Let it snow!!

This is Aya's first real bout with snow - the snow she's seen a few weeks back was just a dusting - a mere 1/2 inch or so.

This time we've received nearly 2 back-to-back storms, she came out after the first one to offer assistance in shoveling the driveway, but quickly thought better of it since it was 26F.

We did encourage her to stay just enough to be able to slide down the unplowed street by our home. She had fun briefly until the cold seeped into her bones.

She had not yet purchased gloves and boots, though we strongly suggested that she should. She stated that the other students don't wear them; typical New England teens who are used to wearing just a hooded-sweatshirt (hoodie), no gloves and just sneakers in conditions like this. But Aya who is from a very warm climate can't mimic the locals for very long.

Later that evening we went glove and boot shopping - we are waiting to see if they get put to use.

Bouncing into basketball season

My own children have been playing basketball for the past 3 years and signed up again this season. We choose to include Aya this time and signed her up, because she wanted to try something on a sports team. She didn’t like the options offered: Swimming, Soccer, softball and field hockey. We encouraged her to try basketball – so she reluctantly signed up.

She missed her first practice due to being sick (she stayed home from school that day also) and missed her second practice because she was on her California trip. The coach basically said she can’t be on the team due to the fact she has not showed up (money well spent) – there is a game 12/2/07 which I think she will officially tell the coach she wants to quit.

MMPOGs are eating into my day-to-day life

I am learning the hard way that on-line gaming can steal precious life hours away, especially if play time is nearing addiction. I will seek to lessen my time and do it in moderation, as I realize the year has gone by so much more quickly missing out on some days outdoors with family.

It’s sort of a life bandit, takes away from time you could be spending elsewhere with family, friends or doing something knowledgeable.

http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/world-of-warcraft.htm

I am curious as to how many other families have lost a soul to this world or one like it?

Research Paper Work Hell

Aya is being dragged down with even larger assignments in U.S. History class. She has to write note cards, research paper and work cited on a topic from a fairly large list from the teacher.

All of this is quite confusing to Aya, since it has to be in a certain format: MLA and can not be any form of plagiarism. Fortunately for me or I didn’t have to do these types of papers in High School or college, since both of the schools were technical. She asked me for assistance, I looked at it bewildered since I haven’t turned on that part of my brain in years.

I may so some internet research on how to write a research paper which include Work Cited sheet, Question and Thesis.

Aya doesn’t show a lot of interest in doing her homework when she gets home lately, not sure if it’s a combination of being homesick or just not really caring too much for the academics. As it seems she is treating this more of a one year vacation from Japan to get to see America.

She seems to be shying away from American culture and resorting to going to Japanese websites and reading Japanese magazines. Mostly like it’s because this is where her comfort zone is.

Speeding Ticket hearing…

Had my court date for a speeding ticket I received back on Labor Day Weekend – was able to get a reduction but couldn’t get it waived. Well saving $100.00 was worth the trip instead of just paying the full $200.00. I don’t usually drive too fast and get upset when I see other flying by me on the high-way and nothing seemingly happens to them.

Oddly enough the State Troopers seem to exceed speed limit for not apparent reason without Lights or Sirens quite often. I presume there is no recourse for them; who is going to give another cop a ticket for speeding?

Below Freezing!

Aya had seen the snow a few weeks back which only accumulated about 1 inch, since then it’s just been odd weather (some days in the upper 50’s and sometimes rain).

This past weekend, the temperature has dipped down to 25 deg F and had some wind. Though it did not snow, it was down right bone-chilling.

Aya couldn’t believe it; she has a winter coat she purchased in September from L.L. Bean. Not sure why she removed the attached hood nor does she zip up the front all the while telling me how cold it is.

This won’t prepare her for the harsh January and February weather we get here in New England from time to time. If she’s lucky it will remain semi-mild. (Though viewing the weather reports – the mid-west had been struck with a snow storm and we are supposed to get something tonight).

Pass the gravy!

The Holiday's are coming faster as each year passes or so it seems. Wal-Mart has had Christmas music playing since November 1st. As much as I like the Holiday season, it’s getting out of hand with all the decor being put up in Early November.

My wife had purchased an outdoor blow-up Tom the Turkey display for outside; she thought that we ought to decorate more for each Holiday. He looked more like a mascot at some football game than a lawn ornament.

Aya experienced her first Thanksgiving in the U.S. She appeared to enjoy the food, though she still is quiet and doesn't really comment on what she eats here unless asked.

Our dinner was down in Connecticut with my wife's family. Everything was good and I got stuffed as usual.

Aya had left the day after Thanksgiving to head out on her booked California trip: Hollywood, Las Vegas and stuff in between.
She spent a week out there with her group and tour company / chaperones.

We had a 2nd Thanksgiving celebration on Saturday with my family, again in Connecticut. There was a ton of home cooked goodies and we stuffed ourselves again.

As with most of the Blog’s I’ve been reading; I am not the only delinquent poster – its just sometimes life seems to get busier than the time allowed.

Volleyball playoffs

In late November I took the girls, especially Aya to watch an American Volleyball tournament where some of the best teams in Mass were competing. She enjoyed it a lot – I’ve never watched one so it was interesting (though long).

I didn’t realize it was best of 7 due to ending the best of 5 with a tie, or something like that. It was loud and each school had their cheering fan section all done up in their school colors like war paint.

We watched Division 3 with North Reading versus Frontier

The North Reading team was beaten twice before in previous years by the Frontier’s and this year they were out for blood. We had no idea of either team, since we’ve never attended these events. In the beginning we just chose a team with the same school colors as our kids.

Shopping woes

We’ve taken Aya to over a half dozen stores to purchase items she was looking for such as light colored jeans, gloves and hats for the Winter. Each time she never really can decide an item or it doesn’t look right for one reason or another.

Frankly, we will have to boil it down to this since we are growing a little tired of playing taxi service. A) She can order online from whatever store she desires B) Purchase items from the stores available in our area. Due to time constraints, sports, work and school we can’t just go on a whim any longer.

Lost in translation?

This is a little clip I stumbled across, as you can see English is not as common in Japan as one might think, compared to other countries. This clip reminds you of it and makes light of the Japanese ability to speak English.



There are many web-sites that capitalize on this such as http://www.engrish.com/. I sort of wish I had sattelite TV and able to get some foreign channels outside of the Spanish ones.

California here they come!

