More students

I'm having a hard time finding time to keep up with my blog, between trips to the airport and discovering and processing new host families! I've now placed nine students, and all but two have arrived. Today we went to the airport to greet Oi-Wai (Irene) as she arrived from Hong Kong. Another girl from Hong Kong is scheduled to arrive on Sept. 12, and I've placed a boy from Colombia whose travel plans aren't finalized yet.

It's really been fun to watch how God has brought these families to me. I'm too tired to type it all out right now, but maybe I'll get a chance to do that in the next few days. There are no students left to place, so I think things will slow down a little.

Our own sweet Marie continues to be a joy to have around. She is fun to be with and she tries to join us in whatever we're doing. Her English is improving dramatically, and I guess it works both ways because Julianne likes to answer the phone in Korean now.

There must be more to say, but I'm just too tired to say it, so it will have to wait until next time.

And they keep on comin'

What a busy--but FUN--couple weeks I've had! This is prime arrival time for the exchange students, and I have to be (get to be is more like it!) at the airport for the arrival of every student that I place.

My week looked like this:

Tuesday: Jung-Hwa from Korea was scheduled to arrive at 11:20 a.m. along with a Korea boy. We had a great welcome party there to greet them: Talia and Haley (Kristen's girls), Julianne, Marie, and Marie's friend, Essie.



Unfortunately, Jung-Hwy got hung up in immigration in Portland, so she ended up coming on a later flight. But she did arrive--with all her luggage even!--and her host family is delighted to have her with them.

Jung-Hwa meeting her new host family


Wednesday afternoon brought the arrival of my Brazilian boy, Pedro. The news crew was there to film his arrival, and they interviewed me, Pedro, and his host family. I think the interview went well, although I haven't seen it since we don't get any tv. I plan to buy a copy of the tape though, because Pedro's parents in Brazil really want to see it.

Pedro's host family has six children living at home, including two teenage daughters. My kids were there too (except for Marie, who was at a swim party), and we were all lined up ready to welcome Pedro as he entered the airport. He started at one end and went right down the line greeting us all in true Latin American fashion: with a kiss on the cheek for all the girls/women, and a handshake for the boys/men. I was first in line, and having lived in Chile for a year where this is completely normal, it didn't phase me. However, it was a different story for Julianne, Elisa, and Pedro's host sisters, who all took turns blushing as he kissed them. I think we may have to provide him with a little orientation on American greetings!

I returned to the airport Wednesday night for the arrival of Nemanja from Serbia. He was quite tired after nearly 24 hours of travel, but he was still warm and friendly, and very happy to finally meet his new family--and vice-versa.

Nemanja is standing directly behind the sign


Today was my last trip of the week as Simon (his American name) arrived from Korea. He arrived on time, but with no luggage, so that's about par for the course. The weight allowance for each person on the flight has recently been increased because Americans are, overall, getting bigger. The maximum weight of the loaded plane remains the same, so they are having to leave baggage behind to keep the plane within the limit. Many of our students have arrived without luggage, but it usually follows later the same day or early the next day, once it's been shipped down from Portland.

Simon meets his family (Dad had to work)

Face Rock

I can't begin to tell you how much we are enjoying having Marie with us. She is very sweet, and despite the language challenges, she's quite outgoing. She works hard to communicate with us, and she seems very relaxed around us. When I served broccoli for dinner, she admitted she doesn't like it, which was a relief to me--not that she doesn't like it, but that she told me so, and now I don't have to wonder if she's suffering in silence eating things she hates.

Last night, Marie and Julianne sat on the couch singing praise songs together. Julianne would start singing a song in English, and Marie would join in in Korean. It was absolutely beautiful. I think we will eventually have to work out a duet for them to sing at church.

This afternoon we went to the beach at Face Rock in Bandon, where we met up with two other host families and their exchange students, Sang-Hun from Korea (Michael), and Sz-Yin from Hong Kong (Suzy). It was a bit overcast, which was nice as it kept the wind away.

The host families visited, comparing notes on how things are going so far with our students. The kids had a great time playing soccer, wading in the water, and building a sand castle.



After playing on the beach, we walked back up to the top of the viewpoint and showed Marie why they call it Face Rock. I think I have the four most beautiful children in the world!

She's here!

Marie has arrived safe and sound and now the adventure begins! Her travel went smoothly, and we were all there at the airport to greet her as she stepped off the plane. After all the months of emails and waiting, it is wonderful to finally have her with us.

