christmas is coming
It's Christmas Eve today, and I think the next couple of days will just be filled with plenty of eating. Tonight J and I made mussels in a white wine sauce for dinner. 1.4kg worth of mussels, shared between The Bun (who loves shellfish), J and me. Bao yelled for her share throughout the meal tonight but I didn't think she should be eating shellfish yet so too bad for her. For Christmas lunch tomorrow there will be a small goose with a chanterelle stuffing (the cheater's version, prepped at the supermarket ready to roast) and for Boxing Day an entire leg of lamb. Oh boy - we'll be rolling in leftovers for days.
I haven't written about the Christmas Fair at The Bun's school, or his Christmas concert before term ended last Friday. Both were quite momentous occasions, for us at least, so it's worth recording for posterity.
The Christmas Fair
The school Christmas Fair is one of the biggest things on the events calendar, and is organised solely by the parents - all the teachers have to do is turn up and enjoy themselves, which is really nice. Planning for it started early, and the parents of each class is in charge of a stall at the fair as well as a hamper that is put up for a silent auction. Our class hamper this year was called 'Oscar Travesties' and based on a list of films that won an Academy Award for Best Film. We bought a DVD of each winner and paired them with another DVD of the contender that didn't win (e.g. 1994: Shawshank Redemption vs. Forrest Gump), the idea being that our hamper will give opportunity for entertainment and (heated) debate while viewers decided whether the award was justifiable. We then matched the winning film with a drink or gourmet food - in this case, a box of good quality chocolates (remember 'life is like a box of chocolates'?).
Anyway, two days before the Fair, The Bun came home to tell me that he was going to stand in front of the school and 'pull on a string'. This confused me until he said that he was the youngest boy in school and he had to stand with three other kids (the youngest girl, and the oldest boy and girl) to pull on strings. I checked the weekly school newsletter and remembered that the official opening of the new school wing was to be held on the same day as the Fair, and apparently The Bun would have the honour of participating in the opening ceremony.
Performance by the kids.
On the day of the Fair, I thought that he would have nerves in front of so many people but no, everything went well and he did exactly what the Headmaster had rehearsed previously. In the pictures he looks so tiny compared to all the other kids! It was nice for him to be able to participate and I have been pleasantly surprised at how he's been soaking in the school spirit - he knows the school cheers, he reports that the older kids won a trophy for some inter-school sport and how they showed everyone the trophy during assembly, etc.
Waiting with the youngest girl and the oldest girl in school.
After the ceremony was over he had a cupcake and some juice from one of the stalls, bought a toy and a book at the secondhand stall, and wandered around the school grounds. There was a good turnout and a nice vibe, just right to get everyone in the mood for Christmas.
The Christmas Concert
Even though J and I tried to go early to snag seats, by the time we arrived the gym was nearly full and we made do with sitting on some balance beams at the back. It worked out better than the seats, actually, because this way Bao had lots of room to walk up and down; if she had to sit with us in the cramped rows she would probably have fussed a lot.
The Reception class performed only right at the end of the whole hour-and-a-half concert, only entering the gym when their turn came. The older children performed first, and I guess the organisers figured that the four and five-year-olds probably couldn't sit through an entire concert without squirming or distracting everyone else. All the songs only had a piano and a flute for accompaniment, and there was no emcee - the songs just flowed from one to another, and the audience sang along at some songs with the lyrics printed in the programme. It was very lo-fi, with the focus on the children, and I liked that.
Crowded school gym, with the kids lined up along the stairs
When the Reception class entered the gym there was a collective 'awww' from all the parents because after watching the older kids perform, the Reception kids looked really young and tiny in comparison. The Bun and his friends sang a song called 'Santa Hat', which was devised by the teachers as a variation of 'Hokey Pokey'. ('You put your Santa hat in, your Santa hand out, in out in out shake it all about'.) I took a video with my phone and the video is a bit crappy because it was shaky - mostly because I had a bad case of the giggles throughout! Much of the singing was off-key and some of the kids forgot the movements and looked like deer in the headlights but it was all very cute. The Bun was not nervous at all and did the song and actions with much gusto.
They also sang a song in French, which I knew about because The Bun has been singing this song nonstop at home for months. After that the whole school sang 'Hosanna Rock', which I didn't realise The Bun had learnt, and then the audience joined in with the last song, 'We Wish You a Merry Christmas'.
The headmaster gave a short thank you speech, and then everyone adjourned outside for refreshments (also entirely parent-contributed; every family brought a small plate of cookies or cake) and to wait for the kids to be released.
Pleased with himself after the concert
I must confess to being a sucker and paying 35 francs to order a DVD of the concert. I mean, The Bun's only four once, and in ten years it will be hilarious for us to watch it, even if 14-year-old Bun cringes throughout! At least it's a recording of the full-dress rehearsal, not the actual concert, so hopefully the recording is better than what I managed to get during the performance.
