The year was 2001 and we were flying to La Maddalena, Italy. We had 2 small boys, 2 car seats, carry ons, and luggage.. Our flight landed at O'hare and we had 20 minuets to get from the domestic terminal to the international. Like everything with the GOVT. they screwed the pooch big time.. There I am standing in the middle of O'hare throwing a fool fit! I can give any 2 year old a run for their money, ask Ian! After asking 5 employees for help finding our gate, and getting no where I thought maybe trying the 2 year old approach would help.
And, boy did it! We had a nice little man drive us, and all our crap straight to our gate. :)
Anywho. 2 weeks from today we will land at O'hare and begin our lives in IL. I will conquer the airport.. The Internet is an amazing tool. With the use of FB I have managed to secure a house to live in, hotels to sleep in, and a car to drive temporarily.. A nice white house, with green shutters and a garage. Me thinks a garage is needed when living in the frozen tundra :) In case you didn't know the temperature in IL was something like 8 the other day. I mean 8. JUST 8! How cold is 8 degrees?
With the move coming in the middle of the school year, getting everything started from this end was a must. I really don't want my kids to miss to much school. To be honest Noah and Peyton would be just fine. Turns out middle and elementary school's don 't give you much fuss about moving.. Now high schools on the other hand.. Look out Linda! Here we come..
Public school has always just been in the abstract for me. I mean, I know people who attend them. I even know people that teach in them. But, I never really gave public school much of a thought. Until about a month and a half ago. Deciding where we will live was based 100% on the public schools in IL. I spent hours on line researching the schools in the area. Some are really well, um, not good. While others seem to be great. I guess time will tell.
Now as someone who has never really had to deal with a public school my first phone call went something like this...
ME: Yes, good morning. My names is Sabrina ____ and I am calling from Sasebo, Japan. ( when calling a business in the US I always say this so if the phone call drops I don't look rude) I need to speak with someone about registering my son for school.
Nice Lady On the Other End: You need to speak with the registrar.. (she transfers me)
Now, about this time my heart rate is slightly increased. I am moving my kids to the US and putting them in public school. All be it a great public school (according to greatschools.com) but still a public school....
Registrar: Good afternoon this is D___ . How may I help you?
ME: Good morning.. I am blah blah...calling from blah blah.. And, I need to get some information about enrolling my son in your school. We will be transferring to IL in about a month.
The buzzing in my ears has started, and I am thinking frantically about home schooling. I am sure I stuttered like a moron. Then the nice registrar started talking, asking me questions AND!!
This lady has calmed my nerves 100% about moving my kids to the US. She is AMAZING! Wonderful! And, did I say AMAZING! We have spoken on the phone several times and she has gone above and beyond to help us get everything settled for Christopher. Any reservations I had about public school are half gone just from dealing with this one AMAZING lady.
There are still some things that we will have to adjust to. Schools here are on a block schedule, there he will have 8 classes in a day. Christopher would like to know how anyone learns anything in 40 minuets? I guess he will find out.
Did you know that to enroll your kids in school in the US you have to provide a copy of your birth certificate? I didn't! We have always used the kids passports.
You also need a state physical, dental exam, and eye exam. I was a bit confused by this. What do people do who have no insurance? Do they just not do it?
And, the best one.. We will have to pay a shit ton of money (OK, well to a family of 6 moving across the ocean anything thing is a shit ton) to register our kids for school. Total for all 3 kids is something like $500. Again, I ask, so if I don't pay it they can't go? I mean of course I will pay it, and have all the required physicals. But, WOW! Who knew sending a kid to school is the US was so complicated.
School lunch. WOW! All, I have to say. Really, they have some sort of pot-pie bar, it's all a bit confusing to me. When I was in school we got nuggets and fries.. Public school really has changed...
On a good note. We did find out Christopher is eligible for drivers ed. The buzzing is back, and my heart rate is through the roof! Maybe we need to rethink this moving to the US and public school thing... :)
1 comment:
Pay to register?? We don't have that in Texas, crazy! I love hearing all the differences. Good luck!
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