tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2545409753630670702024-03-19T13:42:22.120+01:00Orli, Just Breathe Special kids & regular parentsOrli Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14279242008801779330noreply@blogger.comBlogger167125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-254540975363067070.post-51445967657761253632015-05-16T16:30:00.000+02:002015-05-17T13:22:22.174+02:00Six months two weeks, and one ER visitOn Wednesday I started writing a post about how we've crossed the six months benchmark, which means we are officially not new here anymore. I wanted to write about how crossing this six months benchmark, silly as it sounds, really does make a difference. How there has been somewhat of a change in the air lately.<br />
Everyone sees and feels change in different places, different instances in life. For me, I think it was last Sunday when I found myself sitting at this very computer typing a very long and detailed response (for some reason I can't seem to write shortly)... On Facebook. To a stranger. I just couldn't help myself. Now don't get me wrong, I like Facebook as much as the next totally addicted person, but actually participating in public discussions with, well, people who are totally wrong? This is where I draw the line. Until last Sunday it seemed. So I figured there can only be one explanation for something so strange - I miss writing.<br />
Which in turn can only mean one thing - I have turned a corner. So I did the math, and sure enough - it's the six months benchmark. Also it's spring, which means sunshine (And spring coats, which I adore, but have no relevance here).<br />
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So I tore down the "Haven't cried in XX days" sign from above my little corner of tears (also known as the sofa in my bedroom, which doubles as the perfect place to watch TV and the weekend's breakfast corner), got on the treadmill (yes, I know, I'm a sucker for punishment) and sat down to write this post.<br />
But I forgot the cardinal rule - Never ever write about how well things are going.<br />
I know, it's crazy, but how else can you explain the fact that not two hours after I started this post, and was in the middle of writing a "we are adapting to life here" sentence I found myself in the ER?<br />
I have no one to blame. Really, I brought it on myself.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Just so you know - an ER in German is Rettungstelle </td></tr>
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Calls from school are one of the scariest things there are for parents, especially the prone to anxiety type to which I will be the first one to admit I belong, and so I manage to teach every person in every school the kids attend, to always start the call (or letter or email) with a very clear "everything is ok". In this instance I didn't even get a phone call. Imagine yourself walking down the street in a heated discussion with a five years old about the correct colour for his next MineCraft sheep (don't ask. Just don't ask. You'll get a two hours long response) when a stranger stops you and says "are you Ron's mum? I am his football teacher. Ron is in the car and we are on the way to the hospital. He had an accident" (ok, he wasn't a complete stranger, I vaguely remember seeing him around the school, but as names and faces were never my strong suit, in that moment he seemed like a stranger).<br />
He had to repeat himself three times before I could actually understand all the words.<br />
A German ER looks nothing like any ER I have ever seen, including those on TV. It looks exactly like you'd imagine any German establishment should look - big, clean, quiet and ruthlessly efficient.<br />
To this day, this is the only German establishment I've seen that was actually true to all German stereotypes.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ron was not extremely happy with my insistence to photograph every thing. On the other hand, he also didn't want me making idiotic jokes. So what is a person to do?</td></tr>
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In the past six months and two weeks we have been fighting our way through the German bureaucracy. It had gotten to the point in which we've decided it's all actually a test. They test you to see when the endless and needless bureaucracy will break you. This is how they check how serious you are about living here. Well, we are rarely serious (ok me. Hidai is a very serious person) but we don't do breakable, so we adapt and learn how to live here.<br />
Ever so slowly we manage to claw our way through the significant cultural differences, the language barriers, and our bottomless todo list.<br />
But an ER? In German?<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Getting the splint fitted</td></tr>
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I have been studying German religiously for the past eight months, and have reached the point in which I can think of the words I want to say, and sometimes I can even string them together to a really simple sentence. Hey, the other week I managed to tell a Taxi driver to take a different route. I rock in German. Until they answer. I swear when they (and that includes everyone I come in contact with) talk, it sounds nothing like the German course. It's like it's a whole different language. One I do not understand at all. Add the child with the swollen and bleeding hand, the child who doesn't like unknown situations, and the husband on the way to the equation and you can understand how when they said "Ron D to room 5a" what I heard was "Ron D to asdf sertst aefasf". Eventually the doctor found us wandering the halls trying to find room asdf sertst aefasf.<br />
At least I know my English has improved enough that I can use it in this kind of situations, but I guess I have Yon to thank for that more than my amazing knowledge of the English language. That is what happens when you visit a hospital every 3 months.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is what Yon did while Ron was getting treated</td></tr>
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It took them less than two hours (which I think in hospital-time is the equivalent to 20 minutes) to determine Ron's hand is not broken (told you we don't break easily) and all he needs is a splint for a few days to let the hand rest so the swelling will subside. He chose a bright red bandage, Arsenal colours after all, and I thought about how apt it all is - Just like Ron's hand, all I needed too was somewhere to hide for a little while while I recuperate. Because I might not do breakable, but I most definitely do wonderfully intense panic attacks complete with chest pain and inability to breathe.<br />
And like Ron, I also chose red.<br />
I bought a bright red sofa for it.<br />
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<br />Orli Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14279242008801779330noreply@blogger.com0Berlin, Germany52.520006599999988 13.40495399999997552.210736099999991 12.759506999999974 52.829277099999985 14.050400999999976tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-254540975363067070.post-41392951793936929632015-03-13T09:36:00.000+01:002015-03-13T09:36:11.217+01:00East side gallery - sunny adventureWe had 16 degrees last Sunday. Sixteen. And sunny. Staying at home felt like a crime or at the very least a waste of the finest day we've had since we've arrived here. You can never have a good enough excuse to staying home on a sunny day - we've already learnt that in London, and it seemed the same is true for Berlin. It seemed like the whole city was out, enjoying a rare day of real spring.<br />
We decided to head over to the <a href="http://www.eastsidegallery-berlin.de/" target="_blank">East Side Gallery</a> to cover the last bit of the wall we have yet to see. The East Side Gallery, just in case you are exactly like me and have no idea what it is, is a 1.3 km of the Berlin wall which is covered in Graffiti and paintings and is one of Berlin most famous symbols and the world's longest open art gallery. It represent peace and reunion. It is also a very good place to let the kids loose.<br />
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The problem with taking the kids out to see some artsy type of things is that they really don't like it. They get bored, the get whiney, they start touching things and the question "can we go now?" starts showing up every 30 seconds. Not ideal for walking around a museum. It's not that I don't believe in forcing the kids to do things they don't like to, it's just that it ruins all the fun when you have to run after Yon and make sure he doesn't break a 300 years old sculpture (true story). Add to that the staying-at-home stir crazy, and you get two kids who desperately need a place to run, and two parents who desperately need them to run somewhere else.<br />
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The East Side Gallery seemed like the perfect place to achieve it all - let the kids run around, not have to shout at them about touching forbidden things, and see some art and history at the same time. And it only took us three hours and four change of clothes to get to leave the house. Who knew it will be so hard to get everyone into their spring collection?<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kids in spring collection</td></tr>
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Half an hour, 2 trains and one pair of lost sunglasses later, we have managed to get to the East side gallery, which apparently has two sides - the one everyone takes photos of, and the one we went to. But our side had a park, and the view of the Spree, and most importantly - no cars.<br />
And in the photos you can hardly even see all the broken bottles and leftover food bits that were spread around the park. I have no idea why, but after a certain age where young people see "cool" and "trendy" and "up and coming" all you can see is - really really dirty. Gosh, I am old.<br />
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To be honest I am not a big fan of graffiti as an art form. I have always been more of a museum kind of girl, but the East side Gallery is quite impressive. The amount of time and effort that went into creating each of those paintings is amazing, and as for the message of peace an unity - how can I resist?<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yon touching the blue. He only touched the blue for some reason.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ron said he relates to this one, as he still misses Daisy from London :)</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kids and wall</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Had to put this one in, because....Well, I look so skinny!</td></tr>
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It is a wonderful place to visit, and I can understand why it is a must in each and every one of Berlin tour guides. It is just that it is such a shame that people take advantage of the fact that it is graffiti and outside and there is no scurity and think it is ok to draw and write on top of other people's work.<br />
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Of course we toured the more famous side as well, where the graffiti was much more political and opinionated than on the other side. And also in much worse shape.</div>
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The kids had a lovely time, Yon enjoyed walking around touching the walls and reading everything, Ron tried to see all the languages he could recognise, and I enjoyed the spring and sun. We've been there for about an hour and a half before the sun became too much for Yon (it has been the first time in a very long while that we had a proper sunny day), so we haven't seen all of it, but decided it's better to stop before the whining becomes too much and retreated to the Ostbanhof McDonalds for some spring menu (well, spring drinks. The menu at McDonalds rarely changes). We finished it all with some mandatory Boston Creams (you can't really walk past a doughnuts shop and not go in, can you?).<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">McDonalds is so ready for summer.</td></tr>
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As we got home, and I was fishing for reassurance from the kids that they had a good time and are not extremely upset about being forced out of the house and away from their precious iPads, Yon did stop and announce that it was our "Berlin sunny adventure" and only then rushed to his iPad.<br />
So all in all - a success.<br />
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<br />Orli Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14279242008801779330noreply@blogger.com0Berlin, Germany52.520006599999988 13.40495399999997552.210736099999991 12.759506999999974 52.829277099999985 14.050400999999976tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-254540975363067070.post-59441222410661159142015-03-05T13:23:00.000+01:002015-03-05T13:23:42.725+01:00Rare Disease DayLast Saturday was <a href="http://www.rarediseaseday.org/" target="_blank">Rare Disease Day 2015</a>, which I guess most people don't know about unless, like me, they have a child that fits the category and a Facebook feed full of people whose children fit the category. Sometimes I miss the days before we knew about Rare Disease Day, <a href="http://www.iapb.org/advocacy/world-sight-day" target="_blank">World Sight Day</a>, <a href="http://www.autism-society.org/get-involved/national-autism-awareness-month/" target="_blank">Autism Awareness Month</a>, <a href="http://www.jeansforgenesday.org/" target="_blank">Jeans for Genes Day</a>, and so many other days... It used to be that Ron came back from school with a note saying we are having a red/blue/green t-shirt day for this or that cause. Please donate a pound. And all we cared about was how are we supposed to find a green t-shirt in the next 24 hours. Ron is a redhead - he doesn't look good in green.<br />
Nowadays, I get emails and messages and requests to write about each and every one of these days, nowadays I don't understand why they didn't collect money in our school here for Rare Disease Day (or any day for that matter), nowadays I don't know how it is possible to not know about these days and their meaning for other people.<br />
Nowadays I measure everyone and everything with relation to how they treat people, and mainly children with special needs.<br />
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And yet, today is Thursday and I am just now managing to finish writing about Rare Disease Day, because I can't seem to be ok with Albinism being part of Rare Disease Day. I have a really hard time with calling albinism a disease, because if albinism is a disease, that means Yon is sick. And Yon is not sick. On the other hand, every time I tell someone new about Yon's ocular albinism they take two steps backwards, like somehow it's or he or me are contagious. Like the fact that Yon's brain doesn't produce melanin can magically transport itself to the other person's brain and he will suddenly start growing blonde-white hair.<br />
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It took me all day (ok, I also got into a fight with my computer and couldn't fit the photo in the frame, which I knew I know how to do, and which eventually took me over an hour to fix) but I did join in the campaign, because at the end of the day I can't sit on the sidelines and not join something I support with all my heart just because I have a hard time with the labelling.<br />
And I do, I have a hard time with labelling albinism as a disease, a condition or a disability. It doesn't make it any less true. I have a hard time getting the image of a sick child, or the meaning of a "diseased" child out of my head. But this is the point of Rare Disease Day - to make us understand that what we think of as a disease is not the only correct image.<br />
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For me Rare Disease Day is about two things -<br />
It is about reminding us of the fact that medicine, like everything else, is a business. The Rare Diseases out there, or the "Orphan diseases" are the ones that gets dumped to the end of the line - there aren't enough patients to merit spending time and money and resources looking for a cure. But those "not enough patients" are people - dads, mums, children. It is so easy to look at numbers and statistics and say hey it's just 1:200,000 people... It is a very cold comfort for the people who has the condition, to their families, to the people who have to say once and again - no, there will be no cure for that, no one is even looking. Trust me, I say it often enough.<br />
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And most importantly - and the reason why I write about Yon so much in this blog, the reason why we tell people about albinism, the reason why I join in every campaign is that people are afraid and hateful and uncaring for what they don't know. Just today I read in <a href="http://www.blindchildrenuk.org/news/ignorance-towards-blind-people-being-passed-from-generation-to-generation/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=parents-and-the-playground050315" target="_blank">Blind Children UK</a> that new research shows that almost half the parents they asked would not invite a child with sight impairment or blindness to a party or a play-date. How many of these people ever saw a child with sight impairment? How many people do you know who has albinism? We have doctors treating Yon who never saw a person with albinism. All everyone knows is the mental image we have from the movies, from the books (like The De Vinci Code or The Heat), where to call what they depict incorrect will be an insult to the word. We are afraid of what we don't know, and the mental image we create of that thing. For the same reason watching the movie after reading the book is always a let-down (and not just because usually the plot in the movie sucks) - the onscreen image is always different than the one we created in our mind. The same is true for the real-life image. This is why we need days like Rare Disease Day, this is why we need inclusion, this is why we need to know.<br />
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I have a lot of people on my Facebook and in life who will not "like" or like this post or any post I write about Yon, who don't care, or don't understand or think I am putting him "out there" too much and flaunting his differences instead of being quietly relieved that he "doesn't look different", that I can hide his albinism, or the Asperger. It is easier to "like" a cute cat video, it is easier to share a photo of a cake, than it is to understand how hard it is for kids like Yon to fit in, and how the fact that he does is a miracle. How we can talk for hours about the fact that he decided to learn how to go down the stairs. How amazing it is every time he recognises us from afar, and how when I changed my coat the other day and he didn't recognise me it broke my heart.<br />
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It is so much easier to send our kids to a school where everyone "is like us", where they (and mostly we) won't have to encounter anything that makes us feel uncomfortable, anything that will force us to explain to our children about differences and specialness and other ways of life.<br />
It would be so much easier for me to hide Yon's differences, to have him labeled a lot of other things, but not disabled, or blind, or Autistic. But I won't.<br />
Because our children, my child, are not diseased. They shouldn't be hidden and banished to a dark corner or swept under the rug. They shouldn't be a dirty little secret to be hidden from the world. They should be celebrated and congratulated and embraced.<br />
Because it is our children - the sick, the different, the Special - who makes society into humanity.<br />
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<br />Orli Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14279242008801779330noreply@blogger.com2Berlin, Germany52.520006599999988 13.40495399999997552.210736099999991 12.759506999999974 52.829277099999985 14.050400999999976tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-254540975363067070.post-20715311064877220502015-02-27T10:30:00.002+01:002015-02-27T10:30:38.319+01:00Copenhagen weekend with kidsA long weekend in Copenhagen was exactly what the doctor prescribed, and so last Friday we managed to convince Yon that we don't have to take all his staff for a three days trip, made sure everyone got a haircut for the photo-ops (waste of money and time, it was a hat at all times kind of weather) and remembered that we still haven't bought Easy-Jet fitting trolleys (we are used to taking all our staff. After all we travel with kids), and made our way to schönefeld airport for a one hour flight to Copenhagen and our first out-of-the-country-holiday in more than two years.<br />
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Schönefeld is a funny airport, which more than anything reminds me of the airport in Gibraltar - small and cosy and somehow warm and friendly. Especially after we found a place to sit and I got some coffee and a cinnamon roll.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This photo was taken AFTER the coffee</td></tr>
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That, coupled with Easy-Jet's policy of fast-tracking families, which meant Yon did not have to wait in the queue, and the fact that the flight took only an hour (here it is not about the kids but me. I have issues with flying, so Hidai is in charge of the kids and I am in charge of surviving the flight), made our arrival to Copenhagen the best we've ever had.<br />
Actually the whole trip was a whooping success and the kids have already started inquiring about our next destination and what does it mean we can't go every week?<br />
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I take none of the credit fir this as it is largely due to two things - planning and internet. Gone are the days were we left the hotel at eight in the morning and came back at night after walking around all day, gone are the days were museums, palaces and cathedrals were an integral part of our sightseeing, gone were the days of sitting at a cafe and gazing at passers by. Nowadays we have science museums and McDonalds and going back to the hotel at six pm... Travelling with kids, and especially of the Special kind, means one thing and one thing only - your trip is only as good as your plan.<br />
So here is my recommendations for Copenhagen with kids -<br />
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1. <b><a href="http://www.visitcopenhagen.com/copenhagen/transportation/faq-about-copenhagen-card" target="_blank">Copenhagen Card</a></b> - it is quite expensive, but on the other hand it makes travelling by train / bus so much easier when you don't have to figure out how to pay for them, and gets you into almost everywhere you'd go - taking into account that Copenhagen doe not have a "family discount" at most places and that kids do pay for entrance - it is definitely worth it, and we got ours at the airport information, right across from the ATM (if you plan on using a credit / debit card to exchange your money the ATM gives the best rates, but don't take out too much as every place accepts debit/credit cards and the rates are the same).<br />
