Last night I was excited to have a chance at last to meet some parents and teachers from school.
A few weeks ago, Rhiannon brought a letter home from school inviting parents to join a focus group to discuss improving communication amongst the school community, additional activities for the children and website development.
Perfect! I signed up straightaway and marked the date on my calendar.
The meeting was at a Japanese sushi restaurant. I felt that was a sign that it would be a good night out.
So yesterday evening I found something not-too-shabby to wear, called a cab and went off with high hopes of a great night out and perhaps making new friends.
The restaurant (more like a cafe, actually) was suspiciously empty.
Nobody spoke English. Then along came the lady owner who managed some heavily accented English. After some effort, I discovered the meeting was held the previous evening...
No, I had not got the date wrong. The school had changed the date and I wasn't informed.
I was very upset and more than a little angry.
The owner called a taxi to take me all the way back home again. While waiting for it we chatted - sort of. Her daughter attends the same school and she kindly invited us all over for a meal one day so her daughter can meet and make friends with Rhiannon.
She is Russian and the sushi chef is... Vietnamese. There were crab-sticks in the sushi display. Authentic Japanese this was not.
I returned home 25 euros worse off thanks to the cab fares - I believe I've mentioned before that there is no public transport nearby.
First thing this morning I called the school to find out what had happened. The headteachers were in a meeting so I spoke to the receptionist/administrator.
Apparently an email was sent out to all interested parties to advise of the date change - not received.
I was not on the list on 'interested parties' anyway as the tear-off slip didn't reach the organisers - Rhiannon definitely handed it in to her teacher.
I queried other missed emails. Basically I've heard nothing from the school at all apart from replies to mails I've originated. The admin lady agreed to look into it and send me something as a test. After a couple of hours I did receive a calendar of events. Very useful with just one week of school left.
"To discuss improving communication amongst the school community" was certainly a fitting subject for this cocked-up meeting.
It's 2.15pm and I still have not heard from either of the head teachers...