The Japanese Came... And Went

Whew! What a week!

On August 5, Japanese Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, and their leaders (26 in all) were supposed to arrive at the airport at 4:55 p.m. Their flight from Japan was delayed and they missed their connecting flight. The Girl Scouts got in at midnight; the Boy Scouts had to take two flights and got in at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday. Thank God we all had cell phones. I hung out in a bookstore after work (don't feel too badly for me) until I got the final word. DD#1, who had just come home from Girl Scout Camp, came with me to pick them up.

And thus began my week of adding two extra teenagers to my household.

DD#1 decided to sleep on the couch. DS#1 decided to stay with friends. He also pulled out some of his textbooks--like math and electronics--to review them before class starts.

I learned to say, "Arigato gozimas," "Ichi, Ni, Sen," "Domenici," and that "Taco" means octopus--so pictures on the menu at Mexican restaurants are a good thing. Pictures on any thing are good, as are Japanese translations and pamphlets.

DD#2 and I are now committed to going on the exchange to Japan in two years, God willing. I wish I had started studying Japanese in 1997, when we hosted our first Japanese Scout. But now I have two years to learn some essential Japanese. DS#2 would like to go again.

There were many tears as they boarded the bus for their next California adventure (Yosemite). The Scouts will be back briefly tomorrow and fly home Wednesday morning and some of us will go to the hotel with last parting gifts. Then we have about a month before we begin fundraising in earnest and planning our next trip. Two years is not really a very long time!