Well, I'm mostly caught up on my blogging for now. I've got to post a few more videos over the next week or two, but I didn't do very much this week, so there isn't much to blog about.
The kids have been with their host families for almost a week now, and for the most part, things have been going very well. There are a few minor cases of homesickness and communication difficulty, but the kids and their host families have been handling those problems, so I haven't had much to do. Yay!
My parents watch A LOT of TV, so I've been catching up on my American culture, hahah! I've also been sleeping and eating a lot too. It's nice to have a little down time after so many weeks of hectic activity. I'm starting to get a little bit of cabin-fever though, and so I've been going out for walks during the day to get some fresh air. Fortunately, the weather has been really nice this week. Temperatures have been getting up to 24'C (75'F) during the day!! Wow, it feels almost like Thailand here, hahah! Except here we still have chilly winds, but as long as I wear a windbreaker jacket, it's very comfortable.
I've been reading the blogs of the students and it's great to see their photos and read their stories. They really seem to be enjoying themselves. Most of the host families have activities planned for Easter weekend, so the whole group will not be getting together this weekend. Instead they will do individual activities with their host families. However, Jet is visit my family this weekend so he can attend Easter sunrise service at Faith Lutheran with me, Gird, Sky, Tong, and James (Jirayu). Since the services start at 7:00am, his host family did not want to drive down from Denmark so early in the morning, so Jet is staying overnight in my parents' house.
It's a bit crowded here tonight, because my sister Diane and her family are also visiting for Easter. Since Diane and her husband have SIX kids, that means the house is very full! My Mom and Dad are sleeping upstairs in one room, Pat and Diane have another room, and their daughters (Liz and Christine) have the other room. Then all the boys (Alex, Matt, Tim and Ben) are sleeping on air mattresses downstairs with me and Jet. Jet gets to sleep on the couch so he's very lucky, hahah!I gave my nieces and nephews some presents from Thailand (fisherman pants!). Diane got a silk scarf and Pat got a silk tie. I also gave Ben one of those little wooden frogs that cheep when a stick is dragged over its back.
Ben and Jet played a game of Monopoly, while Diane acted as the banker. At first the game was pretty close, but then Ben got some hotels on his property and Jet got some unlucky rolls. Pretty soon Ben had over $4000.00 and Jet had $4.00, hahah!! Jet doesn't want me to post photos of him getting crushed by a seven year-old boy, but I have to be honest in my blog reports, so too bad Jet! Hahah!After the game, we watched a bit of basketball (go Butler! boo Duke!) on TV while Tim, Ben and Jet played games on a PSP. Tim really likes his fisherman pants because they make him look like a ninja! :-) It's been really great seeing my family again. All of my sister's kids have gotten so big!! Alex is already 22 years old, and Ben wasn't even born when I first went to Thailand! So it's nice to finally get to be "Uncle George" for a few days!
Next week I'm going to try to get to some more schools for classroom photos, so keep checking this blog. Thanks.
Do you know what the thing we are mostly impressed by this time of your blogging is? It's not the way you wrote and not the detail you put in your blog. It's your new picture under "About Me" heading. You are a very good-looking and attractive guy in this picture. Did you get this picture from your parents? Can we copy this picture and post it to a movie star website or book? Ha hah! Just kidding.
ReplyDeleteWe're glad that you've got a great time of your family reunion. It is an undeniable fact for humanbeing that we don't seem to know how old we exactly are until we meet with the kids which we we haven't seen for many years.
Pls note one thing that you, according to our view, truely are one of the valuable resources in our country now.
We also would like to deeply thank your parents for everything too.
Goy & Jee (Gam's parent)
George it is interesting to see how our world looks like through your eyes. We have missed you, having you home for a visit is awesome! Since I watch TV only at lunch time and dinner time I do not consider that a lot, I think you are on Thailand time for it seems you are awake all night and sleep most of the day, 555+
ReplyDeleteNow if you said I am on the computer a lot I would have to agree with you. I receive over 50 e-mails a day and try to answer all of them, Lately that has not been possible,
We enjoyed so much having Jet here for Saturday evening, Ben and Tim I think had a great time with him. Hope Jet enjoyed the Easter Egg Hunt. Tim and Jet have one thing in common and that is being a teenager. Too big for some things and too young for other things. I hope all the children are learning about each other and seeing how much their lives are so similar and how big the culture differences are, especially food!
Pepper is having the most fun of all, he loves company!
We miss your students for have brighten our lives. I am sure the host families are doing their best. This brought back so many memories when our family back in New Hampshire was host family for over eight years to eleven young people from many different countries, We learned from them as they learned from us. Thank you for bringing this opportunity to us all! Love your MUM