.  She said that she knows for a fact that the 2nd grade is not full.  She goes up to talk to the secretary herself and says that Benjamin's name is on the list of siblings to get in and that he is one of five.  Marty, at first, thinks that this means there 5 kids trying to get into the 2nd grade but then she says no 5 siblings TOTAL.  I'm not sure how this can possibly be because I've been emailing another woman in the same boat who has 2 siblings trying to get in to join their already admitted kindergartner.  But if it is in fact just 5 total siblings that they are trying to place how many can actually be trying to get into the 2nd grade.  Apparently class size limit is 22 (WOW, what a dream!!)  Anyway, she (the head of 2nd grade) says that we should check back on Tuesday because then they will have time to check in on all of the kids who didn't show up on the first day and reassess their class lists.
So, Benjamin gets a day (at least) or two of extra summer vacation which he is quite pleased about.  We still don't know what we will do if we get officially rejected from JFK or how long we will wait before going to plan B (BBIS) or plan C (the local, all German, elementary school) Last night he said, in a very genuinely excited voice "I'm excited to see which school I end up at!"  So SO thankful that he doesn't seem at all anxious or upset about not knowing for sure where he will be for school despite Marty's and my stress seeping out.  So proud of both kids.  And for me, well,  I will drink my worries away on cheap, German beer!! Prost!

Oh, and in regard to insurance.  We did get confirmation that we are all set with our liability insurance.  But Marty and I were both rejected for Medical insurance, even after the very thorough (not) Dr. appointment the other day because we both have a sulfa (antibiotic) allergy.  It is crazy.  Marty just mentioned in on one of the forms he filled out for us.  He has tried to explain that this must be a misunderstanding or something has been lost in translation and said he would take a handful of sulfa right now just to prove it but the Germans are all about protocol.  We had a to fill out a bunch of extra papers.  We may have to pay an extra 50 € per month. This is not a serious condition and we both (nearly 20 years ago) had similar reactions to an antibiotic that we were both prescribed.  Both of us broke out into a rash and then over the phone the Dr told us each to stop taking the medicine and neither of us have had another reaction.  It is kind of crazy.  So our health insurance is in limbo right now.  Much like the school situation.
Good thing beer is cheap here 😉
To finish off our busy Friday we went to a final dinner with the Dennis-Edelmanns.  It has been So so fun to have them here.  Bryn even said she was a bit jealous of Josie being able to do this year of schooling and year of living in Germany and wished she could too. It made Josie feel good that she was doing something that her friends would love to do too.

Most of us walked down to our new favorite doner (I know there should be an umlaut over the "o"  in doner but for some reason it doesn't work on my computer. I can do all the other accents and symbols in Spanish and German just not THIS one and I'm tired of wasting time trying to figure it out... see: ÿ, á,ä, ë,ï,ü... so frustrating but as a former Spanish teacher I know the importance of correct spelling and using accents or in this case umlauts.)  Anyway, Marty and Benjamin biked to doner and the rest of us walked. Julie took the train and met us there.

Right as we were ordering it started to downpour.  Nearly as bad as it did the day we picked up our boxes.  We could see that the area that the buses had to go through was beginning to back up with water and within minutes all the buses were at a standstill.  One brave (dumb) driver tried to drive through the 3 or so feet of standing water and got stuck.  We just received our food and the place is teeny tiny and the only place to sit was at a large picnic table bench and skinny table out front under a not so great awning.

It was a memorable last night for them in Berlin I'm pretty sure.  Just one of the many adventures in Berlin. Save travels, Dawna, Kurt, Bryn, Ansley and Paige.  They are headed down to Munich on Saturday and then fly back to NY on Thursday.