Some of the downsides...

First off, let me just say, there is NOT any downside to hosting a Foreign Exchange student, or having Yuka here. But some things (particularly just with school) have been more challenging than others!

Yuka's been here for almost 4 weeks now! And every day we still laugh, learn, and have fun together! We just have learned so much from each other about culture, life, and love!

Over the past 3 weeks we've really only had one issue: Science class!

I ranted about it on my Facebook one day, but honestly. I'm not sure how certain teachers can be so closed-minded! Up until yesterday (September 6th), Yuka did not have a positive report about the class whenever I asked! She had seen the Guidance counselor 3 times, we had e-mailed the teacher numerous times, and we were not getting anywhere. We seriously were getting ready to move her out of the class!

The teacher wasn't willing to assist. In a Science class where words like "posterior" and "connective tissue" are not every day words, ANY student needs more background knowledge of these terms before truly understanding them! Well first, Yuka was partnered with a "mean girl." Every time Yuka asked to see her paper, the girl would turn around and ignore her. So frustrating! We asked for her seat to be moved - which the teacher took an additional 4 days to do!

After that nightmare, Yuka received a so/so grade on a Notebook check (keeping up with notes, table of contents, etc), but it was graded by a classmate who didn't realize the verbal agreements the teacher made with her. For example, you don't need to complete this part of the notebook since you don't have time. :( So she's working hard and staying after school to get the work done and improve her grade.

Then, while she was moved, her second partner acted as if Yuka did not know any English! She took total control of the assignment and said, "I'll do the work for you." But that's not what Yuka wanted! She actually wants to participate and help out! She WANTS to understand, but she just needs someone caring enough to do it!

We just didn't understand why a teacher would be so far removed from a student's success or struggle in her classroom! I mean, I'm a teacher and I NEVER want to see any of students struggle! Then a few "Aha's" came to light - the teacher had a new baby 5 months ago and leaves campus at lunch time to see her, doesn't come in until the bell rings, doesn't stay after school except for 2 days... What a frustrating situation!

Anyway - all to say that we finally got things worked out. I had to e-mail her to tell her great strategies to use for Yuka (thankfully I am a teacher). Told her things like give us vocab before hand, give us a study guide for her test, use Thinking Maps, partner her up with a better partner (duh)... So Yuka has had 2 good days in Science!

But to add to the cluelessness of the teacher, the Japanese culture is a very clean and tidy culture. Most of them wear masks over their face even if they are not sick (just because of population, the proximity of all the people together, etc.)  Well - Yuka asked the teacher to come over to explain something more to her. She does, but she's in the middle of eating a snack. Which, by the way, children are not allowed to eat in the science lab - the teacher should lead by example! Anyway...the teacher takes one last bite of her food, brings it with her and then places the food on Yuka's schoolwork! Her half-eaten snack, right on Yuka's personal papers. All while eating and explaining the work to her. That's a huge no-no in the Japanese culture.

Enough about that topic, another funny challenge is sarcasm. We explained to Yuka was sarcasm was, she understood (Kind of like Sheldon from the Big Bang Theory). So every time we hear sarcasm or say something sarcastically we say, "That was sarcasm." or Yuka's picked up a few times and says, "Oh, sarcasm?!" Ha... So we were having our regular conversations, something about a very common topic, let's say lightning and thunder.. So I jokingly say to Brian, "Oh ya, you know lightning and thunder outside" and Brian responds, "Uh, what's that." The look on Yuka's face was hilarious! She immediately said, "YOU DON'T KNOW THAT!!!!" And we started laughing, then she realized "Ohhh, sarcasm." But, it's always a reminder of what we say and what we mean.

And we have told her about idioms, that she enjoys also - "Hit the lights" "Let the cat out of the bag" "Hold your horses" "Hit the hay"

Overall, there haven't been any other challenges. We absolutely adore her SAT Prep/World History teacher. She's an Eagles fan go figure, but she is also just an amazing person. So we e-mail her on a weekly basis reminding her of how awesome she is, how she's leaving a positive impact of America on Yuka, etc.

Homework is always fun - once we get done with Summer project (Yuka has 4 weeks to complete the project that everyone else [native English speakers] had 9 weeks to complete, but we are trudging through it and should be done by Sunday!).

Now I will leave you with some FUN memories!!

Pastor Don is turning 60 on Tuesday, so our family made him some origami with his favorite life verse in Japanese!

 So tired after playing Tag with the whole family!

Yuka started her exercising/dieting plan (LOL).. She is teaching Emily some moves!

Then Emily lost focus!

 More yoga.. the girls say, "I can do that!"

Relaxing with dad, and midnight conversations about any and all topics! 

Sushi making!

We stayed home from school because of an incident near the school.. so we went shopping and to the Disney Store!

First Few Weeks - Done!

We are a little over 3 weeks as a new family of 6!

For the most part, our family has adjusted quite well to having a new person here. The girls instantly formed an attachment to Yuka. I think we hyped her up so much to the girls, having a 'new' big sister, flying in on an airplane, coming from Japan... that the girls were just READY to meet her.

We welcomed Yuka at the airport with signs saying "Welcome Yuka" in Japanese! The girls each held a sign and were jumping up and down when they saw her! We quickly gave Yuka a tour of the house, dropped everything off insides and went out to each. She had been traveling since 9 that morning and had very little (pretzels or peanuts) to eat on the flight. We went to good ole Chili's! 

After lunch, we came home and helped get Yuka unpacked. We then had to run off to the doctor's office so Yuka could start school that Monday! We had to get all of her Japanese documents translated into American paperwork that I could take to the school Monday AM. After we did that, we came home and relaxed.

