Great Wallingford Wurst Festival

The days are getting shorter and a little chillier here in Seattle, but the outdoor festivals are still going on. Before we hole up in our homes avoiding the rain, we try to wrest every second of warm, sunny daylight out of the calendar. There's a big school fundraiser in my neighborhood that happens every fall, The Great Wallingford Wurst Festival. This benefit for St. Benedict Catholic School has been held annually for the past 30 years, and according to the school website, it attracts 10,000 visitors.

There's a lot more than wurst there, but that's what Chris and Oscar started their fair experience eating, while I opted for a grilled salmon sandwich. There are also burgers, hot dogs, ceasar salad, corn on the cob, pasta, Filipino food and a seriously giant bake sale that even includes soft serve ice cream.

It was so hard to choose what to get at the bake sale, but this cookie's packaging won me over. It tasted as good as it looks!

There are lots of jumpy-house type things and games for the kiddies, which sadly, Oscar's now too old for.

There were many, many crafts for sale. I love these dragons!

The Uncle Stinky's booth was mobbed!

Merchandise like this is obviously irresistible!

We spent a lot of money at the book sales. You can find terrific bargains in the used book room (there was a hardcover set of Collier's Children's Classics for $15), while new Scholastic books are sold in another room.

We arrived as Green Floyd, a Pink Floyd tribute band made up of the school's faculty and staff, including a priest, played selections from Dark Side of the Moon. I remember all the words to everything! I'm also a fan of the Portage Bay Big Band. There were 16 bands on the schedule for Friday and Saturday (Dudley Manlove Quartet played inside at the biergarten from 9 to midnight both nights).

This event is pretty much the best school fundraiser ever. See you next year, Wurst Festival!

Hosting guests from Japan

Ever since I began working for a Japanese company back in San Francisco, Oscar's been quite interested in Japan, and now he's been learning the language at school. And every year his school hosts students from Tokyo's Shukutoku Sugamo Middle School, so we signed up to be a host family for a weekend. It's a good way to get a taste of hosting exchange students, and it's just a three-night commitment. Chris met our students after school on Friday, they stayed through the weekend, and went back to school with Oscar on Monday morning.

In their suits and penny loafers, Koto and Ryunosuke looked strikingly different from the rumpled T-shirt-and-jeans-wearing kids at Hamilton. They were painfully shy, didn't smile, and either were too shy to speak or just didn't know very much English at all. Uh-oh.

I'd been thinking about them a lot before they got here, and asked everyone for ideas of what to do with them. I compiled a list of activities for each day and night, along with menus. I wanted to give them a good taste of typical American life.

Over the weekend, we ate pizza, salad, hamburgers, spaghetti, bacon and eggs, pancakes, and french toast, and lots of different fruits. We made s'mores on the barbecue grill. We ate on a barge on Lake Union at Ivar's Salmon House. To their credit, they tried some of everything that was offered to them. I'm not sure if they actually liked the food or if they were just being polite, but they ate a lot more than I thought they would! Judging from portion sizes, I'd say they definitely liked the watermelon and s'mores, but I guess 14-year-old boys eat a lot no matter what. When the kids were allowed to choose their own snacks from a museum cafe, they took a long time selecting what they wanted! They both picked ice cream cones and a soda. Ryunosuke's strawberry Fanta was too sweet, and I offered to get him a new drink. He took a long time picking out another one--finally deciding on peach tea--and got some disgusting nachos with fake cheese as well. Blech.

We took the boys canoeing on Lake Union, to the Ballard Locks, to see the King Tut exhibit at the Pacific Science Center, and we rode the monorail to Gameworks arcade downtown. They fell asleep often; they were still quite tired and jet-lagged even though they had been in Seattle for a few days before we met them. The only time they really seemed like they were relaxed and having fun was when they were playing videogames together. Oscar was able to play with them, and the language barrier seemed to evaporate.

All in all, in was frustrating trying to communicate with our guests, but I feel like maybe even if my Japanese was better and their English was better, they still might've felt too awkward to have conversations. I felt victorious every time we actually exchanged information. For example, I learned that Ryunosuke had been in the U.S. two times before, once when he was very small, and once to Portland. I learned that their favorite sight in Seattle was "downtown."

Oscar enjoyed having the kids stay with us, and wants to sign up to host again next year. It seems there are plenty of opportunities to host students in Seattle. If any Seattleites are interested in hosting a Japanese student, Azumano International is looking for 50+ more families to host students this summer for one- to three-week stints. (The kids will attend ESL classes at UW or SPU in the morning and do sightseeing and cultural activities with their class in the afternoons.) If you're interested, contact Megan or Sharon at seattle.edu@azumano.com.

Rock Band Camp

Oscar spent much of his spring break brushing up on guitar at Rock Band Camp. He's been taking piano lessons at Off the Wall School of Music since last fall, but his guitar has been sadly neglected in Seattle -- until now!