Aya had booked a flight and trip with a company that deal specifically with exchange student organizations “Explore America Tours”, I didn’t even know there was such a niche in the whole entrepreneurship world.

http://www.explore-america.com/

She is very excited since she will be able to visit California, her ideal state she had hoped be a part of during this exchange program stay. Sorry to say – but how it works is there are a whole lot of exchange students trying to find a placement in the United States (where they go isn’t a choice for each student, they get placed where there is a spot available, which would include a school district that is willing to accept them).

She has been updating me on other student within her organization and from her country that are having issues with their respective host families. Sometimes they get put in to families, not able to deal with hosting a family, though they signed up to be one. Sometimes the host parents and siblings have dislikes about personal interactions are and are not willing to make sacrifices. In other cases, a temporary family is found just to place a child into a home; in order to buy time to find a permanent family that will receive the student for 1 full school year. (I digress)

Aya told me she has a cousin who lives in Los Angles and wants to be able to meet up with him during the trip. I am thinking it will be difficult, since this is a tour group and where they go is dictated by the organization and not by the individual.

Her trip excerpt will be similar to this:

--------------------------------------------------

“There is so much to see in our time in Los Angeles and our tour will take us to some of the most famous sights. We will visit Beverly Hills, Rodeo Drive, Santa Monica and Venice Beach, Hollywood Boulevard and Melrose Avenue (the best place in Los Angeles for fun fashions). And tonight, after dinner, we see a live theater production.

We will spend our last day LA day riding the thrilling rides and exploring the attractions offered by Disneyland.

We will visit the South Rim of the Grand Canyon National Park and watch an IMAX show that teaches us about the Park's history - and we will have a chance to see both the Sunrise and Sunset over the Grand Canyon. We will grab our cameras and hike some of the trails around the Canyon's South Rim to photograph the Colorado River, which rages through the Canyon's floor.
We will venture into Las Vegas for an exciting tour of America's favorite playground.

Downtown Las Vegas with the Fremont Street Experience is always a student favorite.
We will drive and walk the "Strip" and explore many of the thrilling sites and attractions Vegas has to offer, from its glamorous casinos to its huge shopping facilities and roof top roller coasters.
Our days in Vegas will end with dinner and a Vegas Show.
· 1 night is spent sleeping on the bus from Los Angeles to the Grand Canyon.

---------------------------------------------

I am thinking that last note can’t be too much fun, falling asleep on a coach has got to be uncomfortable to say the least.

I suppose I can say I am a little jealous, as I lived here all my life and have not had time to go L.A. or even the earlier Niagara Falls in up state New York - sad how jobs and life styles dictate where we go and what we do. I think more of us should take the time and stop and smell the roses before the only roses we smell are the ones laid on our coffins. Life is too short to live to work, see Aya get to do all these things along with her fellow students from abroad has brought to me another light.

Having said this I want to organize the time and make time with my own family to go on trips we've dreamed about but somehow couldn't save enough or get the time off to go to. We only live once and one of us could be gone tomorrow and never get to live for today, I wonder how many people say this and never have the opportunity to fulfill their dreams.

This is Halloween

Aya expressed that she was interested in the American traditions such as Halloween and Christmas.

I thought it was only fair to introduce her to what teenagers enjoy during the spooky season.

We took a trip with my daughter’s arts & craft club to Salem, Massachusetts. The town was having a festival specifically to celebrate Halloween and the fact that Salem is deemed the town in America to have its first Witch Trials back circa late 1700’s.

It was a little over 2 hours to get there and once there we did a lot of walking. She entered one of the Nation’s first candy shops there and viewed the “House of the 7 Gables” from the parking lot. Heard it was an interesting tour (though we did not have time to do the tour).

Some of the bizarre things we viewed that days while walking around town was this family dressed in blood-spattered clothing (much like the people in the Texas Chainsaw Massacre movie) walking around pushing a baby carriage fully of severed body parts (disturbing to say the least) – it’s the side of the Halloween that could be left to the imagination. I supposed one could call it a roving art exhibit of the macabre.

We also isolated a date to visit a Haunted House walk-through (not a real one). I was doing a search on the web for something fun, similar to what I was used to as a kid and found this place in Douglas, Ma.

The Haunted Mansion Douglas

Of course, the night I choose was dark and stormy, literally. Fortunately for October, the weather wasn’t freezing. The rain was relentless – I can’t remember the last time I was more drenched – though I had partial cover from an umbrella and wore what I thought was a water-proof jacket. The cue for entry of this event was winding outside by a garage. The entry fee of course was the best part – all we had to do is purchase canned goods (vegetables and the like). At first I thought, how good could a thing like this that doesn’t charge real admission – I later was surprised all the work these people put into, I left impressed.

I brought all my daughters (Aya and my own). I hadn’t completely made up my mind about bringing my youngest 10 to this place, but since no one else was home to watch her, I thought she would be able to handle it; and she did.

Though Halloween has passed, I did pick up pumpkins to carve one night this week – it’s not just the day, but the events she will remember and bring home with her.

She had made a few friends at school, one of whom is that girl from Thailand who invited Aya to go Trick-or-Treating. Even though we expressed our dismay, since she is approaching 18 years old and that American kids aren't usually given candy at that age if they go door-to-door. She went to a neighboring town where there are more homes in close proximity (more candy) and accepts older teens (probably in lieu of getting their cars toilet papered, eagerly give out candy instead).

Life at school...sometimes b-o-r-i-n-g

We’ve (my wife and I) have gone to a couple of Parent/Teacher conferences. My wife usually goes to my daughter’s teacher and I split up and go to our exchange student’s teachers.

I am happy to say things are going well. The teachers seem to have an understanding on how Aya comprehends and grades accordingly. As I would imagine, it isn’t in their best interest that a poor grade is given if a student is trying and does over 5-6 hours of homework every night (compared to an average American student who does 2-3hrs). There are 2 other exchange students at the High School both from different organizations, one from Brazil and the other from Thailand.

I had learned that both of them had many more years of English than Aya (who had only 3 years of it). I know I say only 3 years, but if you were to take Spanish or French and get placed into an All Spanish or French school – I would expect more than half of us would flounder under the pressure of mental translation and understanding and to perform the written homework in a non-native language. It boggles the mind to think that someone can do it on only 3 years of English.

Aya doesn’t feel she is getting better in her language skills; both auditory and spoken language. On the contrary I sense that she is improving very well, hence the whole idea of immersion.