2. <b>Local SIM card</b>. Or as I like to call it - a life saver. Go to the WHSmith next to the bus/train exit and buy a <a href="http://www.lebara.de/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Lebara</a> sim card and credit for a pay as you go plan. The whole thing cost me less than it does here and gave me 2 GB which were more than enough for 3 days, even with massive use of Google maps. But how will I know how to do it you ask? If you search the internet it will look like mission impossible, right after you land and not to mention the 2 tired kids and 4 bags that feel like 50. Well, it is easier than trying to figure out how to do it here since the instructions are written in English and the very nice sellers at WHSmith know English and are willing to help. It took us all of seven minutes to be the proud owners of a Danish phone with working internet.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Resting at the airport. With internet</td></tr>
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3. <b>"And then?"</b> - Like I said - a plan. I guess this one, which is key for us, is more due to Yon's need of routine and his difficulties with new places, but I guess it can't hurt anyone to have a plan to some degree. Our plan, however, is a detailed plan which we say again and again and again including where we are going to go, what street it is on, what time we'll get there, what we are going to see, how long we'll be there, and so on and so forth for the whole day...<br />
4. <b><a href="http://www.visitcopenhagen.com/copenhagen/city-sightseeing---hop-on-hop-off-gdk660453" target="_blank">Hop on Hop off Bus Tour</a></b> - take the official one because they have a discount with the Copenhagen card and the kids were free. Yon finds sitting quietly very difficult, which can be a bit of a problem on the bus, but the weather was not so friendly and we planned on going through the whole tour (without any hopping) and eat which made him fall asleep and allowed us to both enjoy the city and understand it a little bit more.<br />
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5. <b><a href="http://stores.lego.com/da-dk/stores/dk/copenhagen/" target="_blank">The Lego Store</a></b>. The holy grail of the trip for the kids. Prices and stock are exactly the same as in Berlin, but the kids still thought they died and gone to heaven. We were there for a very long while and came out with one big box, one small bag and two posters. We were lucky we had the "not enough room in the suitcase" excuse.<br />
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6. <b>Food</b>. Was the way I explained Einsteins theory of relativity to Ron - if you come to Copenhagen from London you think the food is amazing; If you come from Berlin... Well, then it's just pricey. We needed to keep the food quite simple and familiar for Yon so I can't really recommend great restaurant and crazily unique food. I can tell you not to dare enter a McDonalds as it is a very expensive rubbish, that the <a href="http://www.hardrock.com/cafes/copenhagen/" target="_blank">Hard Rock Cafe</a> has great food and service but costs double the price here, that <a href="http://www.7-eleven.dk/" target="_blank">7-eleven</a> has very good bagels, that if you want good pastries you shouldn't try to buy anything at the bakeries in the afternoon, that the <a href="http://www.tivoli.dk/en/mad/andersen+bakery/" target="_blank">Andersen bakery</a> next to the central station is a good place for breakfast and that the chocolate is amazing. Oh, and if you go along Strøget (the shopping street) and you see a tiny booth called <a href="http://www.rajissimo.dk/" target="_blank">Rajissimo</a> - go and buy those funny waffles on a stick. They cost 5 Euros each, and taste like heaven.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The kids plates at Hard Rock Cafe - a big success</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The amazing waffles</td></tr>
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7. <b><a href="http://www.visitcopenhagen.com/copenhagen/grand-tour-of-copenhagen---canal-tours-gdk410731" target="_blank">Boat Tour </a></b>- it is the same company as the bus tours, and if you have your Copenhagen cards then it's free. The boat tour takes you through the city canals and all the way to the Little Mermaid "out there in the sea". Like the bus, it has a longer tour in the summer, but it doesn't stop in winter time and has an indoor option, which we took advantage of a. Because it was very cold outside, and b. Because Yon found it hard to sit down quietly and not try jumping overboard. If you don't have this problem, then I'd recommend sitting outside so your photos are better and you get to duck below the canal-bridges.<br />
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8. <a href="http://www.rundetaarn.dk/" target="_blank"><b>The Round Tower</b></a> - the kids really enjoyed running all the way to the top and hiding in every opening, and I really enjoyed the lack of stairs which made the way up so much easier. There are a few interesting stops along the way up with exhibitions (they say there is also a cafe but I couldn't find it, and try to avoid the toilet as much as possible) and viewing points. The last part does have stairs but the view is definitely worth it, just beware of pickpockets. When we were there we saw a very suspicious guy trolling the viewing gallery looking more at the people around then at the view...<br />
Regardless, the kids ran the whole way down and declared it an extremely cool tower.<br />
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9. <b>Shopping</b> - is not something we did a lot of. Ok, we did virtually no shopping, except for the <a href="http://www.tiger.dk/" target="_blank">Tiger</a> store, which we missed so much since leaving London, and is just one of those stores that you can't go in to and not buy something (or two). We did walk Strøget and its surrounding streets a few times, but somehow, even when you sit them down and give them phones, shopping with kids is not so much fun, add to that the fact that everything was quite expensive, and the fear of "holiday buys" (you know, things that only look like a good idea because you are on holiday) and you can understand how we ended up with two shirts and a box of Leogs. But I do have to say that the clothes were lovely, and if I ever get a chance to tour Strøget again, I'll be coming back with a lot more than two shirts.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is how they look when we try to shop...</td></tr>
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10. <a href="http://www.experimentarium.dk/" target="_blank"><b>Experimentarium City</b></a> - The best science museum we've been to in regards to how interactive and fun it is. It is not included in the Copenhagen card (though we did get a discount with Yon's visual impairment registration card), but it is worth every penny, especially if, like me, you have kids who love science and/or touching things. Yon thought he is in heaven when we told him he could touch everything... It is basically two rooms inside a huge warhorse which is a bit hard to find if you don't get there by boat, with plenty of interactive activities for the young (and geek at heart). We had a very hard time getting the kids out of there....<br />
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11. <b><a href="http://www.planetariet.dk/" target="_blank">The Planetarium</a></b> - is really NOT a must, unless you want to see the movie I guess. We did not think Yon would agree to sit an hour for a 3D movie (especially since we don't think he can see the 3D) so we just toured the exhibition. It took less than an hour, and even that was because the kids wanted to play on the computers and see if they can land a probe on Mars.<br />
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12. <b><a href="http://www.visitcopenhagen.com/copenhagen/national-aquarium-denmark-den-bla-planet-gdk723357" target="_blank">The Blue Planet Aquarium</a></b> - in Danish Den Blå Planet, it is something you wouldn't want to miss. It is really close to the airport, so we stopped there on our way back and were not disappointed. They have lockers for suitcases, an excellent cafe, fabulous view, and it is most definitely in the top 3 aquariums we visited. It is huge, clean, well lit, friendly and full of weird fish.<br />
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When he was younger, going away with Yon used to be awful. It is not a melodramatic exaggeration on my part here, it takes time to understand how to travel with any child, to accept the differences between traveling as a couple and travelling as a family. But a child with special needs adds another difficulty to the equation, especially when his needs revolve around routines, difficulty with new places, inability to wait in the queues, food, and touch. Over the years we've had a few very bad trips and holidays, and at the end we gave up and decided to just not go anywhere anymore.<br />
Being able to go on a weekend vacation with Yon, being able to enjoy every part of it, and having everyone asking for another trip is the result of a lot of hard work and experience, but honestly it feels more like it is just the result of magic.<br />
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<br />Orli Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14279242008801779330noreply@blogger.com0Berlin, Germany52.520006599999988 13.40495399999997552.210736099999991 12.759506999999974 52.829277099999985 14.050400999999976tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-254540975363067070.post-30887419903826828122015-02-25T10:16:00.001+01:002015-02-25T10:16:15.606+01:00Berlin - 4 months inOn Saturday we'd have been in Berlin for four months. London is starting to look like a lifetime ago, and I can't believe it's been only four months, and already four months. We have an apartment (with a garden no less) in the middle of the city, both kids are in school (well Yon had to go back to pre-school as they start school here at age 6 and not 5 like in the UK) and some days the sun is actually shining.<br />
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It was not an easy start, and looking back at it all now, I have no idea why I expected it to go differently. Moving to a new country is never easy, but something about moving to a country where you can't even claim to have basic knowledge of the language, right at the beginning of winter, with a husband who has a new job, and without knowing anyone, should have tipped me off that we are off to a rocky beginning. Well, it didn't, and no one was more surprised than me when things did not immediately fall into place. Things did fall though, straight on top of my head, and in the first two months here in Berlin nothing seemed to work.<br />
More than that it seemed nothing will ever work properly again.<br />
And I was too embarrassed about it to write. I had this picture in my mind of how things in Berlin are supposed to work, of how easy it is to move from one place in Europe to the next, of how much simpler it will be because we are actually citizens here, unlike in the UK where the Home Office likes to make you jump through enough hoops to make you into an Olympian athlete in bureaucracy (should most definitely be an Olympian sport).<br />
I was wrong. So wrong.<br />
Or maybe it's that I simply forgot how hard it is to build everything from scratch, how frustrating it is to not know anything, and how difficult it is to change everything. I guess it doesn't come as a surprise to anyone that Berlin is as different from London as it gets. It is part of why we wanted to move here - the adventure, the difference, the quiet. It's just that there are hidden differences, the ones no one talks about, and those are the the ones that catch you by surprise. Those are the ones that makes you sit down holding your head in your hands and wonder quietly - How am I ever going to feel good here?<br />
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What people think when they hear about our country-hopping lifestyle is either "wow, you are so brave" or "wow, you are so stupid". I don't particularly think we are brave, but I didn't really like the whole "stupid" thing to be true, and yet that is exactly what it felt like in the last few months. Even now I am straggling with the words and the phrases. What might you think of me if I tell you how many tears I spilled, or how many hours of doubt I had, or how I haven't slept a full night in I don't know how long?<br />
That is not what you are supposed to write about when you move to a new place. You are supposed to be all shiny and new, going on city-adventures, looking all rosy and positive. No one wants to hear or read about how hard it is to move to yet another "really cool" place.<br />
After all, people have real problems.<br />
And whining is really not a very attractive quality.<br />
So I didn't write.<br />
And things did not become any easier.<br />
It just made me feel invisible, and not in the good way (there is a good way).<br />
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Baby steps. Chocolate (and pastries, and cakes - the food here is great) and a lot of "just breathe" moments. That is how I managed to survive. And here we are, four months later. Most of winter is behind us. Hidai got me (and him, and the kids) a long weekend in Copenhagen. No one has been sick for the past week. My To-Do List is just one page long (a massive accomplishment as I can now count on just one hand the number of things that are yet to be dealt with, as opposed to the 3 pages long list I had a month ago).<br />
There might be a rainbow at the end of this tunnel after all.<br />
So here I am, writing.<br />
I am just not really sure what I am writing about.<br />
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Orli Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14279242008801779330noreply@blogger.com3Berlin, Germany52.520006599999988 13.40495399999997552.210736099999991 12.759506999999974 52.829277099999985 14.050400999999976tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-254540975363067070.post-66755298452265413882014-11-11T11:15:00.002+01:002014-11-11T11:20:58.719+01:00Mauerfall - 25 years to the fall of the Berlin wall<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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On Sunday we decided to take a break from all the fun of figuring out the little things like where to live and what school to send the kids to and instead participate in helping the people of Berlin celebrate 25 years to the fall of the Berlin Wall and the reunification of Germany.<br />
We've been watching them get prepared all week:<br />
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It was one of those moments where innate cynicism clashes with the desire to be there, and in the end what made us leave the house and brave the crowds and the (very low) temperatures was the fact that, well, cynicism or not, a person only gets a definite number of once-in-a-lifetime-events to participate in, and seeing how we had a chance to celebrate the Royal Wedding, the Diamond Jubilee and the Olympics, we should be really close to the end of our allotment. And besides, saying no to celebrating one of the greatest moments in history is not something you do lightly. Especially when they said you could buy a tiny light-ball as memorabilia.<br />
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We decided to start the day at Check-point Charlie (which evidently is not named after a specific Charlie, just because it's the word they use to signify "C") and take it from there. I know, always a good plan to leave it all to "let's see where we go from there", and then we saw a Starbucks. And you have to stop at a Starbucks, especially since it wasn't crowded, and also because they started selling the Christmas drinks, and I love the Christmas drinks.<br />
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Unfortunately things did not go as planned from that point onwards - apparently Starbucks have decided to take away my favourite Eggnog Latte, Yon spilled his hot chocolate all over his shirt, scarf and coat, we were late for the guided tour, the camera wasn't focusing, and it was colder than I remembered it could be...<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">Camera with no focus</td></tr>
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It took us a while to clean Yon, fix the camera, figure out where to buy tickets to the tour, and eat lunch so we'll get the feeling back in all body areas, but two hours later we've manage to restart the day, and then the fun began.<br />
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We planned to take a short walk around Checkpoint Charlie and go back home until the evening. In the end we ended up walking most of the light-wall (Lichtgrenze<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">) and didn't make it back until after 9pm...</span><br />
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So, this is going to be more of a photo-post than a writing post, but it was quite the photo-op day...<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We got a family photo out of it. This very nice lady offered to take our picture, but then started directed us - where to stand, what to do, etc. She was not happy about the result, but gave up...</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Around Check-point Charlie </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I found it so amusing, the check-point, the McDonalds, and all the Americans walking around</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The balloons</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">They actually charge you 2Euros to get your photo taken with a pretend solider. Capitalism at its best.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gJ0VwqOH3o8/VGHWedZPM2I/AAAAAAAAQXE/_UouqY4LuL0/s1600/IMG_5929.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gJ0VwqOH3o8/VGHWedZPM2I/AAAAAAAAQXE/_UouqY4LuL0/s320/IMG_5929.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">So we took a photo of the back. Where it's free. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6xZlQDQmhxg/VGHWoc0IjzI/AAAAAAAAQXU/7sWFzQ5FiRg/s1600/IMG_5943.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6xZlQDQmhxg/VGHWoc0IjzI/AAAAAAAAQXU/7sWFzQ5FiRg/s320/IMG_5943.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I was checking the focus of the camera</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-k3I7bGNFoUI/VGHWxkP9FdI/AAAAAAAAQXo/O3BO_VUAz2Y/s1600/IMG_5946.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-k3I7bGNFoUI/VGHWxkP9FdI/AAAAAAAAQXo/O3BO_VUAz2Y/s320/IMG_5946.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The entrance to the Museum at Check point Charlie. They charge you an extra 2 Euros to take photos. And 30 Euros for entrance.</td></tr>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MpVc4kG4hqY/VGHZemlW0BI/AAAAAAAAQYw/VCH6rGymZPk/s1600/IMG_5950.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MpVc4kG4hqY/VGHZemlW0BI/AAAAAAAAQYw/VCH6rGymZPk/s320/IMG_5950.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We took lots of pictures in the museum. To justify the 2 Euros.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lyvBUq4WJIM/VGHZt07JnlI/AAAAAAAAQY4/BLYWizyT71A/s1600/IMG_5985.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lyvBUq4WJIM/VGHZt07JnlI/AAAAAAAAQY4/BLYWizyT71A/s320/IMG_5985.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our guide in the guided tour, explaining the structure of the wall on the east side. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YqbmtWp8x58/VGHZu3Mm2kI/AAAAAAAAQZA/56WWWbb8rwo/s1600/IMG_5981.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YqbmtWp8x58/VGHZu3Mm2kI/AAAAAAAAQZA/56WWWbb8rwo/s320/IMG_5981.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is where the wall used to stand. They have these kind of reminders all over the city. I find it amazing.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ron is standing on the wall </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hDYqzOiglI0/VGHaLx9vDVI/AAAAAAAAQZg/U22GfKWKnpk/s1600/IMG_6009.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hDYqzOiglI0/VGHaLx9vDVI/AAAAAAAAQZg/U22GfKWKnpk/s320/IMG_6009.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I still am not sure what these bears are all about, but there are plenty of them around the city </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PBBmjVAdy0A/VGHaIgMkGLI/AAAAAAAAQZU/6tSMxI0Fxvg/s1600/IMG_6012.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PBBmjVAdy0A/VGHaIgMkGLI/AAAAAAAAQZU/6tSMxI0Fxvg/s320/IMG_6012.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is the real wall, and the light-wall.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iqpLCKL26mo/VGHaqWH7buI/AAAAAAAAQZw/-uNcDDGNAkk/s1600/IMG_6027.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iqpLCKL26mo/VGHaqWH7buI/AAAAAAAAQZw/-uNcDDGNAkk/s320/IMG_6027.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">They put on these screens and showed snippets of stories, and news-flashes, and films all day long. Honestly most of it was just too sad for me.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ppzyQNJOh1k/VGHbhP2Zx8I/AAAAAAAAQaQ/qEW1ejm2M24/s1600/IMG_6038.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ppzyQNJOh1k/VGHbhP2Zx8I/AAAAAAAAQaQ/qEW1ejm2M24/s320/IMG_6038.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A fake Russian solider </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-C3z0WMozf3g/VGHbe3eemDI/AAAAAAAAQaE/2WnluagXJ8E/s1600/IMG_6039.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-C3z0WMozf3g/VGHbe3eemDI/AAAAAAAAQaE/2WnluagXJ8E/s320/IMG_6039.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is around 5pm</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1pQnst7RJtY/VGHbe0KHeGI/AAAAAAAAQaA/lY4cHfMxwrY/s1600/IMG_6046.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1pQnst7RJtY/VGHbe0KHeGI/AAAAAAAAQaA/lY4cHfMxwrY/s320/IMG_6046.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Without planning to, we ended up at the main event </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uizNOY7Mg-o/VGHbqD0vb2I/AAAAAAAAQaY/AiPHT8_SsxQ/s1600/IMG_6051.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uizNOY7Mg-o/VGHbqD0vb2I/AAAAAAAAQaY/AiPHT8_SsxQ/s320/IMG_6051.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And at the Reichstag</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-26JOb7lIAbA/VGHbwEILixI/AAAAAAAAQag/rR2RMbZ7gKU/s1600/IMG_6064.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-26JOb7lIAbA/VGHbwEILixI/AAAAAAAAQag/rR2RMbZ7gKU/s320/IMG_6064.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And then we walked along the lights back to the north part </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-f5Cf4CD1YQE/VGHb3hEKBrI/AAAAAAAAQao/KLWRZ6qUa70/s1600/IMG_6070.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-f5Cf4CD1YQE/VGHb3hEKBrI/AAAAAAAAQao/KLWRZ6qUa70/s320/IMG_6070.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And we got to Mauerpark, where we stopped </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DZlYKGZ9r6g/VGHb6EsPHRI/AAAAAAAAQa4/aTaPLnNnJCQ/s1600/IMG_6082.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DZlYKGZ9r6g/VGHb6EsPHRI/AAAAAAAAQa4/aTaPLnNnJCQ/s320/IMG_6082.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And watched the balloons being released</td></tr>