At camp, the kids were able to try new instruments and play together as a group, which Oscar's never done before in a rock setting, though he's played in orchestral bands at school. Oscar's band named themselves "The Mustache Brigade," and wore adhesive mustaches from nearby Archie McPhee. They also made a music video with crazy props, which I'm dying to see (if I get a link, I'll post an update!). On the last day of camp the kids gave a performance to show off the songs they'd learned. Check it out (and apologies for the crazy iPhone camerawork)!

All Along the Watchtower
Sunshine of My Life
Seven Nation Army

Off the Wall is holding more Rock Band Camps this summer, so hopefully Oscar will get more experience as a rock god. I highly recommend Off the Wall's staff: They're playful and fun, extremely patient, and of course all talented musicians!

Teacher love at Kidd Valley

It's hard to be a non-meat-eater in a meat-loving family, so I'm always looking for options that we'll all like. Since I also try not to eat fried foods (i.e., the fish sandwich is usually not a good option for me), it can be difficult in an on-the-run situation to find anything that I want to eat. My favorite fast-food place in Wallingford is Kidd Valley for one reason: It serves genuine, original-style Garden Burger-brand garden burgers, which I find infinitely superior to the dreaded Boca burgers, and most other veggie or black bean burgers. Kidd Valley's hamburgers, fries, and onion rings are also Oscar- and Chris-approved, and their shakes -- hand-mixed with seasonal fruit, chocolate, or vanilla -- are reknowned.

Since it's spring break week here in Seattle, it's an excellent time to visit Kidd Valley with the kids, and while you're there, make sure you have them nominate their favorite Washington teacher for Kidd Valley Teacher of the Year. (Entries must be received by May 20, and you can also enter online, mail them in, or submit them at any Kidd Valley restaurant.) The winning teacher will get a $500 gift card for school supplies, and the student who nominated him or her will get a Kidd Valley Burger Party. My kid hates to write, and especially hates essays, but evidently he really loves his Japanese teacher because he immediately took an entry form -- unprompted -- and filled it out, including specific examples of why his teacher is the best. Good luck, Ms. McDonald!

Hunger Games hype

I know I'm not the only adult who reads young adult fiction. It's often so much more imaginative and fun than "adult" books! I still haven't read Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games, but I will! Oscar has had the first book in the series for about a year (his friends had recommended it), but he didn't like it. Now that the movie is coming out, he's found it impossible to resist the hype.

I have no idea how the decision came about, but the entire 6th grade class at Oscar's middle school is now headed on a field trip for a noon showing of the film three days after its release. The letter I received from the school explains:

"Many, if not most, of our 6th grade students have read the book The Hunger Games and wish to see one of their favorite books come to life on the big screen. They have been anticipating the release of the film for several months. Students who have not read the book seem to be motivated to read it before the film is released to compare and contrast the book and movie."

I am still flabbergasted that these middle school kids get to go see a movie -- which most could have gone to see with their families anyway -- during school time! But I'm not about to relegate my kid to sit in the library while everyone else gets to go on one of the most anticipated events of the entire school year. After all, friendships and bonding experiences are a huge part of adolescence, so...whatever.

I'm also highly in favor of this sort of hype surrounding book releases (I really miss the anticipation of the new Harry Potter volumes), so this is possibly the next best thing. And just like the letter said, the anticipation of the movie inspired Oscar to reread the book. And this time, he liked it. Now he wants to read the sequels, and I'm happy about that.

Middle School Science Night

While Seattle schools aren't immune from dwindling school budgets and overcrowded classrooms, there are some reassuring high points. Last night's Science Night at Oscar's middle school was a huge event, with exhibitors on three floors, many swarmed by both kids and parents. Not to be confused with a science fair of student-produced projects, this event featured exhibitors from the community, ranging from a local chiropractor to the Seattle Police Department Forensic Unit to the North Seattle Lapidary & Mineral Club to Kenworth Trucks. The Pacific Northwest Herpetological Society brought many live snakes; I talked to one man who was breeding snakes to have new, recessive patterns not found in nature. The Seward Park Audubon Center brought taxidermy waterfowl plus a bat skeleton and had a "duck-duck-goose" quiz game with prizes. I learned about nuclear reactors, and got to see firsthand what a colorblind world actually looks like.

My favorite exhibitor was a woman from the University of Washington Oceanography department, who researches Antarctic ice -- specifically the slime produced by an organism that lives in the ice. She was so enthusiastic, it was infectious. She talked about all the details you might wonder about, including how you actually get to the research station. I'm sure she inspired at least some kids to become scientists. The two-hour event went by fast, and I didn't get to see everything I would have liked.

I definitely believe in the saying, "It takes a village to raise a child," and I'm impressed that there were so many people willing to prepare thoughtful, informative exhibits and activities and give up their evenings for so many middle-schoolers and their families. And local companies such as Dick's Drive-In, Starbucks, and Ivar's made donations, and scores of parents brought baked goods, beverages, and even Vietnamese sandwiches to sell to benefit the PTSA. Thank you, everyone! Science Night is awesome!