She is absolutely beautiful, and very sweet and outgoing. We are using lots of gestures and charades to communicate, but that is to be expected in the early days of an exchange. The kids all love her and are thrilled that she's with us.

We spent the afternoon getting her registered for school, then after dinner we took her to see and feed the horses that live down the street. Her bags just recently arrived at the house, so she is upstairs unpacking now.

We are all so excited about this upcoming year, and we are having so much fun becoming a family of six!

Sz-Yin, Hyo-Jeong, and Sang-Hun

Yesterday was the arrival day for three of our AYUSA students, but as sometimes happens with international travel, things didn't go exactly as planned.

The other Community Rep. and I met the three host families at the airport to greet the students and welcome them to the area. On the docket to arrive was Sz-Yin from Hong Kong, Hyo-Jeong from Korea, and Sang-Hun from Korea. We had a nice welcome sign and the host families had welcome gifts for their students. It was a fun moment of anticipation as the plane landed.



One advantage of the North Bend airport being so small is that you can actually watch the people step off the plane and walk into the terminal gate. With great excitement, we watched the passengers begin disembarking the plane. Off came Sz-Yin! It is such a fun and exciting feeling to experience that moment when pictures and emails suddenly turn into a real, live person! Sz-Yin was adorable, although completely exhausted from her 18-hour flight.



I ushered her to meet her host family, then watched for the next student to step off the plane. American. American. American. Little old Japanese woman. American. No Korean kids. We weren't too worried since missing a flight during international travel is quite common and can occur for a variety of reasons. I followed my AYUSA training and called their headquarters as I went to the ticket counter to attempt to track down these kids. The lady at the ticket counter said the kids had been put on the next flight, arriving in 3 hours.

Caleb and Elisa were at VBS in Coquille, so I came back home to pick them up, grab some lunch, and was just getting ready to head to the airport when there was a knock at the door. It was my friend, Debbie. I'd forgotten that I'd agreed to babysit her three kids for awhile that afternoon while she went to the doctor. I loaded up all SIX kids and headed to the airport. I arrived to the news that the Korean kids had been bumped off of their flight for some unknown reason. The news got worse. The flight from Portland to North Bend was completely booked for the rest of the day and all day Thursday. The airline suggested we fly the kids to Eugene and pick them up there--a 2 hour 15 minute drive.

To make a veeeeeeeeeeery long story shorter, after hours of discussion and phone calls between ticket agents, host fathers, community reps, AYUSA headquarters, and the airline, we finally realized we didn't have any other choice. So both host families headed to Eugene to pick up their kids. Quite honestly, this post is a pretty brief summary of a much longer chain of frustrating events.

The bright side is that the kids are now with their host families and finally getting some rest. I'll give them a couple days to settle in before I pay them a visit to introduce myself.

This fiasco brought up some concerns, since all of our remaining Korean students are scheduled to arrive on the exact same itinerary. Marie is in the air now and should be making her connection in Portland in a couple hours. We're praying that she's on the plane when we go to pick her up!

Happy Birthday Mom!

Today is the birthday of my wonderful mother-in-law, but I wish there were another title I could use for her that doesn't have such negative connotations. Since Brad and I got married (nearly 14 years ago--has it really been that long?), we have often talked about how thankful and blessed we are to have in-laws that we not only get along with, but actually enjoy being around. We love each other's parents dearly.

So I'd just like to use today's blog space to honor this woman that has influenced my life greatly since I became part of her family. When I hear her name, a slideshow of mental images passes through my mind.

I see her standing over the kitchen sink, washing vegies fresh-picked from the garden and getting them ready to freeze. Her freezer is a smorgasboard of homegrown organic delicacies.

I see her coming in the front door with her latest bargain. It usually goes something like "It was on sale, and they were trippling coupons, so I got it for five cents, and that's not bad!"

I see her diligently preparing her home for guests, adding all those little special touches that make you feel special, welcome, and loved. Although if you are the guest, you never see her doing all this work because she (unlike me) gets it all done well ahead of time.

I see her making long lists of things to do and buy to prepare for an upcoming holiday or special event.

I see her opening the front door to welcome her grandchildren with big hugs, or to bid them good-bye with "Love you darlin'."

I see her switching to decaf at 10 a.m.

I see her making traditional Christmas goodies: sugar cookies, nut snackers, fudge, and pecan meringues. Some of these things I'd never had before I met her, but now it doesn't seem like Christmas without them.

I see her setting out styrofoam plates for Thanksgiving dinner so we can all spend time talking and relaxing instead of doing dishes all afternoon.