I recently learned the girl from Thailand had been taught English since the 3rd Grade. I am not sure about the boy from Brazil, though I heard he was a good soccer (football) player but wanted to try something different and chose to take American football and joined the team – not sure how successful he is, however he had made the sport cover page of the local paper.

We told Aya, she could suffer a letter grade in order to enjoy life in the America a little more - since most of her time home from school was put into doing essays for History class.

Blog Slacking

Red Sox
World Series
Celebration!


Sorry for the slacking in the Blog updates. I think I’ve been relishing in the Red Sox victory and overcome with Fall activities and the depressing nature during the transition from Summer to Fall.

At best I can summarize the events that unfolded since I’ve last posted.
I will try to break it up into individual posts – all intentions are good, only the end result will prove that there was success or not.

Initially I was typing my Blog on your basic notepad.exe though it was simple, it provided no way to format and spell correctly – as I cut and pasted into the Blog I noticed all my paragraphs were shifted and single lines automatically changed to double-spaced – Argggh!

Going to the World Series

RED SOX did it ...

Aya watched intently as Matsuzaka pitched and then Okajima pitched and the game was saved from a near certain loss by Papelbon save in Game 7!!

Just had to add that into the Blog somehow, as I will update the happenings in a bit.

Just showed Aya that she came to Massachusetts at a good time; Boston Red Sox came back after down 3 to 1 in the series and the New England Patriots are cleaning house in the Football department, not to mention the High School Aya attends has an undefeated Football Team...

Will post more after the celebration and work tomorrow!

Head Lines

The Big Falls Trip

This past weekend Aya went on her first big over night trip to Niagara Falls. From what I understand there were 5 full buses from all over the upper East Coast that went. Many of whom were from Japan.

Aya said she spent a great deal of talking in her native tongue with all of the Japanese and stayed up very late most nights talking about their experiences here and maybe a little about themselves.

Admittedly she said she felt bad for the other exchange students (from Europe and other parts of Asia) who were talking amongst themselves in English most of the time and were left feeling awkward during the trip since the mob of Japanese exchange students were all chatting in Japanese.

We didn’t get a lot of feedback on how else the whole trip went, only that she had a good time and talked with a lot of Japanese.

The weather this year was a lot milder compared to the previous year, when they received several inches of snow in Buffalo. Regardless I helped Aya pack a rain jacket and another layer jacket in case it got too chilly. She told me this year there was no need as the weather was tolerable.

Observations: Familia Alignment

It has been a little over two months now, since our exchange student has entered our home. She has met our family and extended family (to include my parents, my in-laws and our siblings and significant others).

I think she feels pretty comfortable in our home; she helps herself to anything in the fridge and has keys our home in case no one is around when she comes home from school, which is rare.

My wife has noticed that she tends to gravitate towards me when it comes to arranging meetings with friends, help with homework or just talk about how her day went. My wife says she only gets one or two word replies where I get a more verbose response.

My personal feeling is that because I am part Japanese and have a limited knowledge of the language and a better understanding of their culture – I am a person she trusts and can relate to better.

Several things come to mind when that I understand as the norm, but my wife and oldest daughter doesn’t completely grasp.

a) Asking permission to do just about anything (such as use the phone, PC or enter our office area every time).
b) When eating a bowl of hot Ramen, the noodle is slurped in (to cool it before it is ingested).
c) Seldom if any talking during dinner at the table (our family chats away, she remains quiet and reserved).
d) Our student removes her shoes and puts on house slippers when entering our home (as I have done in the past and encouraged my children to do the same – who give me grief about it).

I am still trying to figure out what the complication is: My wife is busy doing her college work as she pursues her B.S. and spends a lot of time shut in a quiet room. Aya also comes home with homework and retreats to a room/desk set aside for her in order to study and complete homework.

Aya seldom makes eye contact with most members of the family in general. She is getting a little more involved with online (e-mails and visiting her MySpace account) than she has in the past – most of which are with her classmates and friends in Japan, some of whom are currently in the States also doing a one year stay.

My older daughter reports that she (Aya) doesn’t sit with the group of seniors on the bus to school and up front near the door so she can be the first one off and doesn’t really seem to want to hang-out with my daughter and her friends. She hasn’t stated why or why not, just seems to always have something better to do. I can only guess it is due the age difference or the fact that they are both girls who board together so sharing the same space can cause some unsettled differences (so I’ve heard amongst females).

Psychology was not a strong point of mine and here I am trying to figure out what goes on in young women’s minds. (I am thinking, yeah right!)

[Though this sounds like a critique, it is merely my observation.]

In her letter she wrote about why she wanted to visit America and become an exchange student was to learn and live American culture and share her culture with Americans.
- Actually what she shared with us some information about Okinawa and gave a gift during the first weeks, but haven’t spoken much about Japan since.
- She has not really asking the family a lot of questions about our culture, more or less living in it or existing in it.

What we expected:
- Talk about her ever day life in Japan and how they did things compared to how we do things.
- Sharing her experiences or cooking different meals
- Teaching us the Japanese and in turn having each of us teaching her our dialect and elocution.
- Our daughters becoming buddies and going a lot of places together, playing games together and giggling like school girls.
- A more open attitude, especially when we asked her to be more open and relaxed in the beginning.


I am not sure if we are the ones that are learning a new culture or are we preventing an exchange from happening.

Time will tell. We have scheduled some time with the local representatives to act as mediator, as we still have 7 more months to go and soon a cold winter to keep us in doors more often.

Final Matsuri!

Today we awoke bright and early to get to the Big-E (Eastern States Exhibition). This is a fair we've gone to almost every year it took place since I can remember. The parking can be crazy and this being the last day of the fair, we would find ourselves with all the late-comers.

It was a perfect day out, the temperature did not go above 80 deg. F and the sky was a Windows XP Desktop background blue with white puffy clouds (since I am typing on my laptop, I can see my desktop which closely resembled the day).

Our first target was hitting the States buildings (they have a state building for each state in New England) and inside there are vendors for a variety of businesses in that state (some food, clothing and jewelery). We love to visit the Maine State Building which has as long as I can remember those Main Baked Potato's with everything on for toppings, ohhhh so tasty!

We would come back for dinner at the Rhode Island State building to grab New England Clam chowder in a bread bowl and a couple of bags of Clam Cakes (my mouth is salivating again).

