September, 2012

We’ve been in Salzburg just over a month now.

There’s been no apparent transition for Britta and Niki. They are still mildly anti-social, determined that everyone will speak their “voice” (ie, language), and are still able to create enough drama between the two of them that external realities don’t register on their radar.

Annika is doing well. She immediately met a good friend Sophia, who is 2 years older and lives next door. By the second day of school she was already insisting that she walk to school – alone (or without us but with friends, actually). She seems to relish the independence. There have been some bumps in the road – writing in cursive (everyone must write in cursive, which I thought had been buried eons ago along with Latin); German; missing her friends in Tahoe; and homework. For the most part these bumps are small, spaced far apart, and clearly seen from a distance.

Annika is playing (irregularly) on an all boys soccer team; I think she enjoys the mild amounts of attention she receives. She also participates (again, irregularly) in a gym class (intensive, they meet 3 times a week for 3 hours each time) which seems to be more advanced that where she was at in Truckee. She wants to find a way to do ballet, but we want school, German, and playing to be the larger priorities.

In all this is very good. The transition to being away from home in a different county could be extreme, but the girls are hanging tough.