Day 1657. Sammy and I try to join the others every two weeks for piano class. Last week the teacher was sick, so it was our turn this week. And another reason was that I was still trying to get new certificates for them for last semester, as their names had been misspelled, as well as to buy the tickets for their end-of-the-year concert to make sure we got the time-slot we want/need. And so we left the house together at 10 am to take the subway downtown and then walk to their music school.
It was the third session of the summer semester, and they finally received the book for this semester. It's the same teacher, different kids, and a small group and continues the same way their class has been. Last semester they learned Do, Re, and Mi. Today she added Fa. They learn where it is on the piano, what finger to use to play it and how to draw the note. And it's all done in a playful, great way for them to have fun learning it and be able to retain and reproduce what they've learned. They learned a new song, as each note has its' own song, and each note also represents an animal. They did some dances that Randy did with them, while I had Sammy. When they did a page in their new book, Randy gave Sammy their old book to also color something in there. Emmy wasn't doing as well as he has been, not wanting to participate at one point. After the class was over, the kids lined up to get the weekly sticker for their sticker books, and as they lined up perfectly straight, the teacher mentioned her astonishment.
We walked back to the subway and rode it to McDonald's for our weekly meal there. We had a good time, then returned home, where we arrived at about 12:45 pm. I was so extremely tired that I lay down in bed after closing the bedroom doors and closed my eyes to get a little rest. I knew we had little time, as we had to leave the house at 1:40 pm already. The alarm woke me, then I dressed the kids to get them ready for the special one-time event, and we left the house on time.
We had a 1+ hour trip ahead of us to get to our destination, and it actually felt that long. I was still extremely tired. We have a card that gives us access to children's events all over the city, and they also sent us monthly booklet with those events. With that card, we either receive a reduction in price or even get to attend for free. Today was free for us because of this card. We rode the subway, then got on a train that we stayed on for nearly half an hour. As we had just missed the bus that only came every 20 minutes, it was time to walk, which would take us nearly that long to get to our destination. Unfortunately it was really windy and rather cold, so it was not much fun to walk in that weather. The kids were getting fed up with the long trip and the long walk.
But then we finally reached our destination at about 2:45 pm. We were in Liesing, on the south-western end of Vienna, near the border to Lower Austria, so we had basically crossed the whole city. It was a huge hall full of tennis courts, and there were also tennis courts outside, and the sign said that they also had a golf course. It was pretty big. We walked in and had to conquer a small staircase right away. Then there was the owner/founder of the tennis school, already waiting with the lists of registered children and name tags for them. He was really nice and greeted the kids, then taped the name tags to their T-shirts. Their ages were also written next to their names. The kids were nervous, and especially Tammy said she didn't want to do this.
We walked along all the tennis courts to the very back, where the previous group of kids was playing. Parents were standing around everywhere. We took their clothes off so they only had their exercise clothes on, and then waited for the 3 pm group to start. They were a little apprehensive, but watching the other group of kids. I had recently found this cute tennis dress among the clothes given to us, and Tammy looked like a professional tennis player wearing it, I thought.
Then the previous group left the court, and we went on the court, together with the other children waiting for this time slot. 4 is the youngest they could be, so our kids were among the youngest. There were also quite a few older kids there for this try-out day. The guy in charge joined the group and divided them into smaller groups by ability and age. Tammy and Emmy ended up being with just one other girl, and a really nice, young teacher. They were playing on a kids' court right where we were sitting on the sidelines, so that was perfect.
The teacher gave them a racket each and had them stand next to each other on the other side of the net. Then he told them how to hold the racket and to hit the ball with it. I was surprised at how well they did hitting that ball! And a few times they got the ball over the net. Then he gave them cones and had them catch the balls in the cone, which sometimes worked, but not always. Then they came to the front of the line one after another, hitting a few balls before going back to the end of the line.
Sammy was with me and Randy the whole time, and I was playing with him for much of the time, while also watching the other two like a hawk. One time he pulled himself up on the cage full of balls.
Then two of the kid groups merged for a few minutes. They played some games where they had to try not to be hit by a ball. Then the other group left again, and they went back to hitting balls with their teacher. He had them stand closer to the net and had them hit the ball from the top, the middle and the bottom. They also had to gather up the balls a few times; they were bigger and softer balls than the regular tennis balls, made for little kids.
In the end he had them do a little parcours in a circle, walking through hoops and jumping over something, then he sat down with them and asked them how they had liked the session. All three said that they had loved it. Then the class was over. The main guy returned, got all the kids together and had them line up in a row. He then told them that each kid could take one ball home with them. Tammy and Emmy were in front of the line and happy about their balls.
We left the court together and put their clothes back on. Sammy saw the balls and also wanted one, so I got him one as well. Then we walked back to the exit. The kids told me how much they had enjoyed it, and both said that they wanted to continue playing tennis. Another class is just what they need! (NOT!) Especially given how far that location is. They have another one in the north of Vienna that is just a little quicker to get to, and they would have to take their class there. At the exit the founder was still at the table and asked the kids how they had liked it. Then he gave us the enrollment forms, and I asked him a few more questions.
We left the building and started our 15 minute walk back to the train station. This time we took a walking path that was a little shorter. Once we got to the train station, we had to circle the whole station to get to the elevator and to our platform to go home. There was a chestnut stand, so we got some chestnuts. They were perfect in that cold weather. We got on the train, rode it the half hour back to the other train station and got on the subway there. It was about 5:40 by the time we got home.
I was so tired! I lay down for half an hour, then forced myself up to make their dinner. We then went through our usual evening routine. I now lie down with Tammy in her bed, with Emmy joining us for a few minutes, so she falls asleep in her own bed again instead of mine. I then worked a lot later than I should have, going to bed at about 2 am - without having written my report.