Middle school music

My amazement continues at the vast chasm between Oscar's scrappy little elementary school and the mega infrastructure of his middle school. Last night's winter concert drove the point home. The beginning band, cadet band, concert band, and the symphonic band all performed in the enormous auditorium of the high school next to the middle school, and I sat in a comfortable theater-style seat instead of a folding chair. The students have a strict dress code: I had to purchase Oscar a winged-collar tuxedo shirt, a black bow tie, black dress pants, black dress shoes, black dress socks, and a new belt.

In Oscar's beginning band alone, there are 42 students listed on the program, including six other clarinet players. The cadet band has 80 students; the concert band has 66 students, the symphonic band (an elite group that requires an audition) has 57. And the school also has an after-school jazz band program. According the notes on the concert program, more than 500 students at his school are involved in the choir, orchestra, band, and jazz ensembles.

The music program is so big it has its own PTA-type support system called FOMAHI (Friends of Music at Hamilton International). It does its own fundraising, has its own website, and is in fact its own nonprofit corporation! The group seems to be exceptionally well organized -- maybe better than the school itself.

We had some problems with Oscar's schedule at the beginning of the year, initially because he was assigned to Japanese, band, and P.E. -- but had no science class. It slowly dawned on me that science was probably actually required (it is!) and we had Oscar's schedule changed to swap P.E. for science. In the first few days of school, Oscar mentioned that the kids in his band class didn't even know what middle C was, so I wrote to his band teacher who said he'd test Oscar on trumpet to see if he should be in the cadet group instead of with the beginners. He passed, but Oscar would again have to change every one of his classes to get in -- which he absolutely did not want to do -- so in the end he changed from trumpet to clarinet to alleviate boredom. I'm not sure that was the best decision, especially after learning that he picked clarinet because it was easy to carry, but whatever.

Anyway, the concert was lovely, and the symphonic band was extremely impressive. The director of all these bands, Dan Rowe, told us parents at back-to-school night that he does not believe that talent has anything to do with success in band. "It's all about face time," he said. These kids must have been putting in a lot of face time. And they are so earnest in their playing -- I just love watching them. Their performance was every bit as enjoyable to me as going to the symphony.

Keeping up the grades

Oscar's transition from elementary to middle school has been bumpy. Coming from a cozy, flexible school of a little over 200 students, he's now one of 920 kids in a sprawling three-story building. I'm not sure if it would have been any easier if we hadn't moved, but his academic scores haven't been what we're used to. Putting this in the nicest way possible, my guess is that Oscar is not used to the organizational demands of middle school. It's not easy to get any information out of him, though.

If you ask Oscar how his day was, he'll always reply, "Good." Any homework? "No."

That would be a lie. Luckily, the Seattle school system has an online database called The Source that lets teachers post grades and homework assignments; parents can access the lists using their child's ID number. Here's a less-embarrassing example from Oscar's Japanese class at left. When checking out Oscar's grades earlier in the school year, I was able to see that he was failing language arts and social studies. I was shocked! Digging deeper, I could see that he had not turned in several homework assignments, which was eroding his grades. I subsequently learned that he had had opportunities to improve his score on other substandard work he had turned in, and didn't take advantage of them. An intervention ensued, and I discovered to my horror a binder containing a jumble of incomplete worksheets, crumpled up class notes, and duplicate handouts -- even though he started out the year with neat tabs separating sections for each subject.

I'm sure I'll have to keep organizing the binder and reviewing his work with him, but the good news is that Oscar's language arts and social studies grades are no longer failing. (Which incidently is notated as "E" here instead of "F". Crazy!) The bad news is that he's now failing band class. How is that even possible?! Turns out that his band teacher hadn't been posting the assignments and grades over the term, but now that the term is ending, he has posted them. Who knew there were written assignments in band class?! So, even though the The Source is helpful, it isn't foolproof by a longshot. Live and learn.

The whole experience has been eye-opening to me. I'd love to know if there are systems similar to The Source in other school districts. Anyone?

Off the Wall

I was in love with Off the Wall School of Music's funky aesthetic before we even moved to Seattle, when I was trolling the Internet for piano schools. Now Oscar is taking lessons there once a week.

His teacher is Caleb. My impression so far is that the teachers really challenge the students, so they progress quickly. (Or, it could be that my kid is no longer in elementary school with the same piano teacher he's had since Kindergarten!) They also let the students play music they like. Oscar learned how to play current radio hit Dynamite by Taio Cruz and is now obsessed with the videogame theme Mario Underworld.

If you live in Seattle and want to check it out, they offer a free lesson! A real one for half an hour! If you end up signing up for lessons, tell them Oscar sent you and he'll get a free lesson too. Win-win, right?