There are these large building with more vendors inside for items of your home and anything else that doesn't fit a category. Needless to say our feet and legs were sore after spending 10 hours walking around.

Near the end of the day we went to the Midway section (amusement rides and games), we never play the games since the chances of winning is slim-2-none. My own daughters went on elevated rotating swings and then the Flying Bob's which is like the old Music Express (rotating cars to music - forward and reverse at some fast speed). We asked Aya several times if she wanted to ride, but she turned each down (we were surprised). Alas came the Ferris Wheel, which Aya agreed to ride. She later explained that she visited Hawaii and rode a ride called the Zipper (cars climb and tumble in Ferris Wheel sort-of-way but vertically and narrow). After that it was "Once Bitten, Twice Shy".

The day ended with a parade complete with marching bands, floats with a hint of Mardi Gras (it's not just Tuesday I feel fat) and horse drawn carts like the Budweiser horses. They threw out beads from the floats (we all ended up getting something).

On the long ride home, all but the driver had fell asleep.

High School homework becomes social atrophy

Aya had been able to get in contact with the girl from Thailand and she did it all on her own, which surprised me. Perhaps it was out of sheer frustration of not being able to get a close-knit friendship started as quickly as she had hoped.

I feel she needs to open up more so on the bus and in school.

Finding her a volleyball team in this section of New England is next to impossible, since our high school has had it in the past but since been cancelled maybe because Soccer, basketball, baseball and football seem to dominate the sports around here.


I did some searching and the closest league would be at the Hudson High School which meets like 3 times a week and travels. It is just not feasible due to the 1 hour travel time to get there for a 2 hour practice.


She has made a few friends and they would like to take her to the mall to hang-out and stuff, but we told her we need to meet these students first before she goes anywhere with them in car. Rules apply as if she were my own daughter. She is not going to be allowed to get into a vehicle and carted off to some mall to hang-out without first getting to acquaint ourselves with them first. (Call me a prude, it just makes safe sense).

The homework put out in History class is pretty intense. Aya asked her friends (other exchange students from Japan) around the country and they all expressed similar concerns. Most of the tests and homework are essays (which is like a nightmare for an exchange student with only a few years of English under their belts).

I am convinced even the local kids despise History with tons of essays measure a students knowledge.

Hesitation to make contacts

Aya has been wanting to get in contact with a girl at school, who is from Thailand - another exchange student. Aya feels that the girl has an advantage, because she had gone to school in the U.K. for perhaps a part of a school year to take an intensive English course prior to coming to the United States.

I was able to get in contact with her Host mother and obtained a phone number in order for Aya to arrange a meeting time and place. I gave her an opportunity to use our phone to call and ask for her, but she back out on me and asked if I could call instead.

As it turns out the family was not home and we didn't leave a message. I really would like Aya to call and have her converse, but I feel she still isn't confident in her conversational English, especially over the phone. She seems to be just fine with chatting the car on trips and at the dinner table. Most of the time she sits quietly during long car trips looking out the window and not uttering a peep. (If I could only get my own children to do the same without pacifying them with MP3 players and Nintendo DS games).

Aya also has been making friends in school, some of whom want to bring her shopping or go to a local mall.

She used the term "Hang-out", which may still mean what we used it for back when I was a teen. Though, it seemed hanging out on the corner or somewhere was considered loitering or could signal to the local authorities that we could be trouble-makers. I suppose it all depends who it is used in context.

Restaurants, Markets and Bookstores

This weekend we took another trip towards the outskirts of Boston. Our target destination was to go to a Japanese bookstore and to follow-up with a Japanese restaurant.

I did a little homework before our departure; I found several links to a Sasuga Bookstore, in Cambridge Mass. But to my dismay the store is no longer a store and strictly an online ordering base now.

When I was younger I used to enjoy going to these smaller specialized bookstores when you could actually smell the new print and glue and thumb through the pages and magazines. Even more so today the magazines come wrapped in plastic (preventing browsing) and/or are available through orders online or subscriptions.

Over the Summer we took a trip to San Francisco and visited Japan-Town there. We found a nice bookstore there that had just the atmosphere I've come to expect.

Aside from that it did not deter me from visiting Cambridge and Natick. Our first stop was a a Japanese Buffet (that's right, not a Chinese Buffet which is all too common around New England).

I was suspicious right off the bat, because every "so-called" Japanese Cuisine and restaurant that I've been to with the exception of only a handful has been run by Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean and other. Not that I have any issue with any of those - just that when you want to buy American Beef from Nebraska (Omaha Steaks) for instance you don't go to an Spanish Grocery store and get imported beef from Europe.

It's sad to see there are so many copy-cat restaurants with pseudo Japanese names to trick average Americans into thinking they are getting authentic Japanese food from authentic Japanese chefs. There are many times when you can tell they've used substitute ingredients or foods (due to cost cutting) which is represented in the tast. Other times it's not prepared the way it is traditionally and again the taste isn't there or odd.

I am digressing - we stopped at MINADO (Japanese Buffet), the one night we passed by the front of the restaurant Aya looked in and said, "Oh, they look like Japanese Business men in there dining and are being served by Japanese waitresses."

We learned that maybe some Japanese (visitors and business people) frequent the place, the servers and chefs weren't Japanese to the best of our knowledge. On the lighter side, the buffet was quite extensive and included a menagerie of Sushi. A newspaper had a write-up about the buffet (review).

We went and the cost on a Saturday was $17 per adult and oddly $8.00 for my youngest (Child) based on the child's height. Aya was very pleased with the spread, especially when it came to Sushi. I told her it was all-you-eat but she did not pack it on as I would have expected, since I thought $17.00 was more than reasonable.

From there we went to Cambridge to shop at a small Japanese market. Again these are hard to come by here in New England, since more of the Asian markets are Chinese. This was situated on Massachusetts Avenue #1815 and was called: Kotobukiya

This was the part of the trip make Aya feel at home, she could buy what she has been craving from Japan (at a much higher cost) as she filled a plastic bag worth of stuff it was around $50.00. I think she didn't care, it made her feel good and no so isolated.

I can relate for when I was in Japan for 2 months I noticed by the end of my 1st month I begged my uncle to take me to McDonald's (oh the memories).

I also did a little research from the General of Japan in Boston - Consulate, which has tidbits of information about things going on in Japan and local happenings related to Japan. For instance, I've never even heard of the "John Manjiro Festival" in Fair Haven, MA near New Bedford, but I am plan on attending it, if possible - if not for Aya, for myself.

