We are back to school and everyday life, after another two lovely days on the most northerly island: North Ronaldsay. We had a nice stay and the people were very friendly and helpful - and we had a great dinner (with the men trying the North Ronaldsay sheep with mint jelly, which was apparently delicious!) and talking to the “boys” who did all the bird observing and then we met more lovely people the next day. Here is what Nanouk wrote about our holidays in his school essay:

My Holidays 2014
First we went to Stronsay. We went to our hotel. It was very nice. We had our own room. We were indoors most of the time.
When we were home again we unpacked and packed again. We went to Sanday by ferry.
In Sanday we went to high dunes. I walked to the top and sledged down.
In North Ronaldsay we went to the lighthouse. It was high. We went home.
Then we went “bag the bruck”- ing.



I few things I (Natalie) would like to add:
“Bag the Bruck” is a big day in Orkney, where everyone (well, a lot of people) go to clean up the beach. We asked at the local shop and were allocated a stretch along a local beach. We were amazed how much brook (the Orcadian word for rubbish) we found, although it had looked so tidy!

I would have thought, Nanouk would mention Billy in his report, the lighthouse keeper. In his letter to his Swiss class mates, Nanouk told them all about the different jobs Billy had (Fireman and farmer are just two additional ones) as we had also seen a German documentary about Orkney that was mainly about Billy. Watch it here.
The other thing I wonder about is the phrase “We were indoors most of the time.” I think I’ve never been on a holiday on which we were outdoors so much! We only were indoors for eating and sleeping and we’ve even caught a bit of sun!

Two more things I think should be mentioned about the last leg of our holiday: The sheep (they are all around the coast, eating seaweed!) and the bikes we rented, which were fun!


Yesterday we were invited to the school for parents evening. This is very different to Switzerland. In Switzerland we have a parents evening, where we invite all the parents to our classroom at the same time and give a small presentation about the year ahead and it’s also a social event. Then, on another date, we have parents’ talks, and all parents get an appointment of 20 up to 40 minutes with the teacher alone to talk about their child. This is normally spread over two or three weeks and is hard work for the teachers but very interesting for both sides!
But although we only had 10 minutes with the class teachers each, we had good feedback from the teachers and it was nice to be back at the school. We are very proud of how well Nanouk and Maleah are doing!

On Saturday our first friends are coming and we can’t wait to show them “our paradise!”

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