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<br />Orli Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14279242008801779330noreply@blogger.com1Berlin, Germany52.520006599999988 13.40495399999997552.210736099999991 12.759506999999974 52.829277099999985 14.050400999999976tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-254540975363067070.post-31761400646748051362014-11-06T07:43:00.000+01:002014-11-06T07:43:06.529+01:00First days in Berlin<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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We arrived in Berlin on Friday afternoon and we are now going through the labor pains of our new lives. I always think about moving countries in the same terms as having a child. It somehow seems fitting, after all it is two major changes in life, ones that change everything. So we've been through the trying to get pregnant stage (the months of deciding if we want to move, the decision where to, the waiting for the go), and we've been through the pregnancy (getting everything ready for the move, and living on excitement and boxes and the closing-down-your-life bureaucracy) and then on Thursday it happened - the movers came around quarter to 10 in the morning, and by half past four in the afternoon our home was completely empty except for 8 suitcases and two kids.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vmxW2mz4V_Q/VFrDQnPtt5I/AAAAAAAAQU8/osikiKNnpwU/s1600/IMG_8083.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vmxW2mz4V_Q/VFrDQnPtt5I/AAAAAAAAQU8/osikiKNnpwU/s1600/IMG_8083.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is what happened when I asked the kids to decide what they wanted to take with them</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6xbWHdcMids/VFrC7ub6FkI/AAAAAAAAQTc/MZzJNxFdT8M/s1600/IMG_0164.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6xbWHdcMids/VFrC7ub6FkI/AAAAAAAAQTc/MZzJNxFdT8M/s1600/IMG_0164.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The kids didn't let the movers disturb their iPhone games.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0smufg7RumI/VFrC7ukRnHI/AAAAAAAAQTk/bZ5SIH4t7Bg/s1600/IMG_0156.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0smufg7RumI/VFrC7ukRnHI/AAAAAAAAQTk/bZ5SIH4t7Bg/s1600/IMG_0156.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Suitcases and kids</td></tr>
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We left the keys with the guy who did our checkout process (sometimes this life really do feel like you are moving from one hotel to the next, where the only question is for how long you are staying this time) and loaded all our worldly possessions on the taxi, who, after stopping at the post office so we could send a letter to HMRC (who announced when I tried to talk to them on the phone that I did not pass the security questions, which were my name, address and date of birth) took two and a half hours to get to Gatwick (it was supposed to be an hour. But traffic, you know...) and gave us a chance to say a proper goodbye to London as we drove through most of it.<br />
We decided to spent one night at the Premier Inn in Gatwick so we won't be stressed about how long it takes the movers. An excellent idea, and we even managed to get some food, a shower and a few hours of sleep before our very uneventful two hours flight to Berlin (actually I have no idea if the flight was uneventful or not, since because we are 4 people we have to split up and I, as a known hater of flying get to sit in the front row with my book while Hidai got to sit in the second row with the kids. I was told everything was fine).<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jB59vHMJyRA/VFrC7ytEnuI/AAAAAAAAQTg/p7kiSGCF44U/s1600/IMG_0178.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jB59vHMJyRA/VFrC7ytEnuI/AAAAAAAAQTg/p7kiSGCF44U/s1600/IMG_0178.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The kids have no problems with flying, as long as they can watch a movie and eat snacks.</td></tr>
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And here we are, in our two weeks Airbnb apartment, which is located in Prenzlauer Berg (7 minutes from Hidai's work and the area in which we want to live in) on the fourth floor of an old building with no lift. Which means we had to carry 8 suitcases with a collective weight of 100kg up here, and which means we'll have to get them down, but which also means you try to minimise the amounts of times per day you leave the flat, and only get in and out once a day.<br />
In the four days we've been here we saw 11 flats and 4 schools, shopped in 4 different supermarkets, found the famous pudding from the "pudding protest", heard more Hebrew on the street than in all our years living out of Israel, visited Alexanderplatz, ate in McDonalds twice, sat in Starbucks, bought Dunkin Donuts walked about 10,000 km, and asked ourselves about ten times a day - do you think we've made the worst decision of our lives in moving here?<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ik8yOAuG0JI/VFrC_S0NSII/AAAAAAAAQT4/CmXGODHR4GI/s1600/IMG_0218.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ik8yOAuG0JI/VFrC_S0NSII/AAAAAAAAQT4/CmXGODHR4GI/s1600/IMG_0218.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is the pudding. It really is that cheap, we really did buy it, and we didn't try it yet...</td></tr>
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It's not the German. You think it will be the language, but it is not. We all have some (very) basic German, and so many people around have more than basic English, and in some regards it reminds me most of all of Gibraltar, where the locals speak English and Spanish, and where we lived quite happily and spoke no Spanish at all. Funnily enough now every time I open my mouth to say Hello I end up saying Hola!...<br />
I guess, it is, like in childbirth, the last moment before the baby is born and your life change forever. You can't go back (as if three days ago you could), you have no idea what comes next, and you are terrified that it will turn out to be the biggest mistake of your life. It's that moment before the foetus becomes a baby, before everything becomes defined and real and tangible. It is the moment you've been waiting for for so long, and you don't want to be in, and you forget after you've gone through. It's the moment when you tell yourself - never again.<br />
Until next time.<br />
Life right now is all one big unknown - no flat, no stuff, no school - so we tried clinging to the familiar, we bought the kids food they recognise, we tried to organised all of it "like home", we try to have as much of the same routine as possible (though how much routine can you have when you keep running from one school to another flat?) and we took them to McDonalds and Starbucks to feel at home.<br />
But it is not home. Not yet anyway. Everything here is a little different - the <a href="http://www.mcdonalds.de/produkte/alle-produkte" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">McDonalds</a> here has a tendency to put Mayonnaise on everything and offer you soured cream sauce with your American fries (which are not like regular fries, or the ones they had in Gibraltar), and the <a href="http://www.starbucks.de/menu-list/food-list" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Starbucks</a> here (which is intended solely for American tourists and lost souls like us) has not moved from autumn to winter, and got stuck on Pumpkin Spiced Latte, at least on the poster, because they didn't even have that in the store, and carries different juices and food. At least they had Yon's favourite chocolate muffin. I think he would have just up and leave us there if they didn't.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Starbucks</td></tr>
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And this is how you find yourself sitting in Starbucks, on a gorgeous Sunday morning, with your Caramel Macchiato and a double chocolate muffin (extremely good by the way) trying to figure out why you aren't happy. Why, even though you are completely sure you made the right decision, you feel like you made a huge mistake. Why, even though the food is great and the autumn is amazing, all you want to do is cry.<br />
We didn't do a proper Halloween this year, because we were so tired and weren't sure where to go;<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_XAgeHgczqY/VFrB4ChFSRI/AAAAAAAAQTM/Z8qUpepG2ks/s1600/IMG_5711.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_XAgeHgczqY/VFrB4ChFSRI/AAAAAAAAQTM/Z8qUpepG2ks/s1600/IMG_5711.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kids having fun with some stick-lights in our temporary flat</td></tr>
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We still can't seem to crack the public transportation system and every time we get on a train (of any kind) we end up either lost or riding without paying;<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6REDR1NZPr0/VFrDRF2HatI/AAAAAAAAQVI/x-q_ANQAkEo/s1600/IMG_5772.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6REDR1NZPr0/VFrDRF2HatI/AAAAAAAAQVI/x-q_ANQAkEo/s1600/IMG_5772.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">a Tram in Alexanderplatz</td></tr>
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We haven't eaten a home-cooked meal in almost a week;<br />
We have two kids who are on a constant emotional roller coaster and tend to cry for no reason and have bouts of extra-weirdness;<br />
We can't go outside without using the <a href="https://citymapper.com/" target="_blank">CityMapper</a>;<br />
It took us three days to figure out how to buy a pay as you go sim-card and credit;<br />
We still can't find bowls for the kids' morning cereals and they eat out of weird plastic ones;<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-D8LRKXGlekA/VFrDRCCohtI/AAAAAAAAQVA/W-kgG0VVglU/s1600/IMG_8117.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-D8LRKXGlekA/VFrDRCCohtI/AAAAAAAAQVA/W-kgG0VVglU/s1600/IMG_8117.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The kids are not used to eating cereals like that & didn't believe that how we used to eat in the olden days</td></tr>
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We can't find a school that actually understand why you would want to meet them before enrolling your kids there;<br />
<br />
But then,<br />
The autumn is amazing and we've been having amazing weather - no rain, not even cloudy, and not so cold (around 15 degrees);<br />
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The food is great. The sweets and baked goods are even better;<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rSWB6MoIojo/VFrDT7H3JWI/AAAAAAAAQVc/oyzCmNSE6JE/s1600/IMG_8122.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rSWB6MoIojo/VFrDT7H3JWI/AAAAAAAAQVc/oyzCmNSE6JE/s1600/IMG_8122.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Donuts! And they even had my favourite Boston Cream</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-p0HHL3fc3pU/VFrDUBzm0WI/AAAAAAAAQVg/K9qQ0XLoa0k/s1600/IMG_8123.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-p0HHL3fc3pU/VFrDUBzm0WI/AAAAAAAAQVg/K9qQ0XLoa0k/s1600/IMG_8123.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hot chocolate with Marshmallows </td></tr>
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They take Christmas very seriously, and especially Christmas sweets. The amount of <a href="http://www.sainsburys.co.uk/shop/gb/groceries/sainsburys-iced-lebkuchen-stars-250g" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">lebkuchens</a> I've seen (ok ate) in the past four days is... Ahmmm... quite large. I also bought a tiny ceramic reindeer. Just because it was wearing a sweater;<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Jhd4x-iDSrY/VFrDWDpO5AI/AAAAAAAAQV0/jgcmtsU61NY/s1600/IMG_8131.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Jhd4x-iDSrY/VFrDWDpO5AI/AAAAAAAAQV0/jgcmtsU61NY/s1600/IMG_8131.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not really clear, but Yon is eating a Lebkuchen</td></tr>
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Yesterday we managed to pay the correct amount of money for the tram on time. Twice;<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bkepAbMtudM/VFrDUgsXSEI/AAAAAAAAQVo/NxyjI8MhYWo/s1600/IMG_8129.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bkepAbMtudM/VFrDUgsXSEI/AAAAAAAAQVo/NxyjI8MhYWo/s1600/IMG_8129.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I actually pre-prepared money for two directions, in two different bags. And then the machine wouldn't accept my 2 Euro coins. Of course.</td></tr>
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I managed to do laundry on a machine where everything is written in German;<br />
We've managed to get to Alexanderplatz even after our bus got into an accident and dropped us off somewhere unknown;<br />
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We managed to crack the renting system here and have three or four flats waiting for us to decide;<br />
We managed to open a bank account and are just waiting for the documents;<br />
I took the kids alone to the shopping centre to buy food and a toy in their now favourite store - <a href="http://www.spielzeugland-messedat.de/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Spielzeugland</a>. And we managed to buy, pay, and get back home;<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Hfj9PnSwYuk/VFrC_Z-hXYI/AAAAAAAAQUA/YLfnbGjTBdQ/s1600/IMG_0221.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Hfj9PnSwYuk/VFrC_Z-hXYI/AAAAAAAAQUA/YLfnbGjTBdQ/s1600/IMG_0221.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">That's actually from a different store, but hey - we got there and back as well!</td></tr>
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We've managed to communicate with everyone with our barely-existent German, while talking Hebrew among ourselves and English with the kids;<br />
<br />
And we've managed to survive almost a first week in Berlin.<br />
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Orli Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14279242008801779330noreply@blogger.com1Berlin, Germany52.520006599999988 13.40495399999997552.210736099999991 12.759506999999974 52.829277099999985 14.050400999999976tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-254540975363067070.post-48822183509465531082014-10-27T09:22:00.000+01:002014-10-27T09:22:03.492+01:00Goodbye to London This is our last week in London.<br />
On Friday we will say goodbye to what has been our home for the past two and a half years and get on a plane to Berlin which will be, for the foreseeable future, our new home.<br />
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Life is funny this way, if you let it, it will take you to places you never imagined you'd get to. If anyone would have told me ten or even six years ago that I will become one of those people who move around the world I would have never believed them, and yet Germany will be the fourth country we've lived in; if anyone would have told me my wandering will bring me to Berlin I would have laughed, and yet here I am, packing; if anyone would have told me I would take two kids with me on all my adventures I would have really gotten angry, and yet both my boys happily approved this move and are impatient to get to Berlin.<br />
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In the last few weeks there has been a bit of stir in the Israeli press about the fact that young Israelis choose to immigrate to Berlin. It was called "the pudding protest" because apparently pudding is cheaper in Berlin than in Israel (honestly, it is cheaper here in London as well), and apparently we Israelis follow the pudding. Well, while it is true that for Jewish and Israelis food is not just an important thing, it is the most important thing of all, people do not leave their whole life behind just to buy cheaper pudding.<br />
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And yet here we are, part of a trend. I have to say I am somewhat excited, I've never been part of a trend before. On the other hand, it is in part why I've waited with this post until our bags are (almost) packed. I was hoping it will go away and I won't have to deal with it in my post. After all we are not moving to Berlin because it's cheaper than London. First of all because everywhere in the world is cheaper than London, and second of all because I don't even love pudding.<br />
No, we are moving to Berlin for the same reason we moved to Gibraltar and London - for the adventures.<br />
Because adventures is such a better reason than pudding.<br />
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A few years ago I've read this story about a family who travelled around the world, stopping for a few months in each place to learn how people there live. They had three kids I think, and they chose mostly less developed countries as destinations. I remember thinking they were crazy, that they were ruining their kids' lives, that they were bad parents who'd rather realise their own dreams than raising their kids. Well, I was young and much more prone to criticism in those days, and I guess I deserve the people who look at me and think the exact same thing. These days, though I would still won't be caught dead in any place that requires a tent, I understand their choice so much better.<br />
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Because adventures aren't about having fun all day every day, they are about experiencing everything the world has to offer. And everyone knows the world likes to throw crap your way.<br />
Adventures are about the fear of the unknown and the belief in yourself.<br />
Adventures are about the people you meet along the way and the things you get to do that you'd never imagined you will. Hey, I got to meet David Cameron.<br />
Adventures are about inventing yourself every time - who will I be here? What will I do? You get the chance of a clean slate and a new beginning.<br />
Adventures are about the option to experience life from different angles, see other cultures, understand that every place is different, that there is no right or one way to live.<br />
It is, if you allow me some schmaltz, about building a better future for your children. It is about letting them grow up and live without seeing colour, or religion, or country of origin. Wherever we see all these differences, they just see friends.<br />
But most of all, if you let it, living in different places teaches you all about freedom. A lot of people think the hardest part of being an expat is the fact that you don't belong anywhere anymore. You are no longer a real part of the country you left, and you will forever be a foreigner in the country you live in now. I think if you embrace this feeling what you get is an enormous amount of freedom to be who you want, to do what you want, to think what you want.<br />
No, the hardest part of being an expat is the food. Don't look so surprised, I did say we Israelis are very attached to our food.<br />
And they do say Berlin has great bakeries.<br />
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Now that the time to say goodbye has come, I should be able to say something about London, summaries the last two and a half years in one sentence. But I can't. Mostly because writing short sentences was never my strong suit, but also because I am just not sure it will be the right sentence. There is, after all, something to say for perspective.<br />
For now mostly I feel that I am ready to move on, but I can say that London gave us a lot, we've had so many good things happen to us here, we've accomplished so much, but that it all came with a very high price-tag. Like everything else in London.<br />
I am proud of us for what we've achieved, and at the same time I hate that we had to pay so dearly for it.<br />
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And then, because life is funny this way, someone shared this Elisabeth Kübler-Ross quote on Facebook that just seemed so fitting for my goodbye to London -<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">"The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen".</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
So Long London, and Thanks for All the Fish!<br />
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All the photos in this post were taken by Hidai on his recent travels to Berlin, and not by me because I haven't been to Berlin. Yet.<br />
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<br />Orli Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14279242008801779330noreply@blogger.com0London, UK51.5073509 -0.1277582999999822351.1912379 -0.77320529999998222 51.8234639 0.51768870000001777tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-254540975363067070.post-24382758160783339082014-10-24T09:12:00.001+02:002014-10-24T09:12:56.785+02:00Madame Tussauds - Our last "must"The last of the "tourist attractions" we had left in London was a visit to <a href="http://www.madametussauds.com/London/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Madame Tussauds</a>. When we first moved here (and during our visits here before that) we managed to do everything except go to Madame Tussauds. It wasn't deliberate or anything like that, it was just that there was always a queue, and the kids didn't know any of the characters, and honestly all these statues seemed a tiny bit creepy to me. Then after a while we finished our "must do and see" list, and got tired of paying enormous amounts of money just to have Yon (or Ron, or both) complain all the way there, or during, or on the way home, or when we got home because "they didn't have enough time to do other things", and Madame Tussauds just stayed there on the list in all its loneliness, waiting.<br />
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But it is still somewhat of a must, so to ease our guilt towards it we decided to make it a point - we'll go there before we leave London. That way, if we decide never to leave we don't have to go. Gradually it became "a thing" - a symbol of staying or going, so much so that we used to joke that we'd stop there on the way to the airport.<br />
We didn't.<br />
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We went there because they had those big advertisement posters in the tube featuring their 4D Marvel Super-Heroes experience, and we happened to walk past them with our Super-Heroes crazed boys.<br />
And also because my parents were visiting and we were looking for a nice indoor family activity (the whole making memories from the <a href="http://londondegani.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/how-me-crashed-pretend-plane.html#.VEjXVYefjRo" target="_blank">Emirates Experience</a> post, but without the heights).<br />
