My ‘eldest’ (by a minute) is in her last years of primary school. That means that she needs to choose a secondary school. Now in Amsterdam this is not an easy task. There are a great many schools – for her level alone there are about 25 eligible schools. And then even if you choose one that you would like to attend, that doesn’t mean you get to go there. You need to make a list of twelve schools. Then a lottery will decide who will go to the first pick on the list, etc. So if you get a low number, your list will be checked first and if there is still a place on your preferred school then you are lucky and off you go! If not, if the school is full, they will check for a place on your second school on the list. And so on. Most of the kids, around 90 or 95%, will go to a school in the top 3 on the list. The others will have to be content with a school further down the list. And twelve is a lot of schools so there will be some on there that are just fillers. Yet you could end up on one of those too. Lovely.
However, to avoid that last desperate situation you want to compose your list of twelve schools carefully. We got a guide that lists all of the schools in Amsterdam and today I looked through them and marked them all for the minions (both because the other one will go through the same process next year so might as well start now) so they know which are relevant: school level etc. Since there are no open days this year to visit the schools, everything will have to be done online. Yay. Anyway, that was what I was doing when I drank tea no. 13 from my advent calendar.
Wild apple & cinnamon
Now this is more like it! Unlike the last one, which was green tea and matcha and ginseng, this one has the traditional winter flavours: apple and cinnamon. Like apple pie but in tea. Yes yes I know I said I didn’t need to drink my favourite food! But… this is apple pie.
Is it?
No! It’s tea (or infusion), not a pie in a cup! Unlike most commercial ‘winter’ or ‘Christmas’ teas, this does not have the thick and (often) artificial flavours of apple and cinnamon but rather nice light tones of it. No labs were used to create these. The colour is a rich cinnamon but not the heavy black tea brown because… there is no tea in this. I like it! I will drink it again.
PS. I have shown this cup before. It is one of my favourites. I believe I got it from Paperchase at one point.
Tea with a Ninja 
Is an effort made to keep siblings together, or could they be split up? How would they – and you – feel about that prospect?
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The eldest has skipped a year which is why she is already going ahead. The other follows the procedure with eagle eyes of course. There is often a system in place where the school gives preference to siblings, but the ‘problem’ here is that no. 1 probably needs a different kind/level of secondary education than no. 2. One needs ‘gymnasium’ level (which is a type of VWO) and the other will probably feel more at home at a different kind of VWO. One wants to be a biologist, the other aspires to be an actress. That is not just career choices but also personality types – and types of learning.
So… we will do the whole exercise again next year, probably. I had intended to move away from Amsterdam before secondary schools but alas that didn’t happen, nor won’t in the near future.
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Ah, I see! Great that there are those options, the UK system is far less flexible.
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Oh that is sad
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Oh, man, that actually sounds wonderful — both the tea and the schools. Anya has one middle-school option, and I’ve not heard great things about it. But then I did hear great things about her elementary school, and she’s not been all that happy with it, so who knows? She’ll also have an assigned high school, but those are open campus, so if she’s having a hard time she can switch.
The tea sounds heavenly, and apple cinnamon tea is Anya’s favorite, but both the kind she drinks and this one contain that most inconvenient allergen: chamomile. Sigh. Enjoy it for us!
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Yeah the system in States is very different. We are inundated with choice, but even in comparison with other parts of the country.
Maybe I will send you some? 😊
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