I see her going through her collection of fabric, helping me find a suitable piece for whatever I'm about to make.

I see her clipping an article from the newspaper to send to a loved one that will find it interesting.

She's efficient, diligent, and frugile, but never rigid or overbearing. No matter what she does, there's love wrapped around it.

To be quite honest, this is a perfect description of her:

A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies.
Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value.
She brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life.
She selects wool and flax and works with eager hands.
She is like the merchant ships, bringing her food from afar.
She gets up while it is still dark; she provides food for her family and portions for her servant girls.
She considers a field and buys it; out of her earnings she plants a vineyard.
She sets about her work vigorously; her arms are strong for her tasks.
She sees that her trading is profitable, and her lamp does not go out at night.
In her hand she holds the distaff and grasps the spindle with her fingers.
She opens her arms to the poor and extends her hands to the needy.
When it snows, she has no fear for her household; for all of them are clothed in scarlet.
She makes coverings for her bed; she is clothed in fine linen and purple.
Her husband is respected at the city gate, where he takes his seat among the elders of the land.
She makes linen garments and sells them, and supplies the merchants with sashes.
She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come.
She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue.
She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness.
Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her:
"Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all."
Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.
Give her the reward she has earned, and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.

Happy Birthday, Mom. I love you.

Busy, busy, busy

There hasn't been anything exciting going on; it's just been that generic kind of busy. I'm really not even sure what to write about, since nothing eventful has happened.

We are loving having Julianne back home. The story of her summer comes out in bits and pieces as different events and situations come to her mind. I'm so glad she is the kind of child that shares these things with us.

Yesterday I dropped Caleb and Elisa off for VBS at their friends' church. Julianne and I snuck off together and went out to breakfast. It was a wonderful mother-daughter time. Today Julianne went to VBS with Caleb and Elisa, so I had the morning to myself. I had a busy morning, despite the fact that I can not tell you what I got done. (I hate it when that happens!)

Lots of my time lately has been spent looking for host families. We're getting down the the wire now, and there are still many unplaced students. The high school in Coos Bay said they will take three more students if we can find host families for them. I've sent information to several churches and made lots of phone calls, so hopefully something will turn up soon.

Today I talked to our local tv news station, and they agreed to do a two-part story on AYUSA. Monday they want to interview me in the studio and do a story on AYUSA as an organization and talk a little about the students we have coming this year. They will also give me the opportunity to say that we need host families and give my phone number. Then on Aug. 24, they'll send a news crew to the airport to tape the arrival of our Brazilian student. I've chatted with him many times online, and he is outgoing and friendly with good English, so I think he'll be a good choice for the interview. His host family has 10 kids (6 living at home), and I will have my kids (including Marie) with me, so at the very least, it should be an interesting news story.

It's been such a full summer, yet in many ways I feel like I haven't done much. We haven't gone camping at all, nor have we made it to the beach or to a river to swim. The summer's not over yet, but I don't get the feeling we're going to squeeze much recreation into these upcoming busy weeks. School looms out there just a few weeks away, and I've barely looked at the catalog, let alone placed my order for curriculum. Somebody slow down the clock!

Calling across the world

Today I got to do something I've never done before: make a phone call to Serbia! The family that is hosting the Serbian boy emailed him over a week ago (as did I), and neither of us has heard back from him. The family was leaving for vacation this afternoon and they were a bit worried about the lack of communication. I assured them it was just some little glitch somewhere--perhaps Nemanja is out of town or isn't able to check his email very often. They were still worried, so I said I'd give him a call.

His father answered the phone in what I would guess was a typical Serbian greeting. I tried to speak slowly and clearly as I asked to speak with Nemanja--and it worked! Momentarily, he was on the phone talking to me. His English is good and he appeared to understand me well.

He is aware that he's been placed with a host family, but he hasn't yet received the packet with specific information on his host family. And to top it off, we had the wrong email address for him. I think we got all that straightened out, so hopefully his family and/or I will hear from him soon. He seems to be a very nice kid with a very cool accent. :-) It will be fun to meet him.

Sick as a dog

Betsy is the friendliest dog I've ever seen, and she always greets people as they arrive at our house, regardless of how long they've been gone or whether she knows them at all. Her typical greeting consists of a wildly wagging stub (all she's got left of her tail), a smile on her face, and so much wiggling that she is quite literally folded in half. Our family has offically dubbed this "the Wiggle Welcome".