And because we had the <a href="http://grownupsgofree.kelloggs.co.uk/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">vouchers from the Kellogs cereals</a> so it was half price (and funnily enough, because everyone is so afraid of the queue and order tickets online their queue was longer, whereas we got our tickets within minutes).<br />
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It's funny how everyone looks at a place and notice different things. Tourists, teenagers, young couples, groups, pensioners, young parents, parents with toddlers and older children, people with disability - we all go into the same building but have a very different experience.<br />
For us, it was a mixed emotions kind of experience. I mean, how can you say no to getting your photo taken with the queen? Or Shrek? But there really was something kind of creepy about those statues. All in all, for us it seemed like Madame Tussauds really isn't all that interesting for young kids because most characters are aimed at older generations, and if you have to bring kids than it is for families with older children (I would say more towards tweens) and is most definitely not suited for people with extra needs. Especially if your need is to sit down in the middle of the tour. There is just nowhere to sit. They do have kiosks where you can buy snacks, but you'll eat them standing up. Sitting is not permitted in Madame Tussauds apparently, mostly I think because they just want you in and out as quickly as possible. If, like us, you have a child that needs to take a break (and even kids without special-needs sometimes needs a break), you will have to do what we ended up doing - sitting on the floor in the hallway where other people and workers walk above your head, looking at you as if you are an alien or just plain weird. Not the best experience.<br />
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Don't get me wrong, it was fun for the most part, the boys recognised Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom (Pirates of the Caribbean's is Yon's movie of choice these days), One Direction, Shrek, most of the Athletes and the Royal Family, some of the musicians and politicians and obviously all the Super-Heroes. It has a very relaxed atmosphere and you can touch things and people, which is what Yon enjoyed doing, and the Spirit of London ride was so much fun that even Yon didn't care that the music's too loud. The 4D movie was amazing (well Yon didn't enjoy it as much as the rest of us, but that was not a big surprise. The surprise was that he actually managed to see the movie with his problems with 3D vision) and the fact that it comes at the end leaves you with a very positive experience.<br />
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We didn't go to Madame Tussauds with high expectations, and that way we weren't disappointed. Yes, they can do better - they can put in a bench or two, clean the toilets a bit more, lower the volume on the history-ride, charge less money for admission - but all in all, it was a very nice family day out in London.<br />
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And though we didn't go there on the way to the airport, It was a very nice way to finish our "must" list,<br />
And it really was a lovely way to end our London Adventure.Orli Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14279242008801779330noreply@blogger.com0London, UK51.5073509 -0.1277582999999822351.1912379 -0.77320529999998222 51.8234639 0.51768870000001777tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-254540975363067070.post-30243235447121467072014-10-21T08:58:00.000+02:002014-10-21T08:58:49.193+02:00The Challah ExperimentOne of the things that frustrate me to no end is that my boys do not like baking. I mean they will eat cake, especially if said cake has any form of chocolate in it, and they will criticise the cake and the baker as if they are tiny Paul Hollywoods gone rogue, but they don't like the actual baking. Everywhere I look there are people whose kids absolutely adore helping them in the kitchen, people who regard baking with kids as a half-term activity, people who invent recipes with their kids. Baking, all the parenting sites say, is a great way to connect with your children. In theory at least. Apparently my kids didn't read those sites as their reaction when I even start saying "do you want to help me...." is to run away screaming. No, they would not like to help me. They would rather do anything else. They would rather tidy up their room, do the laundry, read a book, everything but bake.<br />
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For someone whose life revolves around baking, that is quite frustrating. And embarrassing. Of course I know why they don't like baking (and mainly baking with me), it is a lethal combination of Yon's fear of getting dirty, Ron's inability to accept deviations from the written recipes and my need for perfection. Add to that the fact that we constantly quarrel for control, and the only recipe you get is for disaster.<br />
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But I couldn't let it go because baking is such an important part of life - it is the perfect combination between science and art, it is a place to work on so many of their issues and it's a great way for them to impress girls in the future.<br />
And even that is not why I decided to bake with them.<br />
It was because I found it inconceivable that they don't know how to bake a Challah. We Jewish people take our Fridays very seriously, and a big part of a Friday is the special-family-evening-meal, which the Challah is a big part of. For Jewish people braiding a Challah is basic, it is something you learn in nursery, when every Friday the nursery teacher makes the dough and all the kids braid their own little challahs. Well, at least that is how it was in the olden days. Ron never baked a Challah in his Israeli kindergarten days, but hey, why should I let reality interfere with my nostalgia and the fear that I am raising the boys to have no roots and no connection to their traditions?<br />
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You could argue that there are more important traditions the boys are missing out on, and you could definitely argue that teaching two baking-haters the secret of a good Challah isn't going to make them like their religion and roots more. But it was Friday, and I am not really good at listening, so Challah baking it was.<br />
I've decided to go the extra mile (I don't do simple) and found a recipe that doesn't need eggs so I could divide everything to three and have them not only braid the Challah but make the whole thing themselves, because it will be more fun (?!) and it will let them experience for themselves the magic of baking. You know, that moment when your gooey blob becomes dough. I did not account for the fear of dirt, or the whining, or the constant comparisons.<br />
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I have to give it to them, though, they did try. They enjoyed helping me measure the materials (after I explained to Ron that we will not be following the recipe exactly), Ron did rather well with kneading (though Yon didn't touch it and Hidai did that part for him), we all had the "ahhhh moment" when the blob became dough, they understood the basic of braiding (surprisingly enough Yon more than Ron) and we only had one incident involving tears.<br />
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But without a doubt the best part was the decorating. In a brave and tradition-shattering move, I've decided to forgo the classic Challah decoration - sesame, poppy, or almonds - and go for the kids friendly - chocolate chips, candied nuts, and pearl sugar. Best decision of the day, and the only part I can say without hesitation both of them loved.<br />
That and seeing their creations come out of the oven.<br />
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A few months ago I wrote a post about <a href="http://londondegani.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/why-life-is-like-baking.html#.VEWOCIefjRo" target="_blank">how life is like baking</a>, about how sometimes you need something to remind you of who you are. Me, I could always find myself in baking.<br />
My boys, though they did enjoy themselves and proudly showed everyone their baking-creations, grow up in a different world, with a different sense of self and different things to ground them. Traditions are a funny things, they are very easy to create and very hard to force. I can't make my kids bake with me every Friday because this is the tradition I imagine I would like to have, or because it will ease my guilt. Though my Challah experiment was a success (or so Hidai informed me. I finished it with a headache and no ability to think straight) I have to let them grow up in the here and now, and enjoy the traditions we create together.<br />
And honestly, once was enough.<br />
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<a href="http://www.shirley-nemesh.com/2010/04/155" target="_blank">The recipe I used is</a> (link is to the Hebrew original) -<br />
1 kg flour (I used strong white)<br />
2 Spoons of dried yeast<br />
150 gr caster sugar (the recipe itself says less. A lot less, but I like it sweet)<br />
3/4 cup oil<br />
2 glasses of lukewarm water<br />
1Spoon salt<br />
Put everything together (I like to put it all except salt, knead a little and then add the salt) knead well for about 10 minutes until you get a nice, soft, non-sticky dough (we did it by hand, but obviously you can use a machine), oil it well and let it prove until it double it size (around 1-2 hours). Then deflate it, knead for a little and start making rolls.<br />
Put the rolls very speciously on a baking tray lined with baking-paper, and prove for about 30 minutes. After the second proving, heat the oven to 180 degrees and beat one egg. Brush the egg on the rolls and throw on the toppings.<br />
Bake for about 25 minutes until they are golden brown and when you tap on the bottom (caution - it's hot) you hear a hollow sound.<br />
Let it cool, because you never eat bread straight out of the oven.<br />
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<br />Orli Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14279242008801779330noreply@blogger.com0London, UK51.5073509 -0.1277582999999822351.1912379 -0.77320529999998222 51.8234639 0.51768870000001777tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-254540975363067070.post-23819383524047756692014-10-17T09:26:00.000+02:002014-10-17T09:33:34.544+02:00How we crashed a (pretend) planeYou know how sometimes you find yourself in a situation you are not completely sure how you managed to land yourself into? Well, that is NOT what happened to me. I know exactly how I got there. I thought it will be fun. Because, apparently somewhere along the way I've lost a few of my marbles, and did not put together "cable car" and "fear of heights".<br />
And because it was sunny and warm and we decided we have to "live life to the fullest" and "try everything London has to offer" and such things.<br />
And because it was Saturday and to be good parents you have to spend time with your kids on Saturdays creating memories (apparently letting them play on the iPad all day does not create memories).<br />
So off we went to the <a href="http://www.aviation-experience.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Emirates Aviation Experience</span></a> and <a href="http://www.theo2.co.uk/visit-us/getting-here/emirates-air-line" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Cable Car</span></a>.<br />
Unfortunately by the time I was standing on the sunny Greenwich sidewalk looking up at the cable cars gliding merrily on what (from down below) looked to be as thick as a sewing thread and it finally dawned on me that not only do I not like heights very much I also hate not being in control and firmly on land, it was too late to back down.<br />
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By then Yon had already gone through the whole crying-because-he-wanted-to-do-something-else routine, and Ron has gone through the whole I-am-afraid-of-things-randomely routine (he doesn't have a real fear of heights, he just likes to adapt his fears to fit the occasion) and because we firmly believe in the never-back-down parenting method - which means if started something (an argument, a war or a fun activity) we will win it at all costs. Otherwise the kids will win. And they already control too much of the house as it is - we simply had to go on.<br />
So on we went, with a "it's going to be fun" face on the outside and a "who the hell wanted to do that?!" shivers on the inside.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The view from down below</td></tr>
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We decided to go do the Aviation Experience part first, because it held the best part of the day - <a href="http://www.aviation-experience.com/explore/flight-simulators" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">flight simulator</a>. It costs 45 pounds for 30 minutes, which is a lot. A lot. And it is only for kids over 9 (because younger kids just can't reach the pedals). But since it was supposed to be really awesome we decided to give it a go. As it happened you can buy one ticket for 45 pounds and use it for up to 4 people and that way each gets a turn flying an airplane, which makes the whole thing a little more reasonably priced (but honestly since when we were there we were the only ones actually using the simulators, and there were 6 of them, I think they could lower the price a bit).<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Getting in to the simulator</td></tr>
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Yon (who does't reach the pedals and so couldn't be a real pilot) was in charge of releasing the wheels, and the rest of us listened intently to the very long explanation about all the gears and bars and pedals before we took our turns trying to not crash.<br />
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Poor Ron crashed us right into the Duty Free building, while I managed to land on the wrong runway and Hidai, who managed to avoid both misfortunes, was crowned "best pilot of the day".<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Trying to fly an airplane. Not as easy as you'd think</td></tr>
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It is a very cute building to walk around even if you don't want to do the simulation (though it was hilarious) and you have a virtual cockpit where you can get your photo taken (though I would recommend taking it yourself. We are still waiting for the one they took) and a lego model of a plain engine and a very funny video showing the flight from your suitcase's point of view.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lego model</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">What happens to your suitcase when you fly </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kids</td></tr>
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By the time we finished all that there was a queue for the cable-car, a long one, but it moved fairly quickly - even Yon didn't complain much (which is how we measure queues these days). And after we found the elevator (not easy, and no way Yon could handle all the stairs) and got up to the cable car platform we found ourselves in another queue! Sometimes I wonder if these places think waiting in the queue is considered part of the fun...<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Geting in to the cable car</td></tr>
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Getting into the moving cable-car was (more than) a little scary and when the doors closed I have to admit I was extremely nervous, ok, I was having a slight panic attack which I think I hid very well, especially because Ron was having one of his own.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Do you think he's enjoying himself?</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Look at me hiding my panic attack</td></tr>
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It is a long ride, much longer than the one I remembered in Israel or in Gibraltar, and as we took the round trip without leaving the cable car it looked like it took forever.<br />
The good news - nobody threw up, the view is amazing and I took about a million photos, and it was a lot less bumpier than I thought. Oh, and it didn't fall.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The view</td></tr>
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And that is how we got to crash an airplane, not fall from a bubble in the sky and learn a valuable lesson - people with control issues and fear of height should not go on cable cars. And if they do, they shouldn't look down (trust me on that one. Down is a long way when you are up there).<br />
But sometimes, when you find yourself asking "how the f*&^ck did I get here???" You end up doing something amazing, and what the hell, you even make some memories.<br />
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<br />Orli Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14279242008801779330noreply@blogger.com0London, UK51.5073509 -0.1277582999999822351.1912379 -0.77320529999998222 51.8234639 0.51768870000001777tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-254540975363067070.post-51708962367377924302014-10-13T21:21:00.000+02:002014-10-13T21:21:04.408+02:00Learning to ride a Bicycle Days like today, when it's been raining for hours nonstop, Hidai is travelling, and the universe keeps sending me negative emails, these days are the best time to find a positive thought and hold on to it. Well, actually these are the days to get into bed with a (very) big box of chocolate (or cookies. Or cake) and turn on the TV. But seeing how Hidai is travelling and someone will have to go out in the rain and get the kids home, thinking positive thoughts will have to do for now.<br />
Since I'm fresh out of positivity right now, I've decided to write about the big project we had this summer - We decided to teach Yon how to ride a bicycle.<br />
Riding a bike is such a small thing, it shouldn't warrant a post I guess, but with Yon it is so much more - it is (warning! Schmaltzy comment ahead) one small proof that he could do whatever he sets his mind to. Yes, it is a small leap from riding a bike to ruling the world!<br />
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Up until now Yon has never shown any interest in being anywhere but standing firmly on ground (or at least if he is on a scooter, having someone else pull him along), and with his Ocular Albinism and Aspergers we accepted the fact that he will not be able to learn how to ride a bicycle (or a scooter, or a skateboard, etc), but his Reception teacher told us at the end of last year that he really likes the tricycles at school. It took him all year (apparently. We knew nothing about it) to master it, but he did, and he rode around the schoolyard freely.<br />
Our first reaction, naturally, was doubt (okay, we didn't believe a word she was saying), so we politely asked her if we could get a demonstration of Yon on the tricycle, and since she is a very nice person (who also knows that we will just keep asking) she let Yon show us how wrong we were.<br />
It was amazing, seeing him race around the playground, not hitting anything, making all the turn, stopping on the correct spot. But more than that it was amazing seeing his enjoyment.<br />
The next week we bought him his first real bicycle - red ones with flames painted on them - and decided to teach him how to ride.<br />
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Hidai assembling the bicycle</div>
How do you teach a child with about 40% vision to ride a bicycle? Well, you make sure there are not a lot of people around... To be honest we did it the way we taught Ron how to ride - we bought him slightly small bicycle so he will feel more secure (and so he won't have too much speed) and started him off with training-wheels and about 30 minutes of "bicycle-time" every day for 10 weeks in our communal area (that is big, flat, and doesn't have lots of people walking around).<br />
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It took him a few days to catch the whole mechanic of the thing - starting, paddling, turning and stopping - but after that he was free as a bird, riding around without a care in the world.<br />
Yon has no sense of fear, or that he has to look where he is going, so he rides like he walks - talking nonstop and without looking anywhere near where he is going, which for the rest of the world could be a little heart-attack inducing, but for him is perfectly natural.<br />
We did try to let him ride on the street a couple of time, but Hidai had to run next to him the whole time and ward off unsuspecting soon to be bicycle accident casualties. So we got back to communal-area riding.<br />
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After about three weeks we decided it was time to take his training wheels off, and though it may seem like it was an easy and logical decision, we were petrified, and worried, and not at all sure Yon will be able to learn how to ride a bicycle without the training wheels. Balance is not his strong suit.<br />
I won't lie, it wasn't easy. Poor Hidai had to run with him, providing balance, for about two weeks, until Yon finally got it. I suspect some of it was due to the fact that we find it so hard to let go, and that Yon enjoyed having Hidai run after him.<br />
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Teaching Yon how to ride a bike gave us a rare insight to his vision. With Yon you'd never guess that his vision is as bad as it is. He never falls or bumps or asks about things he doesn't see well. He has managed to teach himself so many techniques of dealing with the world, that you really believe he sees everything, even when you know he doesn't. The only time we see how much he doesn't see is when we take him to the hospital. He can't fake his way through an eye-test.<br />
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Then and when he rides his bike. When we took away his training wheels, turning and going through the big metal gates we have around the building became impossible for him. He just couldn't see or even estimate how wide his turn should be or the width of the gate opening. We practiced for weeks, going through the gates in and out, turning again and again, so he should learn how to "feel" the turn.<br />
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But he did get it, and as silly as it sounds, it was one of my proudest moments as a parent seeing him ride his little red bike all on his own.<br />
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<br />Orli Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14279242008801779330noreply@blogger.com0London, UK51.5073509 -0.1277582999999822351.1912379 -0.77320529999998222 51.8234639 0.51768870000001777tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-254540975363067070.post-4495159117800876012014-06-24T09:02:00.000+02:002014-06-24T09:11:43.203+02:00Sunday Bus Surprise<div class="separator" style="clear: both; display: none; text-align: center;">
