Laurel Elisabeth Stevens

Stefanie is our new German tutor.  She lives 30 minutes away, but it isn’t a freeway drive, so that is nice.  Instead we drive by farmer’s markets, over train tracks and under huge trees that have been trimmed for years away from the power lines so now they lean precariously over the road.  For the last three weeks we’ve been listening to a book on CD entitled Stowaway .  Sometimes when we arrive I’m wiping the tears from my eyes. On the first day when I asked Elisabeth if I should stay in the room with her she gave me a little push and said, “ Mom , I’ve been to school.”  Her session went by quickly and easily and I thought, “Wow! She knows a lot of German.”  Perhaps it is all about context--now that we are here, it seems like more.  Or perhaps I never gave her enough credit over there.  In any case, she is used to using her German in an academic context,  so this works well for her. Henry’s sessions are a little bit more like a t...

Elisabeth has been excited about playing piano in the school talent show but I just found out that the auditions are the day we are flying back to the U.S.  I wonder if this news will bring her first tears regarding our move. So far I think the kids are taking it easier than we are.  They don’t think all these big thoughts like, “We thought we’d be here longer” or “What will the transition be like?” or “Will Henry keep his German?  Will any of us keep our German?”  They don’t yet know or anticipate the ache that is left after saying good-bye to dear friends who have not only helped us through a difficult transition, but have brought a dimension to our stay that we never could’ve imagined.  The kids are thinking about the new house, returning to Elisabeth’s piano teacher, homeschooling, VBS at Grace, new gymnastics classes, friends, friends, friends.  I asked Elisabeth what she will be most sad about leaving here, and she said, “Friends!”...

I’ve had two phone calls in the last two days that have utterly bewildered me.  The first was a man speaking German who sounded very friendly--as if we knew each other already.  I understood it was something about our move, but the introduction was so fast that I had no idea why he was calling.  If I could translate the conversation into English, it might have gone something like this (I’m imagining what he probably said, but only based on what I understood later). Caller: Hello, Mrs. Stevens!  This is Schaefer from Spangenberg.  Greetings to your family.  I understand you’re moving. Me: Ah, hello!  Yes? Caller: I’m calling to schedule your household goods survey. Me: Yes? Ah, who are you? Caller: Mr. Schaefer from Spangenberg.   Me: I’m sorry, could you say that again? Caller: This is Mr. Shaefer from Spangenberg.  Your husband works for Baker Hughes and you are moving back, yes?  I’m calling to schedule th...

Bike riding to the store has its limitations By January of last year I felt like I was really quite adjusted to living in Hannover.   On a chilly January day two friends and I met to walk together and then get a few things at the grocery store.  We planned to then take the tram back home.  It was a lovely, brisk walk.  Two Americans and a German who lived in the US for five years have much to talk about.  Soon we were at the store doing our shopping.  In between the produce and the dairy section, I saw my neighbor, Frau K . . K . .. what was her name?  I simply couldn’t remember, although I had seen her a number of times and had chatted with her husband.  She was in her late 70s, a tall woman with excellent posture and silvery white hair.  I got up enough nerve to say, “Guten Tag.”  On earlier occasions when I had talked with my neighbor and her husband, it was her husband who was always the friendly one, with English that he le...

Yesterday on the way home from Kindergarten Henry cheerfully told me, “Mama, I got to eat in the kitchen and do Tisch Dienst.”   I thought I was Mommy. What is Tisch Dienst? This happens more and more often as our son is immersed in Kindergarten five days a week and I can’t help but think it is cute.  However, being the educator that I am, I usually repeat things back the proper way.  This time first I had to ask what Tisch dienst was.  It means setting the table--literally “Table Service.”  I asked him to tell me what he had to do to set the table and I was hoping he would tell me all the utensils in German, but amazingly his mind made the switch and it came out easily in English.  And so very cutely.  I’m rather enamored by my son lately.  Here’s one of my favorites: “Today Emil was before lunch abgeholt.” In German if you have a verb with 2 parts--here it is past tense--the second verb is always the last word of the sentence...