As it turns out that she will not be able to attend this little festival because she has a trip planned with her Exchange Organization to go to Niagara Fall, N.Y. I am certain the festival will pale incomparison to the Falls, but I wanted to put it out there for whoever wants to check it out.

A hint of fluency improvement

During the week, we've been discussing with Aya her about her trips with the organization that would include missing some time with the school. We understand that the whole idea of this exchange is about learning about American culture and experience the "wow" famous places in the United States.

On the down side, her grades and class participation will be the caveat of her whole stay here. I am certain that if she does poor in school there will be some kind of meeting as to whether she can continue or not.

From what I can tell she's doing okay in Math, her Humanities (parenting) and Physical Education. American History is difficult to her - as it seems that the content when presented in class doesn't strictly follow the text book and includes handouts. Many of the homework, quizzes and test include essay questions (as I mentioned before) this is the hardest for her to understand. Essays seem to draw from your mind and abstract thinking based off of what you've read or learned. Back home in Japan, children seem to learn by wrote-memory and content taught is the same as content on tests.

While conversing with her, I can tell she is beginning to pick up normal speed conversation and responds to and asks questions more liberally. I am impressed though, since I would have thought it would take a little longer before she felt comfortable and confident in doing so.

Weeks seem to pass more quickly as Fall approaches.

The week came and went fairly fast, each day Aya was burdened with homework. I had to assist her on several occasions as she didn't get the full meaning of what some of the questions being asked in the History essay questions and with some of the Math word problems.

Friday soon approached, on this night the High School had a dance. In the past my oldest said these dances were boring and that the local church dances were more entertaining. I quickly pointed out to her that the church dances seemed to be more unregulated in such areas as age requirements being upheld and event the capacity of the church basement in question (in case of fire), it seemed the church was more concerned with profit than the number of attendees.

I convinced her to bring Aya to the High School dance to at least show her what they are like in the United States. To my daughter's surprise the dance was actually fun and entertaining compared to the Junior High Dances which she said no one attends. It turns out that some of her friends who made it into the church dance (over age), since it is supposed to be restricted to 5th thru 8th grade, were kicked out.

Aya said she had fun regardless, though it was held outside and the weather was typical September weather mid-50's - which she says is very cold to her.

On Saturday we spent the day down on Connecticut's shoreline in Waterford and New London - walked along the beach and got our feet wet. The water temperature at first was even icy to me, but it took about 10 minutes for it to feel tolerable.

We combed the beach for collectibles and while walking along the wave breaker (rocks) we showed her our New England 3 leafed friend "Poison Ivy", which was jutting out from some of the shrubs around the beach area already turning a mottled red.

Later we went over to Harkness Park, which was an Estate at one time of someone very wealthy, since then turned into a public park which over-looked the ocean (Long Island Sound).

In the home of the Estate and around its garden was a nice wedding, so she got to see an American Style wedding from afar. We spend a great deal on the vast lawn and found a kite which someone had lost with string intact and spent time trying to keep it aloft.

We went for some Hot Dogs at a joint called Fred's Shanty Restaurant, was better than Krusty Krab of Spongebob Squarepants. Food wasn't bad - fried clams were good. The girls went for the foot long hot dogs.

Later that evening we took a trip to the Mohegan Indian Casino. Aya had been studying about how the Native Americans were treated during the U.S. Westward expansion (take over in general), where she learned how some tribes fell into poverty, where others had rose from the ashes so to speak and developed one of the World's most successful Casino on and off the reservation. Apparently they aren't doing too bad for themselves, judging by the ever expanding buildings and hotels they are building. Even the big name entertainers are taking note and can't ignore places in little ol' Connecticut.

Foxwood's Resort Casino, another casino in South Eastern Connecticut was the first, but it seems the Mohegan's have taken that recipe and added more flavor to it and they both seem to cater to a different crowd. No matter how you slice it, someone is making money.

It was a long day to say the least, judging by the sleeping children in the car on the way home - but rest assured they weren't bored. Which is basically a typical statement from my own daughter and many teenagers. I stop to ponder how teenagers can get bored, when they have 10x more things to play with than I used to as a kid and 20x more things to do than my parents. We didn't have all this technology and could not even see 200 channels on cable or satellite. Not to mention I-pods, MP3's, Gameboys, PSP, X-Box, PC's, Huge Malls, Large Movie Theaters, NetFlix - the list grows and grows.

I would like just for once to send my daughter to Siberia and have her experience life in that climate and isolation - then she can say she's bored.

Building confidence & starting to shine.

The past several days seemed to take shape. Things seemed to lighten up, though Aya had a lot of homework and studying to do to play catch up since she was ill.

This past weekend she got to spend some time with her other exchange students (friends). It was a sleep over on Saturday and a picnic on Sunday.

It was rumored they stayed up all night on Saturday night watching movies and talking till 4 a.m. Needless to say they were beat by the start of the day on Sunday.

There were some additional students that had arrived late: A boy from Finland and a girl from Germany. It would appear this organization gets a large pool from Europe and from that pool Germany seemed to have the strongest output of students.

Saturday night for the rest of the family since it was down to 3 of us, after the oldest (natural) daughter planned a sleep over. The youngest wanted to play Monopoly - so we did, though I am a rather sore loser. I was able to purchase Park Place and Boardwalk only to succumb to the Hotel Chains along Illinois Ave and Marvin Gardens - I mortgaged everything and gave up my small stash of cash (dirt poor and in debtor's prison).

My wife got to attend the picnic - as I had to miss it due to work.

We spent most of Sunday night assisting Aya with her studying and projects which were due on Monday. Due to her activities over the weekend and her illness, it gave little time to perform all her assignments.

I don't think I learned as much as I did about the U.S. Constitution than I did on Sunday night, which includes all my years in school grade through college. (Sad isn't it?)

Aya expressed to me today that she strongly wants to join a club; after school so she can participate and make more friends. She really wants to join a Volleyball team - but at this high school I didn't see much for that. In Massachusetts Basketball, Baseball, Soccer and Football are the biggest attractions, however I did learn tonight not only is Massachusetts is where the Basketball Hall of Fame is but where it was invented (at the Y.M.C.A.) - but also Volleyball was also invented here back in 1895. I would never have guessed that as Aya was also surprised since they are her favorite sports.