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Last weekend I went to Britmum's Live, which is the biggest Mummy-Blogger convention in the UK (though now they also have food, style and dads. So maybe they should find a different description), which was what I intended to write about originally, and was also what I had plan on my "living life to the fullest" agenda. </div>
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But since I had issues with the event, and not all of them were about the lack of cake (but seriously - not enough cakes is just... Mean), and since Sunday was one of those gorgeous sunny days you just know are too good to be true (and sure enough it did rain on Monday), we decided to forsake the original plan of staying at home lazying around, and started looking for something fun to do with the kids. Contrary to popular opinion, London isn't a very child friendly city, and it is not very easy to find something new to do with children in London every weekend, and if you want it to be cheap (or free, but nothing in London is ever free), it becomes almost impossible.<br />
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But this week we were lucky and it only took us less than an hour to find an adventure - <a href="https://www.tfl.gov.uk/campaign/our-events" target="_blank">the Bus Cavalcade on Regent Street</a>. As it turns out, this is the year of the bus (seriously) and they have decided to close down Regent Street to traffic and put about 50 buses ranging in age around it for people to appreciate how far buses have come.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Year of the bus</td></tr>
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We found it through <a href="http://londonist.com/" target="_blank">Londonist</a>, which is the best website I know to what's going on in London if you are a "young professional", or as we call them - children over the age of 25. We didn't find out about it through the <a href="https://www.tfl.gov.uk/" target="_blank">TFL</a>, who sends me five emails a week about the state of Hammersmith Station (don't care, not even close to here) or the <a href="http://www.ltmuseum.co.uk/" target="_blank">Transport Museum</a>, who sends me an email every time there is an open day at one of their garages. No, amazingly enough none of them thought that it was a good idea to advertise their own cavalcade.</div>
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Though the chronological order of the buses was intended for people to start walking from Piccadilly, we decided to go the other way - from Oxford Circus to Piccadilly Circus because chronological order or not, as far as I'm concerned there is one simple rule to walking outside - going down the hill is better than climbing up. So we went back in time, but we did it while rolling gently down Regent Street. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our first bus - in the future</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Last bus - a carriage from 1829</td></tr>
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So what do you do in a bus cavalcade?</div>
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First of all, you get a map, or five, because maps are an all important tool when you want to know where you are going, or when you want to distract an annoyed (or annoying) child. </div>
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Then you stop for a snack, because the map thing didn't work.<br />
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Then you shout "go stand by that red bus" and see them look at you in confusion (we didn't really do that one, we told them the number of the bus we wanted to take a photo of). It is a known thing, after all, that photos of buses are boring and annoying. But photos of buses with kids next to them? Now that is interesting. I took over 250 photos on Sunday. Of buses with kids.</div>
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Then you let them drive the bus. Because they really really wanted to, and not at all because you want to drive the bus. Hmmm.</div>
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You make them do weird facial expressions and activities, so you can take even more photos (and embarrass them. After all, that is what parents are for).</div>
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Then you send them up and down the bus, because it is important to let kids enjoy themselves and experience the world through play. Not at all because you hope they get tired enough when you get home they'll forget you promised them a game of Snakes & Ladders.</div>
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Then you regret everything you just did because the "I'm hungry", "I'm tired" and "I want to go home" whining marathon begins.</div>
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That is when <a href="http://www.pret.com/" target="_blank">Pret</a> and lunch came to our rescue, and we used this lunch to let Ron go buy his sandwich by himself (picking, paying and eating all by himself). In a busy Pret in the middle of Regent street, I am not sure who was more nervous about that (Hidai. Hidai was).</div>
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After lunch (a short affair, about thirty minutes for eating a sandwich) you have another short grace period in which you could do all of the above steps again...</div>
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And if you are lucky you'd get a not-so-grumpy-family-photo</div>
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And a selfie</div>
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And even a nice sibling one</div>
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Then you quickly try and take a photo of a bus stop made out of lego, because it's just so cute.</div>
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It took us four hours to go through Regent street, and for the first time ever we did it without buying anything (it did help that the queue in front of the gift shop was huge and that we flatly refused going in to Hamley's).</div>
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And yes, they did forget about the Snakes & Ladders. </div>
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We watched Men In Black instead.</div>
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Orli Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14279242008801779330noreply@blogger.com0London, UK51.5073509 -0.1277582999999822351.1912379 -0.77320529999998222 51.8234639 0.51768870000001777tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-254540975363067070.post-20160927463950634412014-06-18T09:09:00.000+02:002014-06-18T09:09:44.864+02:00AspergerThey lead us into a bright room and invite us to sit on uncomfortable chairs arranged in a circle so it's not so formal, after all we're here to "chat", and it all feels so surreal. They look at us, and start scribbling. What are they writing? There are three of them, who do I look at? Why is it so bright in here?<br />
Do they think a bright light makes getting bad news easier?<br />
They are all polite, and kind, and talk to us in that voice that makes me feel like they think I'm an idiot. And they all keep looking at us and writing.<br />
Is this a test to see how we react? How does one reacts?<br />
How are you supposed to react when they tell you "and this is why we think JonJon is on the spectrum, and has Asperger"? What is the right way to react?<br />
We argued with them.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">Typical Yon</td></tr>
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This is what it all came down to - five years of wondering, a year and two months of waiting for the assessment and finally five meetings in the last four weeks - those three little words. Yon has Asperger.<br />
Because having Ocular Albinism and being partially blind isn't enough.<br />
So we told them they are wrong. He has "blindism" which is due to the fact that blind (or partially blind) people have some traits that you also find in people with autism. Besides, it is a known fact, we told them, that everyone is on the spectrum and that there is a tendency today to over-diagnose. And lastly we told them he is getting better - a year ago he was so much worse, so if he has gotten so much better in the span of a year, maybe this time next year he'll be even better, maybe next year he will be "normal".<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">On the way to the last assessment</td></tr>
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We came into that bright room prepared to hear he is on the spectrum, and we came prepared to fight it tooth and nails. We were ready for this argument, after all we have the winning card - Yon's vision. How much do we really know about what goes on in the head of a five years old who is partially blind? How much does any of us really knows about blindism? not much, which is why you can feel comfortable in saying that it affects most areas of his life - food issues, routine issues, gross and fine motor skills, inability to stand in the queue, needing to explain everything that is going to happen in great details, noise and touch issues, and trust me I can go on. But then there are the things you can't explain with his vision, those same things that got us to that assessment room in the first place, those things that made us look at him and wonder. No amount of trying could make us relate his communication problems, his social issues or some of his behaviours to his vision. Believe me, we've tried. And then there are the things we didn't even know were a problem - his ability to do the same activity for hours, his tendency to quote word for word movie scenes, his playing imaginary games with himself but not with others, to name just a few.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jBN6bT6TbAQ/U6Cqz-VcubI/AAAAAAAAP8c/LXHFqbla1cA/s1600/IMG_7306.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jBN6bT6TbAQ/U6Cqz-VcubI/AAAAAAAAP8c/LXHFqbla1cA/s1600/IMG_7306.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">During the assessment</td></tr>
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They never argued with us, they nodded and said "of course, you are right" to everything we said. They just kept on going, listing more and more things that Yon does, things they saw and things we and his teacher said, and with every thing they said we nodded and said yes. With every thing they said our arguments got weaker, the room became brighter, and our hearts became heavier, it weighs a ton, that one word - Asperger.<br />
It wasn't that it came out of nowhere, that we were blindsided, it wasn't like that word just "fell" on us without being prepared. In the last year and a half we've made so many changes in our family-life to fit it to Yon, we didn't even notice how much we accommodate Yon's needs until they actually said that there is nothing else they can suggest we improve. No, it wasn't the shock or the "how did we not see that" or even that it took more than a year to get to the final and official diagnosis.<br />
We needed that time to come to grips with the albinism, we used that time to make so many changes and improvements to his life and ours, we were ready for it now, which was not the case last year.<br />
A<span style="font-family: inherit;">nd yet it weighs a ton. All of this somehow makes it worse. We hoped, really really hoped that all the improvements and growing up Yon made meant we've tipped the scale and he will be on the other side of the border, because yes, while it is true that we are all on the spectrum there is still a line, a border that devices those who get the diagnosis and those who don't. Oh, how we wanted him to "just" be weird & eccentric.</span><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_VSXmcTqs1k/U6CqZ45nFcI/AAAAAAAAP78/z-LamWY34RA/s1600/IMG_4505.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_VSXmcTqs1k/U6CqZ45nFcI/AAAAAAAAP78/z-LamWY34RA/s1600/IMG_4505.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">It is not the shock of hearing something you didn't think you'd hear, it's the finality of hearing the words out loud. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">It is the fact that it is no longer "YonYonism", it's Autism. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">It is that I still feel like I did last April when we started down this road - I<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 22px;"> blame myself. It might be stupid, but these are our genes that are causing this, all of this. We are the reason that he starts life at a disadvantage, that he will have to fight more, overcome more, be Special. We are the ones that are supposed to give our kids the best start to life, the best options and opportunities. We are supposed to protect our kids from all bad things. </span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 22px;">We failed him. </span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 22px;">Twice.</span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">And it is that there is just something so darn sad about this last official stamp.</span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-INwUO2v0Ans/U6Cq068a2wI/AAAAAAAAP8k/Z0OvEO9ZM0Q/s1600/IMG_7345.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-INwUO2v0Ans/U6Cq068a2wI/AAAAAAAAP8k/Z0OvEO9ZM0Q/s1600/IMG_7345.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>Orli Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14279242008801779330noreply@blogger.com0London, UK51.508515 -0.1254871999999522851.192402 -0.77093419999995227 51.824628000000004 0.51995980000004771tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-254540975363067070.post-14231575043829582692014-06-16T14:16:00.000+02:002014-06-16T14:16:03.407+02:00Mammoths exhibitionTo celebrate Father's Day, and not at all because it was cold and damp, we decided to take the kids to the Natural History Museum to see their new Mammoths exhibition.<br />
Truth be told I am not a huge fan of the Natural History Museum. I am purely an arts person, so stick me in any old "regular" museum and I am happy, but all these dead animals and weird plants and facts about nature? Not my cup of tea.<br />
Add to that that Yon is not an easy child to take to a museum, and that Ron (like me) is not a huge animal-life fan.<br />
And let's not forget the 100 pound rule - I found that whenever you leave the house in London it costs a hundred pounds. How when the museum is free? Well, first of all though the museum is free the exhibition itself costs money (26 pounds for a family) with the mandatory gift (I know it's not mandatory and yet somehow we couldn't resist the sitting mammoth) which ended up costing about 30 pounds and lunch (another 30 or so) and transport - and that is how you get to the magic number.<br />
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But it was Father's day, and we are on a "enjoy life" quest, and it looked like a great exhibition from the <a href="http://www.nhm.ac.uk/visit-us/whats-on/temporary-exhibitions/mammoths-ice-age-giants/index.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">video</span></a>. So we figured - why not?</div>
It might seem like something you do spontaneously, but around here outings are never spontaneous - tickets have to be bought in advance (especially since we've seen the queue to the dinosaur exhibition last year), routes have to be planned (how do you get from the tube to the museum), food has to be prepared (never leave home without a snack, and make sure you know were your lunch is going to be), anticipate every problem you can (did you notice that museums are so very dark?) and always leave the house with some extra time to allow for whining and slow walkers.<br />
So after so much preparation and thinking, it really shouldn't come as a shock that -<br />
Of course the kids were misbehaving from the moment they woke up.<br />
Of course we discovered Ron still has homework he was supposed to have finished during the week.<br />
Of course we were late for our time slot. But just by two minutes.<br />
Of course the app advised to go to the wrong tube station, which incidentally was also closed.<br />
Of course Yon went into hyper-mode because of all the things he could touch.<br />
Of course there was an emergency somewhere in the museum.<br />
Of course the Pret we chose for lunch was packed with people.<br />
And of course I came home with a headache, Hidai got a mammoth for Father's Day and the kids concluded it a success.<br />
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And it really was a success.<br />
I love the fact that the museums here are so child-friendly, and most of the exhibition was of things you could actually touch. For Yon it was like heaven. Ron enjoyed the huge amount of written materials, movies, and demonstrations carefully arranged around the room.<br />
There were plenty of places to stop and sit around the room (unlike in the London Aquarium) so we could take some much needed regrouping breaks.<br />
It wasn't too big - we were there for about an hour and a half including breaks, snacks and the gift shop. Really the perfect amount of time.<br />
Though it really was dark inside (I honestly never noticed how dark museums are before Yon) it didn't feel so bad, and even Yon didn't get into distress.<br />
The exhibition itself is really good. My photos are less so, mainly because there was a "no-flash" policy to which we adhered.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0rHxBgA7h8c/U54cI3S98NI/AAAAAAAAP58/GE6GrAHuklA/s1600/IMG_0845_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0rHxBgA7h8c/U54cI3S98NI/AAAAAAAAP58/GE6GrAHuklA/s1600/IMG_0845_2.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">There was a sign "please touch" everywhere, which Yon really enjoyed reading</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SVWwI6N7Tqw/U54cHWIfD1I/AAAAAAAAP50/R4aT7uGUBJ4/s1600/IMG_0846_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SVWwI6N7Tqw/U54cHWIfD1I/AAAAAAAAP50/R4aT7uGUBJ4/s1600/IMG_0846_2.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A sabre tooth cat (or Diego for those who saw Ice Age)</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9OqG4aN7Kkw/U54cjWP-RBI/AAAAAAAAP6E/SxafTtjGBXg/s1600/IMG_4785.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9OqG4aN7Kkw/U54cjWP-RBI/AAAAAAAAP6E/SxafTtjGBXg/s1600/IMG_4785.jpg" height="320" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yon took about 50 photos on my phone in the first 10 minutes we were there, before he discovered the "please touch" sign. 2 were in focus. None made the cut.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TyPR4KV6wC0/U54czH4p1tI/AAAAAAAAP6Q/rKYnYElLyH4/s1600/IMG_4793.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TyPR4KV6wC0/U54czH4p1tI/AAAAAAAAP6Q/rKYnYElLyH4/s1600/IMG_4793.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Touching mammoths</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Zxhn5zxLWMM/U54dLx9FPYI/AAAAAAAAP6c/0XbXkArH-6g/s1600/IMG_4807.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Zxhn5zxLWMM/U54dLx9FPYI/AAAAAAAAP6c/0XbXkArH-6g/s1600/IMG_4807.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A very nice lady even offered us a family photo with an elephant. As one does</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Can you handle a trunk? Ron could :)</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The best preserved baby mammoth in the world</td></tr>
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Orli Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14279242008801779330noreply@blogger.com0London, UK51.508515 -0.1254871999999522851.192402 -0.77093419999995227 51.824628000000004 0.51995980000004771tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-254540975363067070.post-10065218531337686422014-06-09T12:05:00.001+02:002014-06-09T12:05:43.694+02:00Thames CruisingI want to tell you that yesterday was well planned in advance, and that we looked at the weather forecast and thought to ourselves - hey, it is supposed to be sunny on Sunday. What should we do that will be fun for the whole family? And came up with the idea of a Thames cruise. But what really happened was that I woke up yesterday morning fully intending to bitch the day away. It might have had something to do with the fact that I went back to the Weight Watchers & exercise regime I so gladly abandoned a few months ago in favour of constant cake eating and excuse telling.<br />
Hidai, who dragged me out of bed after he got tired of hearing me complaining about the worthlessness of my life and the cruelness of the world (I honestly don't know why he got tired of it, I am a very good complainer. It's one of my stronger qualities) decided that leaving the house was in order, and because we looked outside and saw that it was, indeed, a glorious day and because we've been trying to go with the whole "live life to the fullest" thing we immediately thought about spending the day in Paris. Since 700 pounds in train tickets seemed a bit on the extreme side, we settled on crossing another one of those London touristy things off our list (I love being a tourist in London. Sometimes I think I like it better than living in London, but that is for a different post) and so we booked tickets on the <a href="http://citycruises.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">CityCruise</a> circular cruise - they did promise 45 monuments in 45 minutes, and it costs only 23 pounds for 4 people, so looked like the best choice for us. After all - Yon can't see most of the monuments and Hidai doesn't like being on water.<br />
To counter the fact that Yon won't see or care about any of the monuments we offered he dress up as a pirate. Obviously we meant the hat. Obviously he meant the whole ensemble. And so we found ourselves rushing through two tubes and the tower of London with Jack Sparrow and his slightly embarrassed older brother, much to the delight of everyone who saw us.<br />
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We managed to get to the docks on time, which for some reason is always really difficult on weekends, and found a spot at the front of the boat which was lucky because the cabin provided some shade for Yon, at least for part of the way. Pirates hats, though dashing, are not really good for shade-creating. At least I remembered to put enough suncream on them to make sure they return home in the same condition they left, and not turn into a tomato.<br />
We have enough tomatoes at home right now with the whole Weight-Watchers thing.<br />
They did enjoy it, The crew gave a very funny commentary and the visibility was great so I managed to take what I thought of as a few pictures of everything. When I got home I found out it was about 270 photos, but that could still be counted as "a few" right?<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And we even got a family one!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yon was interested when we passed other boats</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Look how skinny I look :)</td></tr>
