Ellen In Amerika!

Having my son here for 2 weeks has been a joy. He is so fun to be with and such a nice, matured, silly and friendly young man. I am immensely proud of him, and I know Dan is happy to have him as one of his stepsons.

Because I had not heard back from my supervisor about my training schedule for my new job, I decided to go volunteering at the surgery waiting room, as I always do on Monday mornings. I am glad I did , because it was very busy. A lot of families of patients were there, and although I had to send some to the main lobby because they had little children with them, or they were with too many family members, they all stayed cooperative and kind. That makes the work there so fulfilling. I had the feeling, that the person, who will train me, would call me this morning. And because I have no cell phone reach in the hospital, I forwarded my phone to Dan’s cell phone. Lucky I had done that, because she indeed called and Dan could tell her that I was at the hospital. So she called me there, and now my training will start tomorrow morning from 9.00 AM till 1.00 PM. I am glad this is finally going to start.

The bike story yesterday had quite some reactions. That is always nice! It is totally different to bike here than in the Netherlands. When I take the groceries on my bike from my local store, it is similar. No big roads, no dangerous situations. Only sometimes, when I go in the afternoon, I might bump into schoolbusses and students who really do not pay any attention to traffic whatsoever. The kids look up from their mobile phones once and cross the street or intersection, not even looking left or right. Just thinking the cars will see them. It looks to me that they do not have traffic lessons at school. When I asked Ryan if he had traffic lessons at junior highschool, his answer was: “Kind of”. Which almost made me think, he did not. In the Netherlands, the children have traffic lessons in 6th grade (age 11 year). At the end of that year, they will have to pass a written exam at school. Then they have to go on their bike and do the traffic test in a big area around their school. On the crucial points in the streets and on the intersections, there are volunteers who judge the students on their drivings skills. I still remember my exam and also the ones of my sons. It is an official State-required exam.