Yesterday when Brad came home for lunch, he found her laying in the flowerbed. She didn't greet him, and she wouldn't even get up. He called me to come outside, but regardless of how much as we urged her to get up, she was limp and lethargic. I ran inside and called the vet while Brad loaded Betsy into the van.

A friend from church was the vet on duty at the time, which was wonderful for us. She is very reassuring and we trust her completely. She tested some of Betsy's blood and took other samples that Betsy was kind (?) enough to leave on the floor at the vet's office. Betsy tested negative for parvo, but did have some sort of elevated blood count that pointed to some other condition. (I'm don't know medical terminology, so this is as clear as it's going to get--sorry.)

They admitted her and gave her an IV and put her on antibiotics. She spent last night at the vet, chewing out her IV, according to the report we got. We got to bring her home this afternoon, and she appears to be as good as new! She'll be on antibiotics for another week, but aside from that, there appear to be no lasting effects. Today she's been playful and happy--and the Wiggle Welcome is back!

What a life

Last night I did the host family interview with the family hosting the Serbian boy. It felt like a field trip. As I drove down the long gravel road toward the house, I passed field after field of sheep that would baa and run away from the fence as I drove by. I admit, I couldn't help but roll down my window and talk back to them a little. I passed other fields full of grazing cows.

I finally arrived at their home, an old farmhouse that was once featured on the pages of National Geographic in an issue they did on county fairs. The house sits in a clearing with woods behind, and pastures surrounding. Beyond the pastures were the dunes leading to the beach. As I got out of the van, their border collie puppy greeted me with wiggles and kisses. The wife came outside and welcomed me as she lead me inside the house. It really felt more like I was stepping inside a novel about life 75 years ago.

The farmhouse was simple and rustic without a lot of updates, except for the computer and fax machine that sat on the counter. But despite (or maybe because of) the lack of modernization, there was the distinct feeling of family, warmth, love, and closeness. I never once looked at my interview notes because the conversation flowed easily with this wonderful, down-to-earth family.

Their 12-year old son told me how he likes to catch salmon and steelhead in the river that runs through their property. He also hunts for ducks in his spare time. Or plays with their pet raccoon that comes inside the house (but unfortunately, I didn't get to see him).

They gave me a tour of the house, which has a single bathroom with a big, old-fashioned bathtub, but no shower. The wife explained that there is an outdoor shower for those who wish to use it. As we walked into one of the bedrooms, it was impossible not to notice the huge stuffed bear hanging on the wall.

The family works together to run the ranch, but they have many outside interests as well. They dive for abalone. They are learning to sail their new sailboat. Their older son has been on an Olympic Development soccer team out of Portland.

Coming from a city of 2 million people, I'm sure this Serbian boy will have some big adjustments to make as he joins his new American family. And while he won't have some of the big-city opportunities that some exchange students enjoy, he will have some incredible experiences that very few of us native Americans ever experience.

And that is my favorite thing about this new job of placing exchange students. I get to meet the most wonderful families in the context of their own homes. Each family has been unique, yet I've enjoyed them all immensely. I can only imagine how much fun it will be when the students arrive!

The g-word

Today as we were driving into town, Elisa's voice suddenly piped up from the back seat, "Mom, Leland said the g-word when we were at his house." I quickly did a mental scan of all the possibilities for this word apparently bad enough to be reduced to its initial.

I couldn't think of any that were so vulgar that I shouldn't ask, so I did. "What is the g-word, Elisa?"

She answered me in her most sweet, truthful voice, "Shut up."

In all my years of learning several languages, I never knew that the g-word was 'shut up'. So I thought I better share the new information so you can file it away for future reference.

Chess club

Caleb has been playing a lot of chess at home, but he hasn't been to chess club for awhile. He went last night and came home grinning from ear to ear. Matthew is one of the top chess players and Caleb had never beat him before. Last night Caleb challenged him--and won! Matthew challenged Caleb back to regain his board position, and Caleb beat him again! He then beat Ivy, a girl that is also very good. He got the attention of the chess teacher/coach. She told him he'd definitely be on the team that goes to state and nationals next year. As for me, I'm learning a lot too--about losing graciously, because Elisa is about the only one I can beat anymore.

Another exchange student

I secured another host family today, quite to my surprise! I've been working with a family that has taken some time to decide about hosting at all, and then chose a student that I didn't think was even available. This afternoon I got the phone call telling me he was, so I've now added a Serbian boy to the list of incoming students. We'll have a total of nine students in Coos County: five Koreans, a Chinese, a Japanese, a Brazilian, and a Serbian. I'm looking forward to a fun, fascinating year!

Rabbits!