I (Katherine) have definitely realized my limits a math tutor. Thankfully Mike is now doing more of the tutoring. We have also been trying to figure out a work schedule for both of us that that accommodates the kids (who are done with school at the ungodly hour of 1pm) as well as all of the strange library hours on campus. The Forschungsbibliothek, which is Mike's main interest, is only open between 11am and 5pm, which is rather limiting, especially since he tends to have more patience with homework. They have reduced hours to undertake a massive inventory. Earlier this year some rare books went missing--turned out the director had tried to sell some of the collection for personal gain.
At any rate, something funny happened today, which I am delighted to report.
Oliver has been doing soccer, which is great, but Nora really needs an activity, plus the kids need to do something when it is pouring buckets of rain outside. Both Oliver and Nora have really enjoyed Kung Fu in Middletown, so we set out to find the closest possible martial art in Göttingen. Mike has taken them to Tae Kwon Do the last two Tuesday afternoons, and today (Friday) was my turn. As it turns out Friday is not devoted to Tae Kwon Do techniques whatsoever. Instead they set up an incredibly elaborate and slightly militaristic obstacle course in gymnasium. There were vaults, ropes, climbing structures, rings, inclined planes, trampolines, balance beams, you name it. Oliver, as usual, jumped right in, even though he didn't quite understand what was going on. Typically, Nora studied the situation for a few minutes and then asked, "what order are we supposed to do things in?" I feared that she would be overwhelmed by the equipment, not to mention the teenage boys who were jumping off trampolines and doing forward flips onto mats. There was a set of parallel bars that were six feet off the ground. How is she going to get on those, I asked? Well, she did it. She attacked each object as if her life depended on it. Six foot parallel bars? It is a good thing that she is flexible. She hooked one foot over and pulled herself up, then the other. She then walked across them. Scaling a wooden crate that is six feet tall? Not a problem either. When it came to the rings, she had a problem, as the box that she had climbed up to reach them wasn't tall enough (all the other kids are older and taller). I watched to see what she would do. Well, she took a leap of faith toward the rings, missed, and fell onto the mat. Not flustered, she continued onto the trampoline. The next time, other students helped her reach the rings, and away she went. The kids raced around the obstacle course for a solid hour, as I looked on, alternately laughing, and reading a book on a Belgian Symbolist poet who wrote about ennui. One line from the book says it all: "The Flambeaux noirs is the confession of one who has surrendered to a state of hopeless acquiescence in a cruel and inexorable fate, and is rapidly drifting towards the annihilation of his consciousness in insanity." The book provided a rather strange accompaniment to the obstacle course, to say the least.
After the gymnastics exercises, we headed onto the movies to see a wonderful film, "Le Petit Nicolas," based on some of my favorite French books. The film didn't loose much being dubbed into German. It was a full afternoon, and I think that the kids will sleep late tomorrow morning. Oliver has a soccer game. So far his team has lost every game this season, and tomorrow they have to play the best team in the league. I will be happy if he comes home with two shoes on.
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