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The boat did go all the way to Greenwich but the boys had enough just going from Tower Pier to Westminster and back, and also we might have been a bit hungry and Ron still had homework at home to get back to (oh, the joy of learning not to postpone things so you could play a little bit more of xBox), but since the day had been going on so well we decided on Pret for lunch (how sensible and diet friendly of us) and a bus ride to St. Paul, which was obviously mostly closed because it was Sunday after all, but we still got to see the entrance hall and realise that as much as the kids have grown and are easier to travel with, they are still not ready for churches.<br />
You have to now your limits I guess.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In Prêt </td></tr>
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It was a great day out, and though I have to say I usually prefer London grey and cloudy (that's the way it should be in my mind) from the river there is nothing like a bit of sunshine (and half a brownie at Pret) to elevate a person's mood. </div>
Orli Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14279242008801779330noreply@blogger.com0London, UK51.508515 -0.1254871999999522851.192402 -0.77093419999995227 51.824628000000004 0.51995980000004771tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-254540975363067070.post-47762903185975728732014-06-03T08:54:00.001+02:002014-06-03T08:54:17.478+02:00Our adventure at Chessington World of Adventures<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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In the midst of all the chaos of life, work, and Yon assessments we've been having around here we decided to take a short break and tick off another thing from our London Wish-List, and so we booked a weekend at the Chessington World of Adventures for my parents and us.<br />
We've been planning on getting to Chessington for about a year now, and every time we were on our way to press the "book now" button we found an excuse not to, because we were very worried about how Yon will handle the whole experience and with it being a let's say not very budget friendly holiday, we knew we'd be really disappointed to have paid all that money and make all that effort for it to be a disaster. And believe me, after you go through a few of those - lets puke in the restaurant, grab the 400 years old boat and cry through a cathedral while there are people praying trips - you kind of hesitate before you jump into the water of another family holiday.<br />
Also, Ron isn't really the adventurous type - he likes both his feet on the ground, and so all the roller coasters and scary rides are not his cup of tea.<br />
My parents are even worse.<br />
But then we've been to Legoland over Christmas and everyone had a good time, and we really needed a break from everything, and we are in the crossing off things from the list kind of mood, so we did press the "book now" button this time, and ended up with two days and one night of adventures.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Grandparents & kids next to the Chessington map</td></tr>
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The park itself is really amazing, and I will give you the button line first - everyone had a great time. It has so many different types of attractions and rides that everyone found things they enjoyed doing.<br />
A few tips -<br />
1. If you are getting there by train then you can walk from the rain station to the park as it's only about 10-15 minutes, but you can also take bus number 71 which will get you there faster, and with less complaining from various people in your group.<br />
2. The park has lots of places to buy food and drinks, but if your kids don't like fizzy drinks then you are in a bit of a problem, and it will be water all the way. There are a few places that sell Capri-Sun but they are few and far between.<br />
3. We chose the specific attractions we wanted to do each day, because the place is huge and also it minimised the arguments.<br />
4. Check online the "What's going on in Chessington today", because that is the only place you will find it.<br />
5. The hotel guests get an "early rider" offer where you can get in through the fast-track from 9 to 10:30 am. It's great because you don't have to wait in the queue and the park is less busy.<br />
6. Queues. Be prapared for lots and lots of queueing time. The average time I've seen is 40 minutes, and it can get up to an hour and a half on the main attractions.<br />
7. There is no real shade in the park so suncream is very important. As are umbrellas, it is London after all.<br />
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Yon can't wait in queues. Honestly I don't understand how any child is supposed to wait 40 minutes in a queue for a 7 minutes ride. But with Yon it is just impossible, and after the 20 minutes queue at the entrance to the London Aquarium ruined his and our ability to enjoy the visit, we decided to ask for a disability pass for him in the park. I know it might sound silly, but it was really hard for us to ask for the disability pass, I find we stumble on the words and feel awkward, like on the one hand it somehow makes his disability and difficulties more "real" and on the other hand we are waiting for someone to look at Yon and say "hey, he isn't really disabled". We've tried to do it over the internet just so we won't have to go through it, but since you can't we got to the Adventure Services with him and his certificates and they were perfectly nice and helpful in getting us the pass and explaining the rules. In a nutshell, you go through the disabled entrance which is usually at the exit of the ride, and you don't have to wait in the queue, BUT the operator takes your pass and write down the time when you can go on your next ride, which is the amount of time you saved on the queue, i.e if you skipped a 40 minutes of queueing, you will still have to wait them until you get to go on the next ride. You just don't have to do it standing in a queue, but running around freely.<br />
As hard as it was going in there and asking for the pass and showing them Yon's CVI and explaining he can't wait and is undergoing more assessments and all that, it really saved our trip. And Yon got to say "I am special so I don't wait in the queue. I have Ocular Albinism" and feel very important.<br />
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The hotel wasn't as good as the park unfortunately, which was a bit of a letdown, and not at all what we expected after staying in Legoland. I honestly can't understand why when you order two rooms under the same name and credit card, they can't guarantee they'd be close to each other, and in the end we got opposite sides of the floor, but hey - at least they were on the same floor. It is also beyond me why they gave us four single beds, and it took three requests and Hidai doing it himself to make our bed as close to a double as possible.<br />
Some tips, if you are planning on staying in the hotel -<br />
1. Book dinner in advance. We didn't, and when we got to the hotel we had to reserve the 8:15pm slot, which effectively meant we got served at 9pm. Not good after a whole day of running around with hungry kids and adults.<br />
2. There is no real entertainment for the kids - there was Madagascar with no sound, and a hotel show which was a bit lacking. You can go outside to see the few animals that stay outside for the night, but with hungry and tired kids it was less than ideal.<br />
3. Breakfast wasn't as good as the one in Legoland, though it wasn't really bad, and there was a queue even for that.<br />
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The bottom line is that in our two days we ended up going through 20 attractions, taking a photo with the Octonauts & the Madagascar animals and watching the Madagascar show and after the mandatory visit to the shop which got us a bubble-gun and a tiny Alex, we started heading home. That is where, after massive train delays we learned the most important lesson of all - always have a taxi for the drive back.<br />
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Orli Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14279242008801779330noreply@blogger.com0London, UK51.508515 -0.1254871999999522851.192402 -0.77093419999995227 51.824628000000004 0.51995980000004771tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-254540975363067070.post-11206858237545003592014-05-29T10:26:00.000+02:002014-05-29T10:26:02.956+02:00And the shoes keep droppingAmongst the million of things that could, and did, go wrong over the last few months, everything relating to Yon was, like always, front and center. It is amazing how much un-static a static condition can be, I mean, every time I think that we can just close our eyes and rest a bit another shoe drops.<br />
And for some reason the shoes are like dominos, when one drops you really can't stop the rest from toppling over.<br />
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It all started in April with the freakiest eye test result we've had for a long while. Whenever anyone asks me about eye problems with kids I always tell them my first two rules - always go to the doctors expecting the worse and kids eye tests are highly unreliable.<br />
But ocular albinism, and this is a well known fact, is a static condition, so rule number two shouldn't apply, right? Wrong. The fact that it is static is the only good part about it - you can't lose whatever eyesight you have. Why is it good? Because after you spend three years fearing for your child's vision, after you spend three years of patching and looking and expecting every eye test to discover that he lost one eye, hearing that it won't happen is a good thing.<br />
Discovering that his left eye has deteriorated over the past six months and he has lost another line on the eye-test, is not a good thing.<br />
Hearing that oops we might have been wrong and he might lose the vision in that eye is not a good thing.<br />
Going back to three months between visits to the hospital instead of six because we have to make sure his vision isn't still deteriorating is not a good thing.<br />
Living with yet more guilt because we didn't notice he has difficulties with his left eye is not a good thing.<br />
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Then came the DLA situation. Living in the UK and reading the papers you might think getting benefits is oh so easy. Trying to claim a disability benefit for Yon made me feel that not only is it not "easy", it is darn near impossible because the hurdles and hoops you have to jump through are there just to make you give up. First they lost our papers. Lost it. The forms it took me weeks to fill, and were sent in the special envelope attached in the pack we received from them, were lost. The forms I agonised over, and cried over and filled my heart with despair over my child's future were lost. It is not such a big deal. It happens all the time. That is what the helpline advisor (or whatever the correct role description is) said, just fill it again.<br />
Not a big deal. Sure. I guess the forms that asks for your child to be legally and publicly declared as disabled is just like the form for... I don't know... Enrolling your child in an after-school activity. After all, in both of them you write the child's name and your phone number.<br />
Of course I had a copy of everything I sent, I have been in this "we lost all your documents" story before (though in another branch of the government) so it was just a matter of photocopying it all again and sending it to the right address (not such an easy thing when the address on the form and the address we got on the phone are not the same). It still took me 24 hours to manage it. But hey, not a big deal.<br />
Then I got a letter saying I need to send in my passport and fill in lots of information I have already filled in the first form about where we are from. Send my passport. To the people who already lost my forms. Not bloody likely. So we went to a Job Centre to send "verified copies" which means the information guy at the entrance signed the copies I've made at home. Actually we had to go to two Job Centres because apparently that very difficult procedure of signing your name isn't done everywhere.<br />
Then they lost my forms again.<br />
Then, after I explained I am holding in my hand a verification from the post office that someone there signed for my letter, they apparently found my documents, but informed me that because I have not asked to get child benefits for Yon (which I didn't know I was supposed to do) I can't get the disability benefits for him.<br />
Then they called again to ask me again the same questions I already answered twice.<br />
It is more than four months since we sent in the claim form. The claim form that uses Yon's case (a five years old who is sight impaired) as an example of someone entitled to DLA. And we are still waiting. Now, after the third time in which I gave my NI number and assured everyone that I am indeed a tax paying self-employed citizen, it seems we are waiting "for a decision".<br />
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Then came the Islington council people and announced that though we have been waiting for six months for Yon's sight-impaired registration card, it seems that the problem is that... How did she put it on the phone? That they didn't do their job and our "case" is just sitting there on someone's desk waiting. For what? Probably for Yon to be old enough to be moved to the grown-ups team.<br />
This phone call is the sixth one we've had with them since the hospital sent them the papers in December. And it comes after the obligatory "we lost your papers", the very entertaining "we don't do these kind of things", and the hilarious "we are now in the process of reviewing the process. It is going to take an undetermined number of months in which we will be unable to do anything with your claim".<br />
And you know what the saddest part of it all really is? I didn't even want to register him. I hate the idea of registering Yon in some big book of "defected" people, as if he needs to be branded, as if he should have a permanent sign on his forehead. But I am doing it anyway, because when you go to the theatre and you need to prove he is really half blind, so you'll get the seat where he could actually see something, you need that plastic card.<br />
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Then there is the school, where everything is fine and we are just exaggerating, where there isn't an ability to get Yon large print books, where it is our fault we don't have a statement for him yet, where it is not really sure how we transition Yon to year one because "all kids have a hard time and he'll be fine".<br />
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And lastly we have the developmental and behavioural assessment (CDAT) we have been waiting for for 14 months. Because, who wants to guess? Yes. They, too, have lost our papers. We have now had the school visit (where our teacher told them that everything is fine and we are just exaggerating) and the home visit where Hidai & I spent an hour and a half answering questions about any and every aspect of living with Yon. They have added a formal speech assessment, which to my way of thinking reaffirms what I have been thinking and fearing and telling the school - Yon has a speech delay that can't be explained away by my being over hysterical or his being bilingual. Then we also have the clinical observation session and the "let us tell you what is wrong with your child" session.<br />
The always go to the doctors expecting the worse rule dictates that I should prepare myself to hearing that Yon has an additional problem. Besides the vision, and the speech that is.<br />
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So what do you do when the shoes just keep dropping, you ask? what is the lesson here, you wonder? Now that is an easy question. The lesson is, never stand next to scissors. Because you might get annoyed with your hair and it being in your eyes all the time and think that the day the people from the CDAT are coming over is the best day to "just straighten it a little".<br />
Trust me, it does not end well.<br />
And no, there will be no photo of that.<br />
<br />Orli Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14279242008801779330noreply@blogger.com0London, UK51.508515 -0.1254871999999522851.192402 -0.77093419999995227 51.824628000000004 0.51995980000004771tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-254540975363067070.post-21298508399900256282014-05-27T10:25:00.000+02:002014-05-27T10:25:12.908+02:00Thirty five<div class="separator" style="clear: both; display: none; text-align: center;">
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Last Tuesday I turned thirty five. It actually came as a bit of a surprise my birthday I have to admit. I mean, I knew it was coming, it is hard not to when you are sandwiched between two boys who count the days to their own, but I was so busy with the chaos that is our life right now to actually acknowledge that it really is my birthday. It is a weird time in our life right now, with lots of questions and waiting to get answers, and if there is one thing I am not good at (as in horribly horribly bad at) it is waiting. I am not good with sitting and waiting for time to pass, waiting for others to decide my fate, waiting for things to run their course. I get impatient, negative, annoying. And in the middle of all this, I was supposed to celebrate my "you are officially half way to 70" birthday. I know 35 isn't a significant number, but it is just that point were you are no longer "around 30" but "thirty something". Don't get me wrong, I am not looking to go backwards. I love getting older, I love being able to look around and see how young people are, well, stupid, and to have the ability to say that because I am old. I love everything I have achieved with age - I am now so much better at being me than I was when I was younger.<br />
But sometimes I just wish I still had the one thing that young people have and I don't - ignorance. When you are young you have time, you have enough time for everything and the ability to believe that it will never run out. The older you get the more clearly you see the sand dripping down the hourglass.<br />
The older you get the more every minute counts, every dream you wanted to achieve becomes a question of if and not when, the regrets starts looming bigger and bigger. This is my biggest fear, the fear of regrets. I don't have many, but the ones I do have are not things I will be able to change anymore, and I really don't want to add to the list.<br />
So I've made a list. This was my gift to me this year - the list of things I would regret never doing, and the promise to make them all happen.<br />
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The first item on my list was to have more fun. These past few months have not been easy, actually they have been very depressing and everything that could go wrong did, and I have stopped living almost completely. I won't lie, things are not any better today, and I do feel guilty about having fun in the midst of all the problems and unknowns, but first of all there is less that can go wrong (after all, most has already happened) and as Hidai told me - we tried the no-fun way, it's not like it helps anything, so now it's time to take a deep breath and believe that it will all be for the best at the end. And have fun in the meantime.<br />
And so, for my birthday week (it's because we do the celebration and gifts in the morning, so it has to be the weekend, and when your birthday is mid-week you get extra days) I got -<br />
1. A gloriously sunny day and my first iced-coffee of the year (which I love even more than regular coffee, and which I only drank half of because it was too cold for me)<br />
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2. Lots of hugs and kisses (hey, I have two boys. One of which has announced that he is in training to become a teenager. I have to find special occasions and / or bribe them for kisses).<br />
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3. A day out in Oxford St. like Hidai and I used to do whenever we came to London as tourists. We went to all the shops I love, had coffee at our "usual" Pret, and bought my birthday gift - two pairs of earrings, which is my favourite kind of jewellery, and that I haven't bought since we've left Gibraltar.<br />
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4. Three days of stomach virus for Yon and myself. Ah, the fun never ends. But I did get to see all the TV I wanted and read three books because Hidai was in charge of everything.<br />
5. A cake made by all my boys - Ron got over excited, Yon made a mess and Hidai suffered through, and they all made sure I will be there to supervise, but I got a heart-shaped-chocolate-cake that I did not make. I did try to suggest I might want a different cake this year, but that was too much for them to handle, so I just chose a different recipe for a chocolate cake and got the traditional one.<br />
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6. A card from each of them. I know it doesn't sound like much, but it is my favourite part, especially this year when Yon wrote one, and Ron went off-script and did not write the same thing as he does every year. And Hidai always writes the best cards and makes me cry every year.<br />
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7. A musical. That was the real gift I asked Hidai for. We haven't been to one in ages, and I really wanted to go out for a lovely evening with the whole dinner and a show thing. That was not in the cards unfortunately because... Well, I couldn't think of a good lie here, because we don't have a sitter. The kids don't do well with us going out at night, and so we just... Don't. So instead we decided to take the kids to see The Lion King, and do a Pret and Matinee thing. Since Yon went through a Lion King craze a few months ago (up until it was replaced by Frozen) we all know the 3 movies (yes, there are three Lion King movies) and songs by heart, and though I was a bit worried how he will do we all loved it.<br />
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8. Movie nights - we watched The Never Ending Story with the boys in an effort to educate them about the eighties and honestly just felt even older, Any Given Sunday (without the boys, though they didn't like it), because Hidai remembered a line from there and then we just had to watch it again (still a great movie, even if you don't like American Football), and The Internship which we somehow missed when it came out last year and is indeed a very funny movie.<br />
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This morning my Happy Birthday sign went down, and my week of celebration has officially ended. Life is still weird, confusing and needs a lot of waiting. But they are also full of love and fun and laughter. And in the end of the day, I have already accomplished my biggest wish of them all - I have my boys, who in each and every day makes me feel like a room without a roof.<br />
