Me again

Hi everyone

I hope things are going well with all my faithful readers - especially those kind souls who, according to my Google statistics, are checking out my weekly updates from Russia and Germany! Zdravstvujtye! Guten tag!

Contrary to what I wrote last week, we didn't make it to the Statue of Liberty in the end. There were no tickets. Apparently it's quite a popular attraction and you have to book early. Luckily we found this out in the comfort of our own home, and didn't trek all the way to the ferry. So, in a display of great flexibility and spontaneity, we changed our plans and spent the day at the Bronx Zoo. Yes - that's the zoo where some guy threw himself into the tiger enclosure a couple of weeks ago. Lovely. We saw some cool animals and learnt some interesting stuff - did you know that a panther is just a black leopard? If you look closely you can even see the spots. I can't believe we never knew that. Anyway, we had a fun day out with only a small amount of bickering and whinging, and Avrom spent at least 60% of it not on his emails or talking on the phone. So that's not bad.

School is still going well. I found out today that Tzofia pledges her allegiance to the flag of the United States of America on a daily basis. That came as a bit of a surprise. For some reason the bigger kids don't do it. Must find out why that is. Another part of her morning routine in kindergarten is the "Question of the day". Every morning, there is a question written on the board for the kids to answer by writing their names in one of two columns. Typical questions are: Do you like vanilla or chocolate ice-cream? Have you ever been to Israel? I was a little taken aback when she told me one day this week that the question of the day was: "Who do you like more, Jackson Pollock or Monet?" In case you're wondering, she has a strong preference for Pollock, but you'll have to discuss it with her if you want an in-depth explanation. She said something about "it's cool how he flicks the paint".

We are really enjoying the incredible autumn (sorry, fall) colours on the trees. In fact, I feel I ought to post a photo. This is what we see when we open our front door.

That doesn't really do it justice. It's much more like this:

But without the water.

Anyway, it's all very pretty, but I think the kids are getting a bit bored of my constant oohing and aahing.

That's all I have to report for now. Have a great week and be in touch! I'm sure something interesting must be going on in Israel, England and Australia - we'd love to hear. Also happy to hear the latest gossip from Russia and Germany.