It is hard to believe but school has started in GGIS over a week ago. We had to say good bye to some of our old students due to relocation, graduation, change of schools, etc. This is one of the drawbacks of an international school; there is constant fluctuation and moving from one place to the next.  Kids are amazingly resilient. They adjust to new circumstances, countries, peers, languages, teachers, schools much faster than we do.  

On the upside, many new faces smile at us in the hallways and classrooms. Americans, Hungarians, Japanese, Koreans, Nigerians, etc.  The versatile, multi-cultural student body is a great opportunity for students to learn about different cultures but more importantly, to learn to live in our diverse, flat world.

There is so much more than "simply" the academics to be learnt in an international school. Kids learn to cope with each other's different customs, cultures and curiosities. Given the small size of our school there is a family-like atmosphere which is reflected in the students' interaction with each other.  I love to see how high school students tease and play with little first graders as if they were their little brothers or sisters. One of our Greek students for example "shocked" our elementary kids by singing Greek songs in recess and affectionately pinching their cheeks - as Greeks do.  His love and inherent kindness for children was "in his blood", woven into the fabric of his being.  That's how he grew up, this is what he saw growing up, and that's what he did. He just loved kids and wasn't afraid to express it.

More to come next from our little, international haven in Budapest ...