Friday, December 3, 2010

Advent and such

Hi all,

Today we had an advent celebration at the gan (aka pre-school, to the request of an anonymous reader). Apparently, this symbolizes the introvert feelings we all feel and experience due to the diminishing lights when winter comes upon us (listen to me, i'm starting to sound like a Waldorf parent). Here you can see what they mean by it:
http://www.austinwaldorf.org/index.php/community/festivals/#Advent
It was actually very nice, very waldorfy of course but with a lot of intimacy, quietness and symbolism.
I took a picture, again, not a good one, of the advent spirale after all the kids walked through it and lit their candles.
Anyway, i really enjoyed it.

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Christmas and Chanuka

It is really crazy how the people here are at a "holiday craze" (shaga-at chagim is what i really wanted to say). They decorate the trees in their yards with hundrands of lights and Santa dolls and gnomes and what not. I tried to take a picture while driving of a funny car decoration of moose horns. See for yourselves.

yes, i know it's a lousy picture.

Yesterday we celebrated the first candle with a few Israeli families. It was really nice and we even sang like ten Chanuka songs and did a charade for the kids. Went pretty nice.
On Sunday we are having people over for the holiday to light candles again. It has been our tradition also in Israel and we want to continue doing it. I hope we will remember to take pictures so i will be able to report. And, finally, next wednesday we will celebrate chanuka with Ariel at the kindergarten and i will report on that as well.


Friday, November 19, 2010

driving

This is a short video of me driving in Austin. Sometimes i wonder if anyone will someday invent a medium that will capture the ambiance and "feel" of someone's personal experience better than video.
Do you know what i mean?

Hand weaving and knitting

Hi All,

Yesterday the parents were invited to share bread and soup with the children at the kindergarten at snack (what a silly word for too small a breakfast) time. Before snack, the children are engaged in "free play" indoors, and one of the favourite activities is finger knitting and finger weaving. Actually, these were my favourites when i stayed with Ariel at the kindergarten. It's really fun and relaxing and you should try it, even if you don't have kids.
Here are some of the things we did yesterday:
This one is hand knitting
and this one is hand weaving
some of the kids there really like to do it, especially the older ones. Not as easy for the younger ones.

One boy told me that his entire wall in his room is covered with such little creations. Anyway, i really like it and i bought some yarn for us to experience it at home.

Be well. Be good.

H.

Thursday, November 18, 2010

First post and something about the "Holidays"

Hi All,

Well, i contemplated the idea for a while, rolling it back and forth in my mind. Today, i decided, i will start blogging about our lives here. I hope some of you will stick around for more than the first time (hey, the first time is usually not the best you know). So good luck to me!

Did you know that the Americans call their measly three holidays spreading over almost three months "the holidays"? It's like calling Rosh Hashana till Hanukka "the holidays"! CRAZY. A friend here told me that she thinks it's because of the shopping culture that is so nicely attached to this period (Halloween-Thanksgiving-Christmas). Anyway, we have our little Hanukka approaching, and we invited a few families over, Israelis and goyim, to celebrate with us. We'll see how it goes. I bought Ariel a "Chanukah Beeswax Candles" kit, so we can make our own. We'll update you on our progress in that matter. How are you supposed to write חנוכה in English anyway?
Here is the kit i bought:
Oh and cross your fingers for me - tomorrow i may be the owner of a new Macbook pro 13. I wonder what my dad would have said about such a switch (pc to mac).

Be well. Be kind.

H.