Yesterday I heard a first from Henry--he was telling me what was on the Kindergarten lunch menu for Thursday and he said, "It gives Pizza on Thursday!"  He was so excited, I had to ask him to repeat himself to see if he really said what I thought he said.  He directly translated the German phrase into English.  In German you say, "Es gibt am Donnerstag Pizza!"  I thought it was pretty funny.  I wasn't sure if I should correct him or not, and I didn't until later.  I figure it will all get sorted out at some point. Yesterday morning Henry asked me, "How do you say 'tomorrow'?"  "Morgen."  "How do you say 'Grandmere'?"  "Oma or Grossmutter."  Ah, then I realized--he wanted to tell everyone that Grandmere was coming tomorrow!  This morning on the way to Kindergarten he said, "How do you say 'today'?"  He's got some news to tell.   Riding to German class through some orchards and g...

In Germany we have visited a number of German speaking churches--Lutheran, Reformed and Evangelical Free, but today in Warsaw I went with my parents to what they already, after one month of being here, refer to as "our church."  It is the Church of England in Poland, meeting in a Catholic chapel called Res Sacra Miser,  pictured here . There were certainly a lot of things for the kids to look at, a big change for these Protestant kiddoes.  Elisabeth sat on the pew with my parents and the three of them filled it up, so Henry and I sat behind them. The liturgy was printed on 2 sets of paper and it was a bit tricky to follow along, but it was so good and so needful to hear the word of God.  In my own language.  I don't think I realized until I looked at the liturgy, how hard it has been to not be at an English speaking church.  In truth I was refreshed. We read together the Nicene Creed, which is more in depth than the Apostles Creed, which even in most Pre...

Our lovely two week spring break just ended yesterday.  The first week we spent showing John’s parents bits of Hannover, Hameln (aka Hamlin as in the Pied Piper of) and Celle, our erstwhile home in Germany.  Then on the Tuesday after Easter we took the train, along with John’s parents, to Amsterdam. View of "our" canal  Elisabeth asked me on the four hour train ride, “Is Amsterdam bigger than Hannover?”  The answer was quickly revealed as we exited the train into a much busier train station than we are used to.  But what I missed right away was the German penchant for orderliness in street crossing.  I used to think Hannover had a lot of cyclists.  Now I know it is small potatoes compared to Amsterdam.  There is a huge triple story parking deck for bicycles by the train station.  I heard it can take an hour to find your bike.  The trams seem to run willy nilly in front of the train station and I felt like we were about to get run o...

Today Henry and I accompanied Elisabeth to school.  We used to do this daily, back in the fall, until Elisabeth got hooked up with some 8th grade girls.  Now we meet one or two in the morning at the tram stop and Henry and I head home.  But today Elisabeth is going to spend the night at a classmate’s house, so Henry and I thought we would go in the morning.  A couple of months ago Elisabeth would ask me, “Why can’t you take me?  Can you please take me?”  But this morning I saw why she is not asking me so much anymore.  One of the girls held the tram door open for us as we were running late.  If you hold the door open, the tram cannot go.  Sometimes this is quite annoying when local school kids hold the door open for so many people and we sit for a long time, but this morning we weren’t causing any delay and it was just nice to see this small act of kindness.  Then Elisabeth sat down with the three eighth grade girls and Henry and I sat a...

Some of you have heard me complain and cry about Henry’s Kindergarten experience.  It has certainly had its ups and downs.  But right now we are in an UP and I’m grateful.  For the last week or so, as soon as we come back from taking Elisabeth to the tram to meet her middle school buddies who accompany her to school, Henry asks me, “When can we leave?  Will I have time to play?”  Morgenkreis or Morning Circle is at 9:00 and that is the official beginning of Kindergarten, but he can arrive any time after 7:30.  It starts getting busier between 8:20 and 9:00.  So these days we are sure to leave the house by 8:30 and sometimes earlier so Henry has “time to play.”  It makes me chuckle because he has time to play all morning, but there is something special to him about getting there before the bells ring.  I asked him if he wanted me to bring him right after taking Elisabeth to the tram.  That would be a bit before 8:00, but I think he still ...

I’m marveling over our budding bilingual boy. It’s true that he is not bilingual yet, but I am fascinated by the changes going on in our household. This happens all the time, I know, but it is a different feeling to experience it first hand. I guess I feel like the parent of a newborn who exclaims, “She pursed her lips and cooed! It was so amazing!” I have known several bilingual children over the years--friends who grew up in Mexico and whose children have always been speaking Spanish and English, friends who moved from the Netherlands to the U.S. when their oldest was two are among those was around more. I remember when he didn’t know any English, but then gradually he knew more and more, but I didn’t get to watch it so close up. In these two examples the parents were already fluent in English, so it only seemed natural that their kids would become fluent in English. They told me they didn’t speak English at home, but I don’t think I really believed them. As late as 2 week...