Day in Dusseldorf

Yesterday we had to check out of out Hotel early in the morning and we weren't able to head to our next Hotel until Matt was done with work for the day.  We loaded the Audi A6 he had rented for the move and he dropped us downtown to explore.  We mailed postcards, got a bus pass, pick up some gifts, and lunched until the thunder storm started.  It was once the storm started that we decided we need to find something to do inside and where you didn't need to pay to use the toilet (yes any where between 10 cents and a full euro) or else we were going to be miserable.  Aqua Zoo was the place.

I think we learned more about water life than we have ever before.  I think partly due to the English Audio Tour.  You see to the left a picture of Christian and Nika learning about Whales.  While evolution seemed to be the overall theme of the Aqua Zoo we really learned a lot.

 To our surprise (we are surprised a lot) Aqua Zoo is located in a beautiful park called Nord Park.  We will be going back, but what we did see was water fountains the resembled the water fountains I saw in the Winter Palace in Russia and Versailles in France.  Apparently it was built during Nazi times and has a beautiful Japanese Garden, which we have yet to experience.

American Friends!

 May 1st was a German Holiday and we were graciously invited to spend the afternoon and evening with them at their home.  The husband which I mentioned in an earlier post is the pastor of Calvary Chapel Dusseldorf and a couple which I helped with a church plant in Sao Vincente Brazil.  I think I learned more about German life in those short 9 hours then the previous 21 days.  Here is the short list of things I learned concerning;

Homeschooling is Illegal
After 4th Grade kids are split into 3 different educational tracks
School starts @ 3 years old
Religion in taught in School.
After school care is FREE
Parents are paid to stay home for the first year of their babies life
It is illegal to drive smog producing cars in the inner city
It is illegal to have uncertified people do work on your property
Boys are not circumcised
School starts @ 8 am and ends in time to come home for lunch

Edmond and Anne have three boys (all born in Germany) and one daughter all fluent in German and English.  Oldest daughter Karis (10) and Nika in the picture to the left had so much fun together.  The top picture is of Caleb (8) who had a ton of fun playing with Christian.  In fact Christian has decided he will live in German so he can play with Caleb everyday.  They also have a 5 year old and 20 month old.