That Sunday was another busy day. Church, school-supply shopping, food shopping, uniform trying on, prepping for the first day of school. But we made it. And we successfully managed the first day and weeks of school! We are just about a month into school already!

One adjustment still in the process is nap time. Our girls are going through that stage where they think they don't need naps anymore. So, come 4:30-5:00, they are miserable, cranky, and tired. 

One adjustment for Yuka, I believe, is the noise level. In Japan, Yuka lives with her mom, although she often visits her grandparents. Besides the kindergarten students that Yuka plays with on the weekend from her mom's school, having 3 loud, obnoxious 2 and 3 year olds is quite overwhelming. Don't get me wrong, she adores the times she spends with the girls and playing with them, but come 8:00 when its silent and peaceful, she is just as happy as us! :D 

I would love to say that the next weekend after our first was more relaxed.. but nope.

On Friday we went to Disney Springs, for some shopping, music, and some free Disney experiences! Yuka was able to meet Grandma for the first time! 

Saturday morning we took Yuka to meet my Dad and Dorothy. The girls had so much fun playing with their big sister in my dad's pool!

We left my dad's then had a birthday party for one of the girl's friends, Jack. So Yuka then got to meet most of our friends that afternoon, as well as experience an American birthday party! In Japan, most people don't have a birthday party. They have cupcakes in school and that's about it. So to see a full blown baseball birthday party, with cake, 50 people, party games, food, was quite an experience!

Then Sunday, we had church and went to Brian's dads for Great Grandpa's birthday! She got to meet most of his side of the family there! 

Nothing like meeting most of the entire family in one weekend, right?! Not to overwhelming! ;-) 

Yuka said the one thing she loved about America is how everything is so much more "family oriented." That in Japan, most people want to be left alone or left with their friends. They don't have a lot of "family" holidays or gatherings. 

Thankfully the next weekend wasn't as busy. We went to the Premium Outlet malls over by us and got some shopping in! :) We were able to score a pair of Adidas sandals for $7, while Yuka got a pair of Adidas hi-top shoes for $16! She was so excited! 

Finally, we made it to this weekend! We had Family Game night where Yuka was able to meet some more family (My brother, Kenny, and that part of the family!). We also enjoyed going to Disney on Ice, thanks to Grandma giving the girls their birthday present early! Everyone had such a blast, especially being minutes from the Amway arena! 

Next time I write, I'll post about some of the challenges we've had in the past 3 weeks! But for now, we are loving all of the family time we are having! 

Another addition!

Our life has completely changed since the last time I wrote. It's weird to see how much has changed in just over a year!

Let me recap:

• We sold our house and moved into a bigger house!
• We transitioned our old life on the East side of Orlando to downtown Orlando, where our house is just over a mile away from our Central church location!
• We started homeschooling the girls, 90 minutes a day using ABC Jesus Loves Me. So far, we've completed 9 weeks of school, learned 5 bible verses, almost all our letters, numbers to 20, shapes, colors and more! The hardest part is getting back into the swing of it since summer, and figuring out our schedule...This year we are moving it to 2 hours of school a day!
• We started to make headway in a normal life routine! 

Then, we went to a Home school conference and spoke with a Foreign Exchange table (back story on that in a minute)...and from there we made a brand new, life changing decision... 

We decided to host a foreign exchange student! 

Now, this wasn't just because of the conference, it actually was stirred up before then. But God finalized our plans through the conference! 

It all started when Brian and I began learning our respective languages (Japanese & Italian). We wanted to take our learning to the next level, which of course, is conversation. At my MOPS group, I was talking with my table moms about us learning a language and someone mentioned hosting a foreign exchange student. I thought that was a neat idea, posed it to Brian and he was shocked I was interested! But of course, he was all in. At that point, we decided we would not do it right away, I mean come on, we still have 3 toddlers growing and changing every day. 2 of them were still peeing the bed at night, and one we just started potty-training!

Well, at the Homeschool conference we decided to visit the booth for CCI-Greenheart, a foreign exchange program. The coordinator was surprised when she asked us, "Ever consider hosting a foreign exchange student?" and we answered, "YES!" We told her we were interested in a girl only, and this time around, from Japan. She showed us 1 teenager who just fell perfectly inline with our family. 1) She loves to dance, 2) She loves to bake, 3) She loves to learn english. The coordinator kept pushing us to sign up, but again, hesitant because our family wasn't ready for this change yet, but we said we only wanted HER if we did do it this year. We were also concerned about the school, and we wanted to make sure that she could attend a specific charter school instead of the one we are zoned for.

The next day, the coordinator called us, she said that she was waiting to hear back from the charter school and if they would accept a foreign exchange student. She asked us to complete the first step - registering online. We did, just to have our name in the database, for future reference.

A day later the school got back with our coordinator. They would accept her! We just needed to complete the "Interest form" and turn it into the school. The coordinator then asked us to complete the ENTIRE form to move forward.

This is when we really started praying about it. Are we really ready to have another person in our life for a year? Can we financially afford another person? 

Well, after 2 days of praying about it, and avoiding phone calls from the coordinator, we decided to go ahead and do it! We completed the form. We finished our background check. We selected our girl-if we didn't get her, then we would stop pursuing the exchange program at this time! Thankfully, we were paired immediately with Yuka (the one we fell in love with!) 

And then everything was set in stone. The balls were rolling, flights were scheduled, and e-mail communication began.

This blog is to share our newest journey with you! Our life over the next 10 months as a host family with our foreign exchange student! My goal will be to post every week, have Yuka write a little in Japanese - have both perspectives, and just let you know about our Host family experience! 

'Til next time friends, I can't wait for you to join us on our journey!