It seems Aya is coming out of her shell, slowly - sort of waking up out of a deep slumber must have been like to Rip Van Winkle.

Metal Gear Solid: Code name Snake?

I know this isn't related to anything Okinawa or New England, but thought how amazing technology and robots are these days. I can't keep wondering if we are heading towards the day Terminator becomes a reality.

Tis the season to be wary!

I know in New England we get some hurricanes from time to time, but nothing can compare to the frequent hits of typhoons in Japan and other parts of Asia. I may be comparing apples and oranges, but I would rather tough out a hurricane than a typhoon (since in our area, most hurricanes are weak in nature - Florida and the Gulf region may be a different story).

Farenheight 101

The kids went off the school on Monday, it was back to the usual grind after a long Labor Day Weekend.

Aya seemed to be more quiet than usual and then we noticed she was coming down with something. This is an awkward situation because now you have someone who is ill in your home that has never dealt with being away from the comforts of her home.

She complained of a headache and more of body aches, she brought along some of her own medicine from Japan (sort of little packets of power) which looked like it was from the Old School days when medicines weren't in these pills we take today but in some weighed formula on a gram scale.

She had some strips that she read her own temperature and said 38C which doesn't register since we still think in Fahrenheit and chose to use our Ear Thermometer 101 F. As my old high school teacher used to say, "You look like something the cat dragged in." - she sort of fit that description. I told her she would be wise to sit this one out and not force yourself to school, she agreed.

My fear is she will fall behind in her school work, where basically each day for her would be like 2 days for normal kids since there is some translation to consider and the time to digest what was learned lost.

She's been in bed all day except for lunch - if this continues we will have to take her to seek medical attention, oddly there are no doctors who will take the organizations insurance, only the hospital which means we would have to visit the E.R. in order to be seen and evaluated. (Not something to look forward to, most E.R. were and still are a pain since you have to sit for hours sometimes just to get Triage from the nurse.

Poking around on the net like I normally do at night, I found this little article. A hard sell, but an oddity in of itself.

REIKI 霊気

My path to the world of healing and spirituality started and progressed along with raising my three sons. In 1989, my first son, one year old then, started running a high fever. I gave him a medicine for fever and three days later his temperature was still running high. I did not know what to do. Then I remembered a book on an old Japanese hand healing method I had read and it described a healing technique, receiving universal energy thru your left hand and sending it
out through your right hand. Not really expecting it to work, I decided to give it a try and put my right hand on my son. To my surprise, it worked! It brought down his temperature in no time. Since then, I continued to experience this
magic, “I put my hands on and the problem goes away”. Every time any of my sons got sick, I helped them heal by putting my hand on them. Still it was not something I was properly taught and I had no idea on how and why it works….

Makes an interesting bed time story.

Labor Day Weekend

The family pretty much booked the whole weekend with things to do.

Saturday we did a surprise trip to Boston (Mainly cause Aya was asking when and the weather would be getting colder in a few months):

Sunday my oldest daughter went to the Spencer Fair with one of her friends, I think Aya was all Fair'd out (for now).

Today they did some shopping at one of the local Malls. I say local to us is like 40 minutes away, to Aya its like an eternity though she doesn't express her feelings much. (She disclosed that to my mother one day)

Off to Woodstock

Every time I hear that name I immediately think of the 60's and Joplin. The the second image that comes to mind is Snoopy's pal (the bird).

My wife had plans to meet one of her friends near the gate entrance to the fair sometime around 10 a.m. The weather for the most part should cooperate, though there is a chance of showers.

Aya told me that her memorization of all 50 states and their capitals must have worked for she said she had gotten a 100 on the quiz. (She said it so matter-of-factly, I think she was confident that she would get a good grade). Regardless, I showed her I was proud of her.

Sheep sheering, pumpkin weighing and sand castle building, oh my!!

There was a lot of walking around, we stopped for drinks every 2 hours it seemed because it was a bright day and it didn't take long to get parched. We ate at one of the many food venues. I usually hit the caramelized nut stand and go for the roasted Almonds or Pecans. Then we got Fried Dough and I got a caramel apple.

The "Bird of Prey" show was neat although it was limited due to the fact that there was a nature hawk interfering with the show display and the Falconer felt that the show birds would be lunch.

We skipped the rides because we were on a tight budget and the fact that these rides were only put up for 3 days, who knows the safety record.

There was a Karate exposition and an Old time fiddle and banjo band all of whom were over 60 years old.

Homesick

We were told during pre-orientation and in the Host Family guide book this time would come. It is one of the phases a young student goes through, during their stay aboard. If it were only a few weeks, it may not have a chance to kick in, but a stay like a school year will definitely have an effect.

I think I realized she was feeling a little blue during the past 2 weeks or so, but haven't actually spoken to Aya about her feelings of homesickness due to the fear of just asking about would bring it about.

She told me that a classmate from her High School in Okinawa who is now with a Host Family is extremely homesick, which started the minute he left from Okinawa to Narita (Tokyo).

She told me she had cried on the flight over to the United States, but seems to have recovered well which is why I didn't notice. I think today she might have phoned him (using her calling card) and by just talking to him and emailing him caused her to realize that she too missed Japan (its food, its lifestyle and its TV programming).

You can see it in her eyes (holding back moisture) - she longs for eating Mochi and enjoys watching old shows on YouTube. She even has text books that are written in Japanese that her mom sent over that has English on opposite page to aid her in studying U.S. History and others which are just Manga and other magazines (comfort items).

This in conjunction of her staying in contact with her Japanese friends (exchange students in the U.S. and friends from back home) causes more emotional confusion.

Per the guide book, we are supposed to limit her contact with her home and email; it will only cause her to withdraw more so instead of being more outgoing.

I asked Aya if there was anything bothering her. She said she felt a little animosity from my oldest whom she shares a room with during her stay. It seems my oldest daughter is trying to keep ties with her friends, yet keep a connection with Aya. Allies friends seem to be winning. This only exacerbates Aya's feeling of isolation.

I spoke with Aya and told her that there is 3 years age difference and as a Freshman, Allie is going through a lot of changes (new school, old/new friends) and sometimes it can be overwhelming when she has to choose how to keep everyone happy, including her parents. The whole maturing process.

Somehow Aya feels like Allie is upset with her. I know it doesn't help when Allie's friend asks to go places without having to have a tag along - this includes our youngest daughter as well. We did explain to Allie that she would have to understand you can't just turn on or off your NEW sister because you want to go hang-out with your friends. This is part of the experience and part of the learning curve both sides have to adjust to.

