{"id":69,"date":"2021-01-07T08:09:17","date_gmt":"2021-01-07T08:09:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/engage.augsburg.edu\/zobitz\/?p=69"},"modified":"2021-01-07T08:09:50","modified_gmt":"2021-01-07T08:09:50","slug":"first-day-of-school-insurrection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/engage.augsburg.edu\/zobitz\/2021\/01\/07\/first-day-of-school-insurrection\/","title":{"rendered":"First day of school; insurrection"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

We brought our kids to school today. In many ways it felt surreal \u2013 in person school, students don\u2019t need to wear masks. It also feels surreal being a world away from the US. We went to bed last night as the insurrectionists were breaking into the Capitol<\/a>. I would have continued to follow it, but the jet lag was catching up to me. Simply put, this is a disgraceful day and a stunning display of white privilege<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Back to the first day of school. Kids usually walk to school by themselves (!), but we accompanied them on the way to school and even got to go in. You take your shoes off before you walk in the building. This also helps cut down on the noise and keeps the school clean \u2013 smart!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Walking to school at 8:00 AM. It is still dark – so the kids are wearing reflector vests.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Finnish school system has a -1 in grade level \u2013 meaning C is in second grade, G & P (in the same class together) in first grade. Kids don\u2019t start attending school until age 7 here. Let me tell you that was a conversation with the kids \u2013 they all thought they were being held back or repeating a grade. Religious education is a school subject (students attend a class for their particular religion), and the school schedule is not uniform \u2013 meaning today C is done at 12 PM, G & P are done at 2 PM \u2013 and it varies from day to day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Waiting
Waiting to go into the building. We were wearing masks just in case, but none of the kids wear masks.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I could tell all of them were scared (I would be too, so I don\u2019t blame them!) I think they will do great though, and looking forward to hearing how the day went. More later.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We brought our kids to school today. In many ways it felt surreal \u2013 in person school, students don\u2019t need to wear masks. It also feels surreal being a world away from the US. We went to bed last night as the insurrectionists were breaking into the Capitol. I would have continued to follow it,<\/p>\n