Stahlke Adoption

Perfect

Paul kicks for his football team, with a technique honed from years of soccer in Ukraine. In Chicago, however, he and Adam have shunned soccer for other sports, even though they are both quite gifted at it. Like many other immigrants from centuries past, they want to fit into their new culture and leave the old one behind. So Paul plays American football at Walther Lutheran High School, where Adam went out for cross-country and Rachel is cheerleading.

Besides sports, another chapter in high school life is clothing. It's certainly a different type of struggle between what sons want to wear compared to daughters. But that's another story . . . . Walther recently tightened their dress code in response to students texting friends during class. Loose-fitting hoodies and several other types of clothing are no longer allowed. Our kids really chafe under these rules.

Last night, we caught up with an exchange student who lived with our neighbors during the 2003/04 school year. Now Rudo was bringing his father from Slovakia to the U.S. to vacation here and see the places he had enjoyed. Back in 2003 at age 18, Rudo had attended Walther, so he knew our kids' school quite well.

"I hate Walther!" Adam exclaimed, during the conversation. "Especially the dress code." Rudo responded, "Oh, the dress code was ok. In Slovakia, every school has a dress code. What bothered me was that Walther didn't have a soccer team."

I couldn't have scripted it better myself!

posted by Stahlkes @ 12:27 PM