Help

Tonight is the school Elternabend. I have suffered through one of these tortures before and I'm not really looking forward to doing so again.

Unlike a parent's evening (which is the literal translation), the Elternabend is less of a short, arranged meeting with your child's teacher or teachers, and more of an extended lesson in German and patience, as all of the parents gather in the classroom (on tiny little chairs) in order to listen to the teacher speak about her planned curriculum, behaviour management policy, and probably other mysterious things that I didn't understand, which the parents are invited to discuss and give feedback on. For several hours. Yes, literally, several hours. I dread to think of how long it went on last time as I left after three hours in a fit of stress/exhaustion tears, and was too embarrassed to even attempt to show my face at a new one.

But I asked my friends for advice and I decided to pull up my big girl pants and try again. With a friend for backup. Who speaks German. I think it will be okay - I just need to remember to ask for help when I need it.