We (my wife and I) questioned Allie alone about how she felt and if she was upset with Aya for anything. She told us there was no issue that she knew of. Allie had tried to invite Aya to go to the movies or mentioned that her friend wanted to go to the Spencer fair and that she was welcome. Each time Aya declined. I can only think that maybe Aya is getting the feeling from one of Allie's friends not to be included. /sigh girls...

It may be a long road to cheer Aya up and make Allie understand that we have a NEW person in the home living with us; we can't make her feel like she's not part of the family (for they have no where else to turn or go).

In the past week or so, my wife and I have noticed Aya retreating to an quiet area I set up in the downstairs entertainment room to study with desk and good lighting - a place to just get away. Some people can study just fine with music on a bed or on the floor (like Allie), where as Aya seems to be accustomed to studying at a desk in a library like environment.

Handwriting

I know I have tentative plans this weekend to maybe go to Boston. I know Aya's been longing to go and quite frankly I haven't been since early Summer and would like to visit a day.

I had not mentioned this to the family yet, but I am sure most would be willing to go. Aside from all the fairs Aya may attend and Boston a possibility, I would like to have her spend at least 2 hours practicing reading cursive and writing cursive. I found this website that talked handwriting being a dying practice amongst all the technology we have today. Honestly I haven't written in so long I nearly forgot how to properly do a Capital "Q".

My feeling on the ability to learn quick, is that as an adult she can absorb much more and quicker (say 3 days) as opposed to a 3RD grader who in maybe a 3 weeks period will learn to write the whole alphabet.

The Shisa

A few days after Aya's arrival, she presented us with several gifts. One in particular was a set of statues of a lion looking creatures. She told us it was unique to Okinawa and their culture - I asked my mother (who is from Kyushu) if she knew what it was, but she did not.
Curiousity got the best of me so I did a little research which I found comes with the story of linked here "The Shisa"

Matsuri 祭 - Festival (Fair)

Tomorrow we plan on getting up and headed towards our next fair on the list, as I've stated earlier we usually start out small and work our way towards the biggest - there can be some argument as to which is bigger between Woodstock and Spencer, but there can be no argument that the Big - E is simply that.

Wales, MA (Old Home Day Fair)
Brooklyn, CT (Fair)
Woodstock, CT (Fair) <-------------(Friday)

Spencer, MA (Fair)
Big - E (Eastern States Exhibition) - Springfield, MA

U.S. History Test Today

Aya brought to my attention that she had to prepare for her History Quiz today, it was on the States their capitol cities.

I snickered at the ease of it or so I thought. I had helped her study by use of some flash cards which had more information on each state and the geography each etc. However, I quickly realized I don't even know all the capital cities of all the 50 States, though I bet any 5Th Grader would since it most likely would be fresh in their minds.

She did fairly well, though she had not budgeted her time to studying these as intensely as she could have (she had 2 days for wrote memorization). I think in her mind, she was done with school in Japan and this was more of a visit/site-seeing than an earnest attempt to work hard in a U.S. High School.

I am sure her attitude will change, but for now she is looking forward to going to Boston, New York and other attractive cities if possible. During the studying of the states, she mentioned to me that she had hoped for a stay in some of the mid-western states (Nevada, Wyoming, South Dakota and Nebraska).

Aya told me at 13, she had visited Hawaii for a 3 week "Home stay" in Honolulu and hope to get a chance to visit there again soon. She had stayed with another Japanese student who was 18 at the time. (I can only imagine it was like a real nice vacation: Beach, Surf, Clubs, and Sightseeing).

She also has some math homework to do and something as simple as "the square root of 10" stumped me without the use of a calculator as I forgot the most efficient way of doing this. She is required a Scientific Calculator, which I couldn't not remember where I stashed it from college days; so she had gone out to purchase a cheap on at Wal-mart "Casio". I can remember these things used to cost more than $40.00, it is now $19.99 and have more to offer including solar power.

I stumbled across something I never knew Google to be able to do, in the search I just typed
"Square root of 10" and it displayed like a calculator. Other information such as dealing with squares, was helpful for finding the Square of 10 the without the a calculator . Amazing what kids have access to these days. Even something like "convert 10 miles to feet" produces answers.

School Daze

I called home to the family from work, because I couldn't wait until I arrived home to hear how the 1st day of school went. As this Blog is more about the exchange student and not my own kids; I will refrain from putting their experiences here.

Aya told me she thought that the first day was pretty good and in another sentence she said it was fun.

I was later told by my oldest that Aya was hunger after coming home from school, for she missed her lunch because she had a great deal of difficulty with the locker combinations. Apparently she's never seen a dial (numeric combination) before that we were all accustomed to - if so she's never used one.

We tried to explain to her that the numbers given were X-Y-Z and that for X you have to turn the dial Clockwise (which for some reason, there was no translation to) and for Y Counter-Clockwise and again Clockwise for Z.

She expressed great distress over this and said she was still uncertain on how to go about it. In between classes she needed to put things in her new locker, but there was no one around to help her on the floor where her locker resides - they were all in class at that time.

Gym class doesn't issue a uniform which seemed odd to her as I assume they get one back in Japan since ever time I've seen students they wore a uniform to school for normal class, that having an issued gym suit would be natural.

She though parenting class was fun and that the Math class was a little strict; translation the teach seemed to be a prude.

Another problem for Aya was that a lot of the work assigned or some items of discussion was written in cursive (handwritting) on the black or white board. Apparently Aya has not been taught in school what they characters are supposed to look like when linked. This will be yet another task which she will have to quickly master in order to continue, as I don't see that the teacher will print on the board to accomodate her.

The calm before the storm...

Tonight is the night before the start of school. I noticed Aya hasn't said much this evening, I believe she is mentally trying to prepare for school tomorrow.

I don't know why, but I have sympathetic nervous feeling about the whole ordeal, not unlike the first time you put your kid on a bike without training wheels and let them leave your grasp. It must be the fatherly instinct in me or just the compassion for another humans plight into the unknown.

I honestly think I could get sick to my stomach just wondering how the day will progress tomorrow. My oldest, Allie will be attending the High School for the first time as well, but as a Freshman - oddly I have not fear that she will do just fine. Part of the reason I have the most confidence in her there, is the fact that she knows a lot of the students there since they were part of the Junior High last year.

