The "Professor" and his little brother

Since arriving in Munich, I've been searching for an opportunity to work in a geoscience lab. As of yesterday, there have been some promising developments in that endeavor. However, in the meantime, I've been spending a couple afternoons of each week babysitting and providing English language practice for a German family with two young boys, ages 3 and 6 years. The family moved back to Munich from their previous residence in Zurich, Switzerland, where Viktor attended English-language kindergarten. Viktor, who I've secretly nicknamed "The Professor" is without a doubt a nuclear physicist in the making. At six years, he has the vocabulary of an Oxford graduate student and is famous for asking, "Leslie, shall I explain to you how --insert complicated subject matter-- works?" One day, while his sweet little brother Jona (pronounced Yonah) was running around the playground, Viktor spent 20 minutes describing the life-cycle of a ladybug. This included a detailed description of the pupa and larvae stages, which I assure you were terms I wasn't exposed to until fifth grade. He has also taken to my interest in geology, and we've spent hours sieving through the sand at the playground. He can now identify a half dozen varieties of quartz, granite, and marble. I've also received primers on the importance of recycling, keeping my dog on a leash, and being very careful if ever I decide to try snow skiing. By far, my most favorite thing about Viktor is that each day when I leave, he shakes my hand as if this were a business relationship. It's all I can do to keep a straight face! For those of you who watch the American TV show "The Big Bang Theory", Viktor is a tiny carbon-copy of Sheldon. The bottom line is, I'm not sure who is getting more of an education in this arrangement. Most days, I leave feeling as if I made 40 Euro and bumped my IQ up a couple more notches by just breathing the same air as this kid.