Waiting for Fed Ex

Well, yesterday Fed Ex came and we were not here so today they will make their second attempt and I am staying 'put' until that envelope is in our hands! Anna Rae is off at a friend's garage sale and here sits her 'worrywart mom'. I did enjoy two hours of yard work, pruning bushes, weeding and watering. My one BIG pumpkin is already turning orange. Not like there isn't other stuff to be done; I have grocery shopping for AnnaRae's Bon Voyage Party to be held on Sunday. This party will be mostly neighbors and close friends of AR. She and I both want to get to a bookstore too so that she can get a French dictionary and a coffee table book of Seattle to give to her host family. Also need to make a run for some toiletries. Yesterday I got a new piece of luggage for AR. Now she has 2 BIG pieces,each being 26 inches high. I read the NW airlines luggage requirements and that seems to be ok as long as they stay under 70 pounds each and no more than 62 linear inches which means LxHxW. Hopefully my next posting will tell of the successful arrival of her visa!

Cake

Cake
Originally uploaded by mtnester.

Outbounds exchange students

Outbounds exchange students
Originally uploaded by mtnester.

Here are five of the outbound foreign exchange students from Vashon Island H.S. From left to right, students and destinations: Chloe: Spain, Anna Rae: France, Ben: Argentina, Mallory: Brazil and Andy: Italy

Still No Visa

Didn't sleep much last night. Partly cuz it was so darn hot and then I start to thinking about Anna Rae's Visa; where is it, when will it come, what if it gets here late and on and on. Pointless to worry, how does one stop it? However, Chloe's family does have a nightmare. Check out her mom's (Donna) blog A Whole Year if you want the whole horrid history. Anyway, today the word is that Chloe and her mom and a few other exchange students from around the state have to go to SAN FRANCISCO in person to pick up their visas!! Wow, is this a Rotary and 'The World Is Your Oyster' Travel screw up, or is it indicative about how the Spanish government feels about the USA? Tonight my nightmare will probably be Anna Rae and are are traveling from consulate to consulate in major cities searching for her Visa. All afternoon I have been playing with my photos online and maybe eventually I will understand how to post photos on my blog.

17 Days to Departure

Last Sunday we had a lot of fun at a dinner hosted by the parents of one of the other Vashon Island exchange students, Andy. The food was great as was the company. The weather was perfect for picnicking and as I gazed out over the trees and Puget Sound towards the layers of Olympic mountains I for one, couldn't imagine wanting to be anywhere else. Everybody is a little worried about one thing or another and all the kids (5 were there) are so excited and seem ready, emotionally at least, to be gone. Andy's host family (in Italy) had sent him digital pictures of themselves. Everyone crowded around to see what they looked like (they are younger than his real parents). Like a lot of the families that host, they have a son who will be gone while they have Andy living with them. He will have a younger 'host brother' who is the adopted son of his host parents. This younger brother was originally from Alabama but they must have adopted him as a very young child because he speaks no English. Two of the AFS students left for their countries (Argentina and Brazil) on Tuesday. The boy going to Argentina did not have an assigned host family yet! A third AFS student has mono and will be delayed in going to Argentina for 6 weeks. That is certainly a major disappointment for him. Chloe's mom is concerned about getting through the gate at the airport to say final good-byes. She told us that minors are allowed one person to go to the gate with them. I am hoping that AR does not think I am callous but I would rather say good-bye once than go through the gate and get all weepy a second time.
Tues. Wed. and Thurs. we went to Vancouver CA. That is such a beautiful city with so much to do. On the 'spur of the moment' we decided to join a tour of the UBC campus which we liked a lot. While it is huge (43,000 students I think) it is well planned with everything within reasonable distance. If a student has a passion for swimming this would be the place to go; it has both an outdoor and indoor Olympic sized pool that are beautiful. This marks campus #6 that Anna Rae has visited. We also saw some astounding fireworks on English Bay Wed. night, put on by the country of Spain.
Every year fireworks companies have a competition in Vancouver. This is the first time we saw one. The newspaper said about 125,000 people came to see the display and I can believe it. I was glad the hotel was within walking distance.
Today I dropped off a checklist/form for AnnaRae's Dr. to complete so that she can participate in crew while in France if she wants.
Now I just wish she would start packing so we can see what needs to be weeded out or sent later.

24 Days Before Take Off

In 24 days our one and only daughter, Anna Rae flies off to France as a Rotary International Exchange Student Abroad. Friends and relatives ask "How can you let her go?" and I tell them how hard she has worked to get this opportunity; a lengthy application, 2 grilling interview sessions by groups of Rotarians, and Junior classes taken as a Sophmore in hopes that she will be able to return and graduate with her class. I must say that as the departure date approaches I sometimes wish I had been selfish and said "No, don't go, ten and a half months is far to long to be missing you." But in my heart I know saying "yes" was the right choice for Anna Rae. She is bright, outgoing, inquisitive, and has opinions about everything. I can envision her succeeding as she faces the challenges of learning the language and culture of France and that gives me the courage to let her go.
Last night we went to a Pool Party for students returning from an exchange as well as the outbound students. No one went in the pool, parents and kids just talked nonstop for two hours, sharing experiences and anxieties. One mom reassured me that the occassional sleepless nights I have been having since Anna Rae began the process (last fall) of becoming an exchange student, will end as soon as I hear that she has arrived safely in France; at least that is how it was for her. Another mom said that a care package of Luna Bars was appreciated by her daughter in the beginning months of her exchange. It was a food she could grab without bothering her host family if she got hungry in the night; something that is not too unusual when one's body is adjusting to a new diet. We learned that they eat sugar, not salt, on popcorn in France; kinda like kettlecorn. All the exchange students said they walked just about everywhere they went in their host country or they took efficient mass transit (just a dream here). They all talked of being so down at at least one point and how hard it was to pull themselves out of that sadness and frustration. But even in the face of those low moments they did not want to go home, they were determined to work through the rough spots and they did. None of them would trade their experience living abroad for anything.
These last weeks together I am treasuring our summer leisure time together even more than usual. Yesterday we went blueberry picking in the shadow of Mount Si and then treated ourselves to ice cream at Scotts Frosty Freeze. Today Anna Rae
shared her technology know how and considerable patience to show me how to set up this blog. Whatever will I do without her!