_______________
Only a few hours more to Christmas - definitely not a white one for Geneva this year although it looks set to be a wet one. La Bise is blowing hard as well, so I guess we'll be staying in tomorrow and overeating aplenty.
I haven't written about the Christmas Fair at The Bun's school, or his Christmas concert before term ended last Friday. Both were quite momentous occasions, for us at least, so it's worth recording for posterity.
The Christmas Fair
The school Christmas Fair is one of the biggest things on the events calendar, and is organised solely by the parents - all the teachers have to do is turn up and enjoy themselves, which is really nice. Planning for it started early, and the parents of each class is in charge of a stall at the fair as well as a hamper that is put up for a silent auction. Our class hamper this year was called 'Oscar Travesties' and based on a list of films that won an Academy Award for Best Film. We bought a DVD of each winner and paired them with another DVD of the contender that didn't win (e.g. 1994: Shawshank Redemption vs. Forrest Gump), the idea being that our hamper will give opportunity for entertainment and (heated) debate while viewers decided whether the award was justifiable. We then matched the winning film with a drink or gourmet food - in this case, a box of good quality chocolates (remember 'life is like a box of chocolates'?).
Anyway, two days before the Fair, The Bun came home to tell me that he was going to stand in front of the school and 'pull on a string'. This confused me until he said that he was the youngest boy in school and he had to stand with three other kids (the youngest girl, and the oldest boy and girl) to pull on strings. I checked the weekly school newsletter and remembered that the official opening of the new school wing was to be held on the same day as the Fair, and apparently The Bun would have the honour of participating in the opening ceremony.
Performance by the kids.
On the day of the Fair, I thought that he would have nerves in front of so many people but no, everything went well and he did exactly what the Headmaster had rehearsed previously. In the pictures he looks so tiny compared to all the other kids! It was nice for him to be able to participate and I have been pleasantly surprised at how he's been soaking in the school spirit - he knows the school cheers, he reports that the older kids won a trophy for some inter-school sport and how they showed everyone the trophy during assembly, etc.
Waiting with the youngest girl and the oldest girl in school.
After the ceremony was over he had a cupcake and some juice from one of the stalls, bought a toy and a book at the secondhand stall, and wandered around the school grounds. There was a good turnout and a nice vibe, just right to get everyone in the mood for Christmas.
The Christmas Concert
Even though J and I tried to go early to snag seats, by the time we arrived the gym was nearly full and we made do with sitting on some balance beams at the back. It worked out better than the seats, actually, because this way Bao had lots of room to walk up and down; if she had to sit with us in the cramped rows she would probably have fussed a lot.
The Reception class performed only right at the end of the whole hour-and-a-half concert, only entering the gym when their turn came. The older children performed first, and I guess the organisers figured that the four and five-year-olds probably couldn't sit through an entire concert without squirming or distracting everyone else. All the songs only had a piano and a flute for accompaniment, and there was no emcee - the songs just flowed from one to another, and the audience sang along at some songs with the lyrics printed in the programme. It was very lo-fi, with the focus on the children, and I liked that.
Crowded school gym, with the kids lined up along the stairs
When the Reception class entered the gym there was a collective 'awww' from all the parents because after watching the older kids perform, the Reception kids looked really young and tiny in comparison. The Bun and his friends sang a song called 'Santa Hat', which was devised by the teachers as a variation of 'Hokey Pokey'. ('You put your Santa hat in, your Santa hand out, in out in out shake it all about'.) I took a video with my phone and the video is a bit crappy because it was shaky - mostly because I had a bad case of the giggles throughout! Much of the singing was off-key and some of the kids forgot the movements and looked like deer in the headlights but it was all very cute. The Bun was not nervous at all and did the song and actions with much gusto.
They also sang a song in French, which I knew about because The Bun has been singing this song nonstop at home for months. After that the whole school sang 'Hosanna Rock', which I didn't realise The Bun had learnt, and then the audience joined in with the last song, 'We Wish You a Merry Christmas'.
The headmaster gave a short thank you speech, and then everyone adjourned outside for refreshments (also entirely parent-contributed; every family brought a small plate of cookies or cake) and to wait for the kids to be released.
Pleased with himself after the concert
I must confess to being a sucker and paying 35 francs to order a DVD of the concert. I mean, The Bun's only four once, and in ten years it will be hilarious for us to watch it, even if 14-year-old Bun cringes throughout! At least it's a recording of the full-dress rehearsal, not the actual concert, so hopefully the recording is better than what I managed to get during the performance.
_______________
Only a few hours more to Christmas - definitely not a white one for Geneva this year although it looks set to be a wet one. La Bise is blowing hard as well, so I guess we'll be staying in tomorrow and overeating aplenty.