All I can ask is that God be at her side and always have communication go both ways with clear understanding. We want to debunk the "Tower of Babble" and hope things will go smooth. (Fingers crossed)

They both should go to bed early tonight for I will have to wake them bright and early at 05:00 a.m. - this ought to be interesting.

Wish us luck...

A Bed Time Story

To help Aya with her language we choose a more subtle approach. We started Saturday night with her reading a bed time story to my youngest daughter who will be 10yrs at this months end.

At first we though Dr. Seuss would be fun, but there were a lot of unusual made up names that rhyme with sounds and other oddities that confused Aya. So now we resorted to the Clifford series.

Although the words are simple, we are just trying to get her to read aloud to our daughter and correct any odd intonations and pronunciations.

It kind of cute listening to her read - she was having the hardest time with Emily Elizabeth and any other "L" or "R" sounds. We tried not to chuckle, but it was nearly impossible not to; we assured her that we weren't laughing at her just tenacious attempt to reproduce our sounds and dialect. She learned from someone with an English accent - so it was a little harder to hear our New England accent versus what she was used to.

I wouldn't say we have a Bostonian accent, since our family grew up in Southern Connecticut (which to me doesn't have any geographic accent that I can tell). I can tell even places like Hartford or Bristol Connecticut has a different dialect than say Norwich, Connecticut.

It was a fair day after all...

My youngest celebrated her birthday at her grandparents house. It was a rather "muggy" day, as Aya picked up on the unusual word. Now she knows it is similar to humid.

I spent a good 10 minutes before I really got into the pool after grilling the burgers for lunch. Both my daughters were trying their best to pre-soak me before I entered the pool. They had giant squirt guns and some foam guns that were basically giant syringes filled with water. It came down to a soaking from the garden hose with cold tap water (I reigned king).

Aya wanted to come and join us but felt a little reserved - so she sat this one out. The remainder of the family jumped in the pool as well just to cool off.

After during the drying process our youngest hastily opened up her presents - there was much rejoicing. She got mostly cash, to which she will spend on what she likes instead of getting something she didn't really like. It seems this is what our family does most of the time, not that we can't be thoughtful about gift giving - but sometimes you can't always pick what a person likes and this saves the return process.

The sun was getting low in the sky, so we headed down from southern CT and drove to Rhode Island to check out the beach, for this would be Aya's first time on the Atlantic Ocean.

Standing on the sand watching gulls fly above and the surf pound the shore. We got sandy, sticky with salt and wet all at the same time - but it was worth every second. For people who grew up near the ocean it was nice break from the land-lock feeling of being in the center of New England.

I found it strange when Aya told me that they do not have Sea-Gulls at her ocean in Okinawa. I joked with her and asked if they had become a food item or were shot by fishermen - she assured me that neither my guesses were facts.

After the short ocean visit, which was more of a tease because we had to start heading back to Massachusetts, we headed for a fair in Brooklyn, Connecticut.

We as family typically start out at the smallest fairs and work out way up to the largest. This year the list includes:
Wales, MA (Old Home Day Fair)
Brooklyn, CT (Fair) <-------------------------(today)
Woodstock, CT (Fair)
Spencer, MA (Fair)
Big - E (Eastern States Exhibition) - Springfield, Ma

This was Aya's first agriculture fair. There were barns filled with chickens, rabbits and cows. There were tractor pulls and oxen team pulls. Not to mention all the vendor stands and food stands. They had country music jamming at the larger venue (not sure who was playing). Prices are going up though it was now $10.00 per head just to get in and $5.00 to park. Things never seem to stay cheap for long.

Party Time

Yesterday we took the Kayaks out on the lake again which she enjoyed, though she does more sightseeing than paddling, as my arms can attest to that - it was a good work out none-the-less.

As the end of Summer draws near, you can start to see some of the leaves start to change. She seemed excited to learn that the leaves here in New England turn various colors (Red, Yellow, Orange etc) but did not really know of Evergreen trees which remain green throughout the year.

Today we prepare to go down to Connecticut and have a pool party for my youngest. Its just with family, but it is her birthday.

Typically we just burger and dog it up then jump in the pool and have water fights. Just a lazy day for the most part - but this will be something Aya would enjoy.

Although she lives in Okinawa and by the beach, she tells me she doesn't go swimming much, to add to this, she doesn't really own what we call a bathing suit. She told me that the kids her age just wear T-Shirts and shorts to go swimming in public and that she only wore a bathing suit in her school only. She said she feels strange out in public with a bathing suit on and most likely won't wear one here.

Leaving early to get a head start; my wife wants to pick up some groceries on the way down and of course hit up Dunkin Donuts (cause America runs on Dunkin).

Shorter days and time is short.

The mornings are cooler and we can start to see the turning or some of the Maple tree leaves. It is sort of depressing if you enjoy Summer and realize that you've either worked through most of it or that it just seemed to go by so quickly.

Aya is officially out of her first bankroll after using most of it on clothing and foods that she likes. She is expecting to get more wired money, but neither of us realized that it would take 4 days to get money deposited from a foreign bank into a U.S. Bank.

Aya as of late, has been allowed to use the Internet a little more freely. She writes to some of her friends and checks some of the Yahoo-News in Japan. I understand we are supposed limit her access to friends and family of her native country because it may rob from the immersion effect and/or possibly worsen any homesickness she may have.

She sat and played Monopoly with my daughters; we could see that they seemed to be more open during play time. Aya won the game and my daughters seek revenge. Apparently Monopoly is an internationally known game - Parker Brother's get around.

The Elements

We've covered more ground as far as getting Aya into the elements of New England nature. We live in a fairly low populated area with woods, lakes, streams and bugs!

This past Saturday there was the exchange organization meeting, which was essentially a getting to know the other families who host in the area (of this specific organization) and meet their exchange students.

It was interesting to see the children from other countries, most of whom were from Europe. There were boys from France, Germany and Thailand and girls from Switzerland and Germany. It was also interesting to note that the stereotypical fair skinned, blond hair and blue eyes were actually present that day, as I realize there are all hair types and eyes colors in Europe, I just thought it was ironic.

I spent most of my time talking with the other host families. I was also elected to grill all the burgers, sausages and hot dogs for the meal (can anyone say "Too Pink")?

The meeting house was on a lake and the students were offered an opportunities to go for a ride on a Jet Ski, Motor boat ride and to go tubing.
All the student went on one of the something