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Orli Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14279242008801779330noreply@blogger.com0London, UK51.508515 -0.1254871999999522851.192402 -0.77093419999995227 51.824628000000004 0.51995980000004771tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-254540975363067070.post-25371104537172930542014-04-22T11:55:00.001+02:002014-04-22T11:55:09.868+02:00Easter conclusionThis is the first day of the last semester in school, also known as the Summer Semester, which can mean only one thing - it is raining. But it also means that Easter 2014 is behind us. Last night I asked the kids to summarise the holiday, which lead Yon to start talking about chocolate and MineCraft, and Ron to talk about lack of excitement in our life. He is right unfortunately, at the moment our life lacks excitements and adventures and though we have some very good reasons for it they don't change the fact that Easter this year was more of a relaxing at home kind of holiday and less of a barrel of outings and adventures.<br />
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We are hoping for some more interesting times in the coming months, but for now the two weeks we spent at home, in spite of Ron's complaining, were precisely what we all needed. It is no secret that we all have been having a rough few months both mentally and physically, and we needed time to lick some wounds, reach some life related conclusions and just rest.<br />
And anyway it's not like we promised him we'd do something and didn't do it, but it's always like this - it doesn't matter what you'd do the kids will find a reason to complain about the one thing you didn't do with them.<br />
So I made him list all the things he wanted to do and we didn't do, which he summed with - none, and then list the things we did do -<br />
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We went to the library, and apart from the book he got at school, and the four books he got from the library, he also got two more on the Kindle, so he read seven books this past two and a half weeks.<br />
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We had loads of movie nights and movie afternoon and watched a whooping total of ten movies together - Frozen (which we've ended up watching more than once), The Hobbit, both movies (because I got them for Hidai's birthday and the kids love them), Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (because Ron read the book), Amazing Spiderman (because we needed an excuse to watch it), Escape From Planet Earth (because the kids heard it's good. It was ok at best), Planes (really not worth it), Prince of Egypt (to get us in the Passover mood), Man of Steel (do yourself a favour and avoid at all cost) and Muppets Most Wanted (which was hilarious. It was the first time Yon was a delight to go to the cinema with).<br />
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We ate at McDonald's twice, and even got a Super Mario figurine and free chips. I think McDonald's is like everyone's secret guilty pleasure. We use the kids as an excuse to eat there, but the amount and verity of people you see in London eating there amazes me every single time.<br />
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We went to watch Arsenal play. It was the first time we've all gone together. Actually it was also the first time I got to see a real football match, and it is much better than having to watch one on TV. Unfortunately Yon wasn't really into it, and so it will probably also be the last match we'll see. At least we got to sit in the front row and watch Arsenal win.<br />
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We went clothes shopping for the kids, and mostly for Ron, who apparently thinks it is acceptable to keep growing and needs new clothes all the time. I love shopping, I love looking and buying and having new things, so going shopping for me is an enjoyable outing. Unless I have to take the kids. When you are new to parenthood you usually think kids clothes are the best. The joy of standing in the middle of a MotherCare baby clothes department and just looking at all those tiny colourful beautifully soft clothes is still fresh in my mind. It is nothing like walking with a reluctant almost nine years old who only has two modes: everything-is-fine-what-do-you-want-from-me-why-am-I-here or nothing-is-good-enough-I-hate-you-and-all-these-weird-looking-clothes-you-are-forcing-me-to-try-on. And no matter what his mood is, he will always go for the most expensive and usually totally weird looking thing in the store. Because he has Personal Taste. And everyone knows how important it is to let them develop their personal taste.<br />
Yon, to add to the fun, is happy as a clam as long as you let him touch everything in the store. He has a thing for mannequins, but at least is very open to every shirt I pick. As long as I can up-sell it (look it has stripes - you will look like a zebra).<br />
Thankfully Primark, which was our first stop, had heard my cry for help and came out with a football collection (probably has to do more with the World Cup in Brazil and less with me, but still), so it was also our last stop, and the whole thing was practically harmless. Also no mannequins were hurt in the process. Success.<br />
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We had family game-time so the kids could hone their Black Jack skills (a very important skill, and a chance for me to explain casino etiquette), Ron could beat me in a Memory Game marathon and Yon could beat both of us at Uno. Seriously that child has the best luck I have ever seen. It's scary.<br />
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We went to Moorfields Hospital. Granted most people won't call that an outing, and true it went a lot worse than expected, but Yon did get new glasses out of it. He chose Purple. We convinced him deep blue and dark purple are the same because Hidai was against real purple glasses. I said he should go for it, after all we get new ones every six months or less.<br />
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We celebrated Passover and Easter. The Easter bunny was very generous this year and even got us some proper grownup chocolate from Hotel Chocolate that we didn't even have to share with the kids. For the first time ever we also had an egg hunt (inside the house, but seeing as the boys are the worst seekers in the whole wide world, they still found it hard).<br />
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It took Ron awhile to list all this, and he needed some help along the way. Especially as all he could list at the beginning was "we had lots of electronics-time", which he did though he conveniently forgot to list the new games he got.<br />
When he finished it all he stopped, looked at us, and concluded the holiday with the never to be forgotten saying - ok then, I am only half-complaining.<br />
What a proud moment.<br />
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<br />Orli Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14279242008801779330noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-254540975363067070.post-11255672965434579432014-04-16T13:56:00.000+02:002014-04-16T13:56:12.220+02:00The Arsenal experienceThis is the story of our family outing to watch last night's Arsenal football match.<br />
Hidai and Ron are big Arsenal fans and so they try to go to as many matches as they manages, but Yon and I have never been to a real match before because - a) football watching is an expensive hobby, b) Yon isn't very into the whole football thing (unlike me of course. Not), c)taking a partially blind and very sensitive to noise child to a football arena with 65,000 people yelling all the time is not so easy. But it was part of my UK Bucket List, and as it is a big part of Ron's life, I really wanted to have a chance to go with him to a match once. So I decided to research the thing, and found Arsenal's disability scheme, which were little to no help and after some very unpleasant emails we managed to find some help through the very nice lady who runs our building's resident association and has lots of connections in Arsenal, and we managed to get 4 tickets in the front row of the family area to the match against West Ham.<br />
Then, because this is my life, they moved the match. And instead of an early afternoon weekend match, they placed it bang on the day of Yon's hospital visit.<br />
Ok, we thought to ourselves, after all last time the doctors said everything is static, and we are not anticipating any problems, so it should have been a short and relatively easy visit.<br />
Then, because it is my life, the test did not go as planned, and of course they had to put the drops in, and of course they had to fit him with mew glasses, and of course we were the last to leave the hospital and everyone were exhausted.<br />
Not the best odds for an enjoyable match.<br />
But we went anyway, and because my hand is not in a good shape, this is going to be more of a photo post to try and answer the question - how do you take a partially sighted child to a football match?<br />
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On the way to the stadium. Look at our team spirit with the scarves! We should have also brought gloves and hats, it was that cold by the end of the match...</div>
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We arrived quite early and had time to take some pre-match excitement photos.</div>
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Yon really enjoyed the photo-op.</div>
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Look at me in my front row seat! We were seated right behind all the photographers. You wouldn't believe their cameras! It wasn't the best view of the match as my two seasoned supporters informed me, and we weren't lucky enough to have a corner in our corner, but I thought it's really exciting to sit there, and I got to see my favourite <span style="font-family: inherit;">player - <span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;">Szczęsny up close so what do I care? </span></span></div>
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This is how close to the players we were. Not the best photo quality, but by this time I had a Yon trying to kick me while "sleeping" on half my body.</div>
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At half time, after it was 1:1, Ron agreed to be a bit happy (there were a few shaky moments when we were down 1:0 where I feared for my boys), so I took a photo of him before Arsenal loose and he will be sad again (they didn't, but you never know with them).</div>
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The stadium lights interrupted a bit, but still, Hidai is cute :)</div>
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And lastly, we asked the lovely security guy who sat with us to take a photo of all of us.</div>
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Then the second half started, and this is how Yon spent it - curled up under both of our scarves and with his hands on his ears because of the noise. Hidai and Ron said it was a lot less noisy then usual because we were in the front row, but it was too much for Yon.</div>
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And in the end he fell asleep and missed the last goal of the match.<br />
Lesson learned - Yon and football don't mix.<br />
But I had a great time, and got to strike off an item from my bucket list!Orli Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14279242008801779330noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-254540975363067070.post-35267045391858698282014-04-14T09:50:00.002+02:002014-04-14T10:08:11.932+02:00Freedom and hopeWhen I was a really young mum (and also very young) the one sentence I hated most (fine, fine, maybe not most, but it was definitely top five. I really had lots of issues then) was "enjoy every day, because time goes by so fast". Well, let me tell you the truth - it didn't. It moved, as time usually moves - in slow, agonisingly slow motion. Each hour dragging on for days, each day into months. I felt each and every moments of those early years, and I can't look back and say that enjoyment was what comes to mind as first thought. Like I said, I had issues. But when my tiny baby looked up at me and said - It's less than a month to my birthday, here is my wish-list. Do you need me to go over it with you? - I got what those well-meaning souls were talking about. My baby is nine in less than a month (and yes, I did need some explaining on the list). Two months after that my teeny tiny baby is five. And I have no idea where the time has gone.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My babies at the library</td></tr>
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We have a long standing discussion with my parents about what the most important thing in life is, and for us it's always been time. You can't turn back the clock and you can't bring back even one minute you lost. Time, in many regards, is the one thing money can't buy. And lately it has been slipping through my fingers.<br />
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Life around here at the moment is not what you might call... Good. Actually it's rather rubbish. We are having some issues with Hidai's work, and with him being the only one actually in charge of putting money in the bank (I know it's a shocker but blogging really isn't the high paying job the rumours say it is) it has put a strain on the last couple of months. I did not react well. I like to think that people who don't know me very well think I am one of those composed and very much together people. One of those people who deal with every bump and disaster in a calm, collected and casual manner. I like to think that because in reality I am not one of those people at all. I am one of those have an anxiety attack, cry in the bathroom, and don't leave the house people. When the going get tough, and it's time for the tough to get going, I sit under a table with a box of chocolates. I know it's pathetic, and it is also why I haven't written in three weeks. I couldn't read or write or talk to anyone (I really am sorry, all the people I've ignored). I didn't bake or knit or even took photos. I wasn't on my computer other than to play Candy Crush. Things got so bad I didn't even manage to keep the laundry schedule. I couldn't tell you what was going on, because honestly I didn't think anyone would care. After all, I have already written about my anxiety attack once, and how much self-pity can anyone really stand? And if I am completely honest here, the main reason I didn't write is because I was, and still am, ashamed. I am so very very ashamed that I fell apart. I should have reacted better, I should have been stronger, I should have weathered the storm. I didn't, and still don't. But I figured after three weeks of not writing or communicating with anyone the only readers I have left are my parents, who already know all that so writing it makes no difference.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">depression chocolate doesn't have to be bad chocolate</td></tr>
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In order to write something coherent I have been sitting here for the last few hours trying to piece together the last couple of months, and all I get is a blur of Candy Crush, chocolate and tears. And it makes me angry, and even more ashamed. Because I've lost time. I've lost two months to oblivion and fear. I have lost holidays, birthdays, friends, time with the kids. I have let fear and anxiety and depression rule my life.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hidai's birthday was shockingly bad</td></tr>
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And I am more ashamed still, because I have no idea how to climb out of the black hole in which I find myself. I am not sure I am strong enough. And I feel small and sad and pathetic. I know it could be worse, I know that for a lot of people it is. I know the thought of the prospect of Hidai having no job for awhile shouldn't reduce me to this, and it makes me even more pathetic. So I decided to write, because no one will read anyway, and because to me it is a nightmare with one shoe dropping after the other and no breathing space, and because there are many shades of black, and this is mine.<br />
Today is Passover Eve. Passover is one of the biggest holidays for Jewish people (and even has the movie - <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpNiBJzns6M" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Prince of Egypt</a> - to prove it). It is not one of my favourite holidays (the food isn't all that great with the whole "no flour" thing), but this year it makes me sad. It makes me sad and lonely that we are all alone, that I can't cook or bake (thanks to the fact that my hands are in a very bad shape. Because when it rains it pours), that I have lost another moment I shouldn't have.<br />
Passover has a whole biblical story, as any serious holiday should, and obviously someone tried to kill the Jews, as in every single one of our holidays, and it is the one holiday where you really can't make the story child-friendly no matter how much you try (too many dead and abandoned kids in there). But it also has one of the most important messages, if not the most important, of all our holidays. Because Passover is all about escaping slavery. Of every type. For me, it's a slavery to my demons, to my fears and anxiety.<br />
Passover is about freedom and hope. The two things I need more than anything right now, and the two things I just can't seem to reach.<br />
We won't be having a proper Passover dinner this year, I could't bring myself to do that, both physically and mentally (think Christmas-meal size of dinner, than double it). But I figured baby steps are better than no steps, and bought some chocolate and wine.<br />
So happy Passover everyone, here is to freedom and hope.<br />
And to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAM2-hg7xJs" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">believing that miracles can really happen</a>.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Picture from <a href="http://www.happyholidays2014.com/happy-passover-2014-clip-art-images.html" target="_blank">Here</a></td></tr>
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Orli Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14279242008801779330noreply@blogger.com0London, UK51.508515 -0.1254871999999522851.192402 -0.77093419999995227 51.824628000000004 0.51995980000004771tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-254540975363067070.post-24138442215527400772014-03-24T11:13:00.001+01:002014-03-24T11:53:04.859+01:00House number nineWay back when we started thinking about moving a house we really did meant for it to take three months to find a new house. We planned on being less in "shopping mode" and more in "browsing mode". Fast forward exactly one month an we think we found The One. Yes, I know, we really are not to be trusted in these matters. Honestly though I really have no idea how that happened. We've compiled a very long and detailed list of things that will make everyone feel happy about the house, and after Hidai said I can't just store it in my head but we have to write it down, he made me break it down to "must have" and "nice to have" and we called it in the apt name "list of demands" and sent it to all the realtors around. It is a very long list.<br />
In the end we've seen a grand total of nine houses in real life and (dozens more on the internet), and house number nine won us over.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">House number nine</td></tr>
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The thing is, house number nine is... Well, it is a house. We have never lived in a real house with three floors and cracking floorboards and what people around here like to call "character" or "period features" and we usually call "uninhabitable" (yes, renovated was one of the must haves). We have no idea how you live in a house? Ever since we moved in together all those years ago we lived in flats, and though our first one was over three floors, it wasn't a house and it wasn't on the ground floor but a part of the weirdest apartment complex you have ever seen.<br />
We loved the control and closeness an apartment gives you - for better or worse there is nowhere to run in an apartment, and when the boys were tiny it is exactly what we wanted, to able to know what they are doing and where at all times. It kept the scribbling on the wall to a necessary minimum. But now we found ourselves having our Weekend lazy coffee and cake sitting on the floor in our bedroom because the boys are a) watching a movie or b) playing something very loud on the xBox or computer or iPad or c) running around in some sort of weird pretend-play.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Coffee and cake on the bed, because this is how we roll</td></tr>
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And as fun as hiding on the floor with cake sounds, the penny finally dropped on the day I found myself hiding under Ron's bed (he has a raised bed with a very nice reading / hiding corner underneath) while the kids invaded the living room with their loud noises and electronic games. They can sit there together, Yon with the iPad watching YouTube movies about his favourite games (Infinity and Mindcraft) and talking back at it, while Ron is playing his Fifa on the xBox with that annoying soundtrack and shouting at the screen and all the while music is blaring in the background. So I did the only thing possible - I hid under the bed. In my defines we have heated floors and that spot is the best in the house, but still. So we decided it might be time to expand, and have the boys banished to a floor of their own where they will get one bedroom for beds and quiet reflection (also known as reading time) and the other for more physical activities (also known as playing football in the house) and electronics (as in breaking our own rule and kicking the xBox from the living room ), while we get a floor of our own and we all reconvene around mealtimes in the lower floor. We are willing to let them pass through the kitchen not on mealtimes on sunny days to release them in the garden for a bit of outdoor football, but that's it.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hiding under the bed</td></tr>
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The problem with the whole thing is that I never wanted to live in a house, I have never thought of myself as a house person, as "house material" and now I found that I stopped looking at apartments completely. I guess it is the natural order of things, and I guess the majority of the ten people who will read this post live in a house anyway and won't understand how people can raise a family in an apartment.<br />
I can explain about my bad knees and (very justified) fear of falling down the stairs, or the too many horror movies and TV dramas where the people get killed in a HOUSE, or the fact that I don't do well with gardens, or insects. But the truth is it is the stereotype, the one I have in my head after too many years of lousy American TV and too many romance novels - the suburban wife/mum stereotype. And I am really worried that I will become exactly that.<br />
