In Valders

OK, so I've finally got my computer back from the kids. Most of them have finished their blogs for tonight and they're in bed now. Tomorrow is an early day, so they need their sleep.

We left Green Bay around noon on Saturday and after a short drive, we arrived in Valders. Along the way we passed Denmark, so Jet got to see the town where he'll be staying and we also drove down County Trunk JJ, so James got to see the Nelson home where he'll be staying.

I spoke with the bus driver on the way down to Valders and it surprised me to learn just how tough things are in America right now. The prices in Green Bay were quite a shock to me. Everything was A LOT more expensive than I thought it would be, but I learned from the bus driver that a lot of companies have let people go and the economy is really hurting right now. He actually used to be a certified computer technician but now he's driving a bus because there's no work available. Which makes the warmth and generosity we've encountered so far even more meaningful. People have been very kind to the kids since we came here and it's very gracious of the host families to open their homes to my students, even in hard times. I can't express how much it means to these kids. This really has been a great experience for them, and I'm hoping it gets even better when they meet their host families this weekend.

Once we got to Valders, we met Don Johnson from the church who handed us the key to the parsonage. Several people loaned us air mattresses and blankets for the kids to sleep on, and my Mom showed up with dishes, toilet paper, and some food too. She took some of the older kids over to her house to help her carry some more boxes of food and supply she had collected.Then we all went shopping down at Christel's Piggly Wiggly to get some more food for the week. The parsonage is an amazing house and perfect for our group. It's located on the main road and just a short walk from the market, the school and my parents' house. I let the older kids explore the town for a bit while I took the younger ones over to my parents' house to meet my Dad.

After we got back to the parsonage, we cooked up some pizzas for dinner and then I passed out on the sofa! Boy, was I tired!! Fortunately, the kids got themselves ready for bed, and when I woke up to check on them, they were all sleeping peacefully. There are four bedrooms upstairs so they have plenty of room, however there's only one shower so it takes a while for them to get cleaned up in the morning (there are two bathrooms downstairs, but they don't have showers).

I woke up very early in the morning to start making pancakes for the kids. I also made some scrambled eggs too. We sat down to eat our first breakfast in Valders and the kids quickly finished off all the pancakes. They wanted me to make some sunny-side up eggs too, but I don't have a spatula so they got more scrambled eggs instead. Tomorrow I promised to try to make Thai omelets, but I'm not exactly sure how to do it, so they'll probably get American omelets instead.

Once we finished eating, we walked down to the church for the 10:30am service. We had to stop at the gas station to pick up some Tylenol because I had a massive headache. I guess the jetlag and temperature is getting to me more than it is to the kids. Ugh. At the church, we met Pastor Jim, whose been instrumental in helping us find the host families we needed to make this trip possible. He's also been very kind to allow our group to stay in the church's parsonage, so I made sure the kids thanked him for all his help! We also met two of our host families, the Nelsons and the Brills. James got a chance to talk with Eli Nelson and the conversation went something like this:

Eli: "Hey"
James: "Um.. Yeah"
...boys :-P

Gird and Sky also got to meet Abbey Brill and while they were very shy during their first meeting, I think they will become great friends. They've already been chatting on Facebook, so they know some basic information about each other. After those introductions, we went into the church and took part in the service. The kids tried to follow along with the songs and they asked a lot of questions about the service and what people were talking about. I took communion, but unfortunately since we were in front, I was the first one and so I messed up :-P. The last time I was in Valders, everyone would kneel up in the front of the church and drink the wine from a little cup and have the bread placed on their tongue. But this time we were supposed to dip the bread into the wine and then eat it, but I just popped it into my mouth like a goof :-P. There's nothing like coming back to your hometown after a 20 year absence and immediately embarassing yourself, hahah!

After church we walked back to the parsonage and ate lunch. My Mom had made some chili for the kids, and while they were initially concerned by how it looked, most of them decided that it was delicious and they ate it all. I'm making the kids take turns washing the dishes after we eat, with comical results! Last night, Tong declared that soapy dishes would "taste better" to explain his questionable rinsing technique. Hahah! Today was Gam and Jan's turn. I told them that when their parents saw them washing dishes, they would have to do it at home all the time. This seemed to cause them a great deal of concern :-). Later, someone (sorry, can't remember her name right now) from the church stopped by because she'd heard that the kids wanted some sports equipment to play with. She brought over two basketballs, some tennis racquets, and some bocce balls. Again, everyone has been very kind and generous to our group. It really gives me a warm feeling to see my hometown open its arms and welcome these kids with such kindness.

After lunch, I let the older boys walk down to the park to play basketball and tennis, while I took the girls and James (Jirayu) and Tong over to my parents house to do some blogging. We had a little trouble getting online at first. For some reason James, Gird and Sky's notebooks would not go online, but my crappy little second-hand notebook did. Haha! That was 7000 baht well-spent! :-) Eventually we got them blogging using my notebook and my parents' computers.

While we were doing that, the girls were playing with legos in the kitchen. I guess Jan had just learned "Ode to Joy" on the violin (and Gam and May had learned it on the recorder), so they were singing it loudly in the kitchen. It felt like Christmas! Tong busied himself by charming my parents a million-and-one questions, and playing with their dog, Pepper. For some reason, Pepper just loves Tong, and wouldn't leave him alone. Every time Tong sat down, Pepper would jump up on him and start licking his face. Hahah!

I went back over to the parsonage and collected the older boys and then we came back to my parents' house to gather up the whole group to walk down to Mr. Lucky's for dinner. We're doing a lot of walking here! The kids are complaining about it, but the weather has been fantastic, so their complaints are falling on deaf ears. Today it was over 50'F, and by late afternoon it was almost 60'F!! Looks like spring has finally come!

When ate dinner at Mr. Lucky's which is located on the southern edge of town. They had a prime rib buffet and so the kids could eat as much as they wanted. The food was good, but a bit too salty for Thai tastes. Afterwards, my parents drove the kids home in shifts. It was getting a bit cold out and some of the kids had not worn their jackets. Out in the parking lot of Mr. Lucky's there was a big bulldog sitting in the driver's seat of a van. It looked like he was driving it, haha! He also had big globs of drool hanging off his jowls and the craziest bug-eyed expression. It was a very funny looking dog. I wished I'd taken a picture of it.

Once we got back to the parsonage, James (Jetnipit) asked me "What's for dinner?"... "Uh, James, we just finished eating a buffet dinner!" ...boys :-P. The older kids went down to the park to play while I figured out how to get online from the parsonage so that the girls could get a chance to blog (since they just played with legos at my parents' house). After everyone got back, I sent them off to bed because tomorrow is going to be an early day. James (Jetnipit) was feeling a bit sick, but we'll see how he feels in the morning. It's probably just jetlag kicking in. I'm going to run down to the market to get him some medicine just in case.

OK, thanks for reading today's blog. Tomorrow we'll be visiting Henning's Cheese in Kiel and then the Fieder dairy farm near New Holstein. We have to be out of the house by 8:30am, so the kids are going to have to wake up early to get showered, dressed and fed before then! Wish me luck!