Max's New School in Brussels

Chapter Four: Max's New School in Brussels

• On September 1, 2015, Max began attending Ecole du Bonheur in Brussels.
• The name of the school, School of Happiness, seemed like a joke to him.
• He had previously done sixth grade, but in Belgium, it was still elementary school.
• Max did not tell his friends Kevin and Malik that he was in elementary school because they were busy with coding camp and water-gun battles.
• Max recalled hearing "coucou," a word for "hi" or "l'été" which means summer.
• Max found the order for 6B in the asphalt courtyard where kids were running, cheek-kissing, and laughing.
• Max spotted a paper sign for 6B hidden by Madame Legrand.
• Madame Legrand, a tall, unsmiling blonde woman speaks to him in French and he briefly thinks she is calling him weird, but she is just saying his name with a French accent.
• A girl with thick glasses and long dark hair stood in front of the teacher.
• Max repeated "Oui, Madame" and the teacher considered if this was acceptable.
• Everyone took out new school supplies during the first hour.
• Max sat behind Farah and copied her, the classroom had lockers, blackboards, and chalk instead of smart boards or computers.
• Students had to load ink into fountain pens, which made Max feel like he was in a different country and century.
• Madame Legrand wrote lines on the board, and the class started copying phrases into their notebooks.
• Max's fountain pen scratched against the paper without ink, and he soon discovered that it was empty.
• He unscrewed the pen and took out the cartridge to see if he had loaded it wrong.
• A sandy-haired kid mimed poking the top of the cartridge, so Max did the same.
• The ink poured out over Max's paper and fingers, and he tried to blot it on his blue Oxford shirt.
• Max raised his hand, but Madame Legrand didn't see him.
• He felt sweat trickle down his face and knew he had ink on his face.
• He said, "Excusez-moi," and then asked "Où est la toilette?"
• Madame Legrand spoke about where the bathroom was but Max couldn't understand her, so he repeated the question.
• Madame Legrand told him in heavily accented but perfect English, "At the end of the hall".
• The big kid behind him laughed, and Max wanted to kick him.
• Lunch was "mystery soup" and purple potatoes which tasted better than expected and afterwards everyone rushed to clear away the food.
• Max went outside for recess where a group of boys started playing soccer.
• A boy with curly red hair asked Max if he spoke English.
• Max replied that he did, and the boy then burst out laughing and saying:"Coca-Cola!".

Chapter Three: Ahmed in Brussels

• Ahmed tried to conceal his feelings from Ibrahim Malaki about bad news.
• Ahmed and Ibrahim are together in Parc Maximilien in downtown Brussels.
• Ibrahim explained that the Belgian Office of Foreigners did now grant him and his family refugee status so are being pressed to return to Iraq.
• Ahmed saw many camping tents and liked the volunteers running the camp.
• Ahmed helped look after Ibrahim's daughter, Bana, and learned some French.
• The interior ministry recently closed the camp and wooden crates were being used for chairs and tables.
• Ahmed stayed in the camp for almost a month.
• Refugees had to register across the street at the Office of Foreigners before they were eligible for housing.
• Ahmed had heard there were thousands of child refugees traveling in Europe alone.
• Some were orphans, and others were hoping to bring their families on later.
• Ahmed had assumed he would stay with Ibrahim in Belgium until he finished high school.
• Ibrahim said that Ahmed would have better outcome without them because "You are Syrian, not Iraqi. They are taking Syrians".
• Ahmed had planned to go to England or Canada but ended up in Belgium because Ibrahim was headed there.
• Ahmed stayed in reception centers in Greece and Hungary where refugees were kept like prisoners.
• The authorities could no longer justify a tent city in the center of the European Union's capital.
• Ibrahim's wife Zainab, said they hoped to stay with relatives in Molenbeek while Ibrahim appealed the refugee decision.
• Zainab explained that as an unaccompanied minor, Ahmed must go into state custody while his case is processed.
• Ahmed was rescued by the Greek coast guard in Lesbos and spoke few words since.
• Ahmed had not even wanted to live in Belgium as he knows little about the country between France and the Netherlands.

Ahmed's Fears and Memories

• Ahmed had been in overcrowded refugee centers before, given expired food, and mistreated by guards.
• He knew it would take months to figure out what to do and who to trust for his care.
• Ibrahim said they would go together to the office of unaccompanied minors and get Ahmed registered.
• Once registered in Belgium, Ahmed would be ineligible to apply for asylum in England or elsewhere.
• Ahmed was afraid because his Syrian passport was forged.
• His real passport had been destroyed after fleeing Syria to Turkey and being bought on the black market.
• Ahmed was only fourteen, but he worries the police will see him as older because he is a sullen young man and a possible terrorist.
• Ahmed pictured himself being sent back to Turkey, his father's death in vain.
• Ahmed imagined going to school in England, playing football, eating fish and chips while watching David De Gea playing for Manchester United.

Ahmed's Decision

• Baba is gone, which meant that fate suggests he should give up on England.
• The best chance of getting to England is through Calais on the northern coast of France.
• There is another large camp called the Jungle, where refugees wait for the chance to travel through a train-and-car tunnel under the sea to England.
• Smugglers around Parc Maximilien offer rides to France.
• Ahmed had less than forty-eight hours to make a choice affecting the rest of his life: go to Calais or stay in Belgium to enter the asylum system.
• Ahmed touched his watch, stroked Bana's face and tickled her for comfort.

Max and his Father

• Max was feeling homesick and wanted a hamburger, not Belgian "filet Américain".
• He pictured his friends Kevin and Malik at a diner on Connecticut Avenue.
• Max didn't want to text them, as he was embarrassed about repeating sixth grade.
• Max heard his father's footsteps and felt a reassuring hand squeeze.
• His father acknowledged Max's difficulties, and they had a conversation about the move to Belgium, the school, the French, and repeating sixth grade.
• His father said it was only about learning French.
• There were "only four French words you really need to know."
• There was a woman in a headscarf holding a coffee cup on the cobblestone street.
• Max saw handwritten words on her sign, and he couldn't understand, only "faim, hungry, and réfugié, refugee."
• Max's father ordered him waffle, but he wanted to give the five euros to the beggar holding the cup.
• His father said, "Just give it a try..."
• Max muttered "I don't really have much of a choice, do I?"
• Max muttered "Où est la toilette?" and his dad praised him for already understanding what this means.

Max starts at Ecole du Bonheur in Brussels on September 1, 2015. He finds the school name ironic. He finds his class 6B and meets Madame Legrand, a teacher who speaks to him in French.