NL - 4th, Feb, 2009 Wed (Rain, 0C) Eindhoven: A new start at RIS

After few snow on Monday and Tuesday, it rains today. In Europe, the big snow in the past few days had caused serious economic lost especially in England.

Starting this week, we have a big change in our style of living since we arrived in Netherlands, because Syuan started to go to RIS for Group 1 on this Monday 2nd, Feb. following the Dutch formal education that started at the early age of 4. She needs to be in school between 8:15 ~ 8:25am, thus we wake her up early before 7am to prepare all the clothing, lunch and snacks. Before she went to school, she will always wake up after 9am.

After struggling to goes to school for the beginning few days, fortunately, Syuan has found her interests to go to school these two days as she liked her teacher very much. In her ideas, she is as beautiful as her dream's princess in Snow white or Cinderella. She said she must see her everyday. Ha ha.... ! She was extremely happy for the whole day on Tuesday when she told her teacher that she was beautiful, the teacher gave her two flying kisses and said that she was beautiful too.

The International school is very strict, though we were new to the school, while we late first time in the first week, the staff on the reception recorded us and gave us a " Late Pass" before we went to the classroom. At the second time, she asked the teacher to come and brought her to the class and the parents could not went inside the class with her. They said "Just bring her to the school earlier though she refused to come, after few minutes she will be okay with the teacher".

Totally difference with the schools in Taiwan, the pupils need to bring themselves with a lunch box, two snacks and some drinks (no fizzy) with them to the school. If they are thirsty, they can help themselves to drink directly from the tap water.

Under freezing point (0C), the pupils and parents will wait at the outdoor school compound 10 minutes before the school bell rings at 8:25am, the teachers will come out and bring the pupils into the classroom in rolls. After school, the parents will wait outside for their kids, when the bell rings on 3:30pm, the teacher will lead all the pupils in roll to the outdoor space to meet their parents. In less than 30 minutes, over few hundreds pupils in the schools including the low and high levels (Group 1 to 8) left the school compound with their parents. You can imagine how on time and efficient ways of working attitude of the Dutch.