But on the other hand, that is all it is - a stereotype. And it is a big step for me in letting the boys grow and starting to let them go. So we decided to treat it as "a house adventure", after all in the past five years, living life as expats, we learned to look at most things like that - a two year adventure and then we'll see.<br />
We decided to take the boys with us to all the viewing, so they could get a "feel" of the houses and we could see how Yon is managing the stairs, because we were and still are to be honest really worried about how he will handle it when he is hurrying or when he, as usual, goes around without looking (yes, friendly stairs were a must have). They loved it in house number nine, didn't want to go home in fact, and Yon ran up and down the stairs without fear (he did went down on his bottom and held the rail on his way up, but he did not let it ruin the game for him).<br />
And that is what won us over. Yes the house ticked all the must have's and most of the nice to have's, but so did other houses we've seen. The thing is that house number nine has something that the others didn't. It has the love-in-first-sight and that all important x-factors that makes a house into a home.<br />
House number nine is the first house we've seen that actually made us want to live in a house, and hopefully it won't take us long before we embark on our very first two year House Adventure.<br />
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I am linking this post with <a href="http://pinkoddy.co.uk/blog/2014/03/23/lego-egg-decorating-eggett-emmett-and-superman-motivationalmonday/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">#MotivationalMonday over at Pinkoddy</a> because... Well because this house motivates me to move on and to let my boys grow. And with<a href="http://theoliversmadhouse.co.uk/magic-moments-24314/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> #MagicMoments over at The Oliver Madhouse</a> because it was a magic moment for us to feel the possibility of living in a house!<br />
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I hope you enjoyed reading the post :) I would really appreciate two minutes of your time and a vote in the writer or family categories in the Bib blog awards -
Just press the photo and copy in my URL - http://londondegani.blogspot.co.uk
Thank you very much!<br />
<a href="http://www.britmums.com/awards/" title="Brilliance in Blogging"><img alt="BiB2014familyNom" src="http://www.britmums.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/BiB2014familyNom.jpg" height="125" width="125" /></a>Orli Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14279242008801779330noreply@blogger.com0London, UK51.508515 -0.1254871999999522851.192402 -0.77093419999995227 51.824628000000004 0.51995980000004771tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-254540975363067070.post-54771054326017957872014-03-21T10:45:00.000+01:002014-03-21T10:45:09.805+01:00Coffee breakSome people say that material things don't matter, and that in the western world we accumulate too much unneeded stuff, and that people put too much emphasis on owning things and not on spiritual things. Me, on the other hand, I am a firm believer in that the more you buy the better off you are. No, not really. I am just kidding, But I do have to admit that I really like my material stuff. I get unhealthily attached to my prized possessions. Take my rolling pin for example. I have four rolling pins. My oldest, and favourite is a traditional wooden one that I've had for about 12 years and moved it 3 countries before it handle broke a few months ago. Do you think I threw it away? No, I did not. I keep it in the cupboard, with the other three rolling pins thinking I might use it without a handle. I don't, but it's still there waiting for me, and every time I need a rolling pin it breaks my heart to see it there all sad and broken.<br />
Yes, I am weird, but that is hardly news. At least the rolling pin doesn't have a name, which I can't really say about most of our other possessions. A few weeks ago my friend Izzy wrote a post <a href="http://izzieanderton.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/how-to-name-car_26.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">about naming things</span></a><span id="goog_345695594"></span><span id="goog_345695595"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"></a>, on which I commented with an "of course we name inanimate object, doesn't everyone?" Like Roomby which we treat in a combination of a third child love and a sweatshop slave driving but is in fact our <a href="http://www.irobot.com/global/en/store/store_products.aspx?id=883" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">iRobot vacuum cleaning robot</span></a> that we've had for the last three years (and two countries), and Cici, the last car we owned, when we were living in Gibraltar (still, after two years, I can't get used to the whole driving on the opposite, not to say wrong, side of the road here. The bus driver does it so much better than me), which was a <a href="http://info.citroen.co.uk/new-cars/car-range/citroen-c3/offers/?campaignid=PPC_NCS&advertiserid=google&bannerid=citroen_c3" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Citroen C3</a> (I know, you couldn't have guessed that one) and which was the cutest most adorable car we have ever owned. It had kind of a gender crisis since Hidai and Ron refused to drive a female car, and I said something that cute can't really be a male car, but we'll ignore that for the moment. Then of course you have the iPhone which doesn't have a name but is never more then 30cm away from me at all times (yes, even in the shower), and my wonderful new Macbook which I keep patting whenever I see it, to the point of Hidai looking at me weirdly. I have no idea why. It is after all, totally normal.<br />
But nothing is more precious to me than my Nespresso machine. Let's put it this way, if the house was on fire, the Mac and the Nespresso will be the things I will run back inside to save (kids, Hidai and iPhone come first obviously). I bought my first Nespresso machine in 2007, as a gift to myself after I lost all the weight I gained during Ron's pregnancy. My excuse was that Weight Watchers said you should buy yourself something small to congratulate yourself for the achievement. And a Nespresso machine is quite small in its dimensions. This past October, with no relation to Weight Watchers, I decided it is time to indulge again and also the machine started making weird noises instead of coffee, and I bought myself a new <a href="http://www.nespresso.com/uk/en/product/EN520BK" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Nespresso Lattissima</span></a>, and life has never been the same. I know that I really should try to migrate more towards drinking tea, at least for as long as we are living in the UK, that this is not a coffee-lover country but I am a coffee person completely, and the only times I drink tea is when I am ill. And even then I put three spoonfuls of sugar in it. That is why Hidai is in charge of the tea drinking in this house, and since moving here he has even discovered the adding of milk to his tea, so at least one of us is being more in line with the UK life.<br />
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So back to coffee, the last two weeks, as I have already mentioned, were not all roses and sunshine. Especially in the one night when at about two in the morning Yon decided to start throwing up and we spent the rest of the night running between the toilet and the watching machine. It was one of those night when you tell yourself - wow, I am old, I really am not up to any more babies. We don't do lack of sleep well, and now that the boys have grown, we don't do lack of sleep at all. I guess every once in a while you have to go through one of these nights that reminds you why you really don't want to go through any more of those nights. What does that has to do with coffee? No, we didm;t give Yon coffee the next day, but after having a night like this, the best gift you can get (after time to catch up on sleep and chocolate - because chocolate is always the best gift you can get) is an enormous black box filled to the brim with coffee capsules.<br />
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<a href="http://www.cartenoire.co.uk/Espresso-Collective-Reviews" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Carte Noire</span></a> sent me exactly this box, because they had both a new range of coffee and a sixth sense that I will need a huge amount of very strong coffee if I am to get through a day like that. Carte Noire makes coffee capsules that are compatible with Nespresso machines* and they have a new range of four flavours that differ in their intensities. Now, you might be new to this blog so you don't know this, but this is a very serious blog (not really) and I usually don't do reviews around here, in fact I can count on one hand the number of reviews I've done over the past year and a half of writing this blog. But this is coffee, and therefor second only to chocolate, so I couldn't really say no, right? The best thing and the worst thing about Carte Noire is rolled into one - each capsule is wrapped individually. The bad - It is very annoying after a night of little to no sleep to try and wrestle with the wrapping. The good - the smell. I have no idea how they've done it, but once you open the wrapping you get the most deliciously intense smell of raw coffee. I am not ashamed (ok just slightly ashamed) to say that I stood in the middle of my kitchen and just sniffed the wrapping for a few good minutes before I even put the capsule in the machine. I did think at first that I was extremely lucky, or just hallucinating, but every one of the capsules, in all the flavours, had that same wonderfully intoxicating smell of coffee. The coffee itself was, well, coffee. It was strong and hot and kept me alive for the day and without harming young children, so I definitely recommend it for times of sleep crisis. Other than that, when I tried it again on a day where I was actually conscious, I found that it worked wonderfully with my Nespresso machine, and that you could really distinguish between the tastes and strengths of the difference kinds. If, like me, you have a tendency to not look which capsule you are taking from the box and just like being surprised, than you'll love the fact that all of Carte Noire capsules look the same, and if you tear all their wrapping in advance and stuff them in a single box you won't be able to distinguish between them by look. And also you will lose that fab smell. But on the other hand, you won't find yourself ripping viciously at a small wrapper with eyes that are half closed. The coffee itself was really good, and after trying all four flavours (more than once. Just to be sure you understand) I preferred the stronger tastes while Hidai liked the less strong ones, and the kids loved the big black box it came in.<br />
I know I turned out to be a real coffee snob / weirdo in this post, but the truth is only one of those things is true. To risk becoming an even bigger weirdo, the real reason I even drink coffee is because coffee, for me, is really the excuse for cake (and sometimes a very necessary energy shot), and seeing how the last few weeks were filled with hard times, they were naturally filled with cakes, and because you have to drink coffee to not feel guilty about eating cake (it really is how my mind works) - they were filled with coffee. Mainly Carte Noire coffee, so I feel like I am a good authority to tell you this - Carte Noire coffee works fabulously with all kind of cakes.<br />
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This is a sponsored post, though all opinions, craziness and cakes are definitely my own.<br />
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*<i style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">*Nespresso® is a registered trademark of a third party without any link with Mondelez International group. Compatible with all Nespresso®* machines bought before July 1, 2013. After that date, compatible with most Nespresso®* machines bought. For additional information regarding compatibility, please see UK: <a href="http://www.cartenoire.co.uk/compatibility" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">www.CARTENOIRE.co.uk/<wbr></wbr>compatibility</a></i><br />
Want to know more about Carte Noire?<br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: 19px;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">The new range of capsules will be widely available in UK supermarkets making them a convenient and affordable way for coffee connoisseurs to create an extraordinary espresso at home.</span></i></span><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">The new range of capsules features four distinct flavours and each espresso comes with its own special character. Some are accompanied by subtle fruity notes, whereas others offer a more complex chocolaty or nutty aftertaste. What’s more, there are a range of intensities so the higher the number, the higher the intensity, providing real choice whatever the mood or occasion:</span><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 19px;"><u></u><u></u></span></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 14px;">·<span style="line-height: normal;"> </span></span><strong><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 14px;">N°3 Élégant</span></strong><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 14px;"> is an exceptional pure Arabica coffee with a smooth and subtle taste enhanced by cereal notes.<u></u><u></u></span></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 14px;">·<span style="line-height: normal;"> </span></span><strong><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 14px;">N°5 Délicat</span></strong><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 14px;"> is a pure Arabica coffee with fruity notes and a silky texture<u></u><u></u></span></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 14px;">·<span style="line-height: normal;"> </span></span><strong><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 14px;">N°7 Aromatique</span></strong><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 14px;"> is an aromatic pure Arabica coffee with delicate hints of cocoa<u></u><u></u></span></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 14px;">·<span style="line-height: normal;"> </span></span><strong><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 14px;">N°9 Intense</span></strong><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 14px;"> is a rich, intense blend of pure, darkly roasted Arabica coffee</span></span></i></div>
Orli Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14279242008801779330noreply@blogger.com0London, UK51.508515 -0.1254871999999522851.192402 -0.77093419999995227 51.824628000000004 0.51995980000004771tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-254540975363067070.post-20872085235461642622014-03-19T11:58:00.004+01:002014-03-19T11:58:48.391+01:00Taking that next step<div>
For Jewish people Tuesday is a lucky day. It is supposed to be doubly-good (I really have no better way to translate it). I wish my Tuesdays would get the memo. I had a horrible day, where things continued to overwhelm me and I was looking at all the tables in our house trying to find one I could crawl under. In an attempt to relax and take my mind off things I did laundry. How pathetic is that? Obviously it didn't help but at least everyone has clean sheets and I had the perfect hiding place - under the laundry. </div>
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But you know what they say about finding the silver lining and all that so this is not another dark hopeless post but one about the pots of gold I found today.<br />
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The first one was all those comments I got which, together with massive amounts of chocolate (I ran out of cake) got me through the morning. </div>
When I <a href="http://londondegani.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/just-breathe.html#.UylvMdynfwI" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">wrote on Monday about my anxiety attack</span></a> and how bad I was feeling these past few weeks, for the first time since I started my blog I hesitated before pressing the "Publish" button. I know it's weird coming from someone whose blog is all about the most intimate things that happens in all our lives, but somehow that post felt so much more personal and private and publishing it felt like bearing my soul. I was worried people would laugh at me or belittle my feelings or just look at my post and say "oh, grow up already. Life is tough and it's past time you learnt it". To be honest, I am not really used to having people aside from Hidai and my parents who worry about me, and I was totally unprepared for the amount of positive feedback I got, and all the people who commented and wrote and worried about me. It helped so much, so I just wanted to say a gigantic thank you to everyone.<br />
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The second was Ron. Last week was a rough week for him in school with his one-on-one talk with his teacher going from bad to worse and our understanding that it is time to take him for a formal gifted-kids-assessment (also known as an IQ test) if we want to stop being "those parents". We had a talk with his head-teacher on Thursday about letting him go even more forward, and letting him prove what his limits are and fixing the fact that he got the impression the school doesn't care about him. I know it is going to sound silly, but we worry constantly about Ron's education. To be honest the school system isn't very helpful in that and gifted kids rarely get treated like SEN kids, though they are, and they don't get ELPs or professional advisors and meetings to discuss their progress. It is so hard to find teachers who understand gifted kids, who thinks of them as needing extra help and attention, because it is so hard and so important to keep them challenged and interested and prevent them from becoming underachievers. We are very lucky that our head-teacher sees things eye-to-eye with us and she set to fix what needed to fixing. As a result Ron had what he considers the funnest day of school - he got to do some level 6 maths tests from 9:30am till 2pm and in between tests he talked to the head-teacher about his goals for the next half-term. Add to that he got to participate in a special maths course that is being given in a local secondary school, and they had some questions from the <a href="http://www.ukmt.org.uk/individual-competitions/junior-challenge/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Junior Maths Challenge</span></a> and he got them all correct. You have never seen such a happy boy.<br />
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The third was Yon. When Yon got diagnosed I didn't have time to think or to feel or to do anything but try to accumulate enough material to make sure we are giving him the best help we can. When your child is diagnosed with a disability you go through the process of grief, complete with all the trimmings and stages. I have no idea what stage we are at now, most days it's acceptance with a dash of denial I would guess. But the thing I found is that no matter what stage you are on, you always have that one thing that bother you most, some tiny fear or anger or sadness about something he will never be able to do. It could be that he'll never play sports, or that he could never drive, or that he might need a cane. For me, it is that he won't be able to read. I love books, always have. Books, and love of reading, were the one most important thing I wanted to give both my kids. Ron learned to read when he was two years old, not because he enjoyed reading but because he enjoyed the learning process and the patterns he discovered within. I wasn't the one who managed to convince him books that are not about football are interesting, that honour is reserved to his last year teacher to whom I will always be grateful. Since he discovered reading is fun, he has become a regular bookworm and is now stealing my Kindle every chance he gets.<br />
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But with Yon it is much more complicated. How do you teach a child with 40% vision to read? How do you teach him to enjoy a whole book when you are not sure he can read a sentence? How do you teach someone to read when the letters keep moving in front of their eyes and they need to read each letter individually? Yon didn't want to learn. He is so different from Ron, and learning through visual aids is not his thing at all. But reading requires visual learning. Add to that the fact that he doesn't like to be taught at all, or being told what to do, and you get a problem. Yon taught himself the letters and sounds from listening repeatedly to songs on YouTube, and then over the summer I convinced him "to be like Ron" and do some workbooks which were mostly doodling and made sure he was prepared for reception.</div>
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What I wasn't prepared for, was how good his reception teacher is with him, and how much he came to enjoy learning to read. Today he came home from school and was so extremely proud of himself because he got his new reading book. It was an <a href="https://global.oup.com/education/content/primary/series/oxford-reading-tree/;jsessionid=C1E505B3C404C7C758FBFE487E47688C?region=uk" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Oxford Reading Tree</span></a> level 4 book (a year 1 book) and a note saying he is the most advance reader in his class.<br />
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Sometimes there are days when you look around and you ask yourself how am I supposed to go on? How am I supposed to climb this new mountain? Then you open your eyes and see a nine years old conquer every new challenge you put in front of him and a tiny not even five years old overcome blindness without ever loosing his smile, and you see a world full of people who care, and suddenly it becomes a bit easier to take that next step.<br />
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I am linking this post with the wonderful <span style="color: blue;"><a href="http://www.ethans-escapades.co.uk/2014/03/small-steps-amazing-achievements-19th.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Small Steps Amazing Achievements</a></span><span id="goog_1931073241"></span><span id="goog_1931073242"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"></a> linky over at Ethan's Escapades because I've missed it, and the <a href="http://mammasaurus.co.uk/siblings-march/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Siblings</span></a> linky because of this photo of my two dudes :)<br />
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Orli Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14279242008801779330noreply@blogger.com0London, UK51.508515 -0.1254871999999522851.192402 -0.77093419999995227 51.824628000000004 0.51995980000004771