Bart is Home Again

Bart just returned from his 5-day class trip. Apparently, he had a great time. His face was joyful and relaxed when he stepped into the house. It was as if he went for a retreat and came home rejuvenated. Seeing him again warms my heart.

It is 11th birthday today. My god, he is eleven! Just half a head more and he will be as tall as me. Over this past one year, he has gone through several changes, numerous phases of development.

The move from Asia to Europe is the biggest. Next would be his promotion from primary school to a gymnasium, a type of secondary school with a strong emphasis on academic learning, one that prepares the student for higher education or at a university. The other changes: the climate, going to school by bus, being able to go out on his own and learning to be more responsible for his belongings and his bedroom.

We getting ready to sing him a birthday song while he eyes on to the raspberry vanilla birthday cake. Can you see his eyes salivating?

He was the target of a bully from a school next to his. For a long period of time, he ignored the kicks on his shin and hair-pulling in the bus. No amounts of telling off the bully worked. One day, he came home realising why he was always complaining of pains in his leg, a reason he previously thought was due to sports. The bully's kicks grew stronger by the day. The next day, his spectacles fell out of his face when the bully stuck out his leg so he tripped over. It had become serious. We told him to report this matter to his school headmaster. A string of actions took place. The deputy headmaster took him immediately to the school next door and spoke to the principal, they identified the bully through a school magazine and decided on talking to the bully. Opa fetched Bart to and fro school the day after his spectacles broke, to prevent something worse from happening. Over the weekend, we hatched up a plan. Meme took the same bus as Bart to school, followed him till he was safe enough. But not. The bully appeared and did the same trick with his leg, attempting to trip over Bart again. Bart nearly lost his balance, but he was fine. Who was not fine was the bully, for Meme grapped the bully's shoulders in a flash, caught him out of the blue, and questioned his motive.

Next, we were all sitting in the principal's office of the bully. Bart, the bully, Meme, the principal and I. It turned out that the bully, perhaps just 1 or 2 years older than Bart, came from a broken home. His parents were newly divorced. He was living with his mother, but she was away frequently, leaving him and his sister to live on their own. He had light bruises on his eye, which we suspected it could be a result from a fight, or worse, being hit by someone. He claimed he fell on a stone. Weak excuse. But his plight shed light to why he's targetting at others to vent. Poor kid.

The boy did not touch Bart since that meeting.

Bart had also been called "ugly Chinese", "Japanese boy" by ignorant people from his school. A serious offence in Germany. Once, his lower lip suffered internal broken blood vessels because someone threw a frozen bottle of mineral water at him. Oh, how I loathe the aggression of the kids here.

Anyways, these undesirable episodes of mishaps are a thing of the past. I keep my fingers crossed, even though I know they will not be the last.

Happy birthday, Bart. May you be luckier in the year of the rabbit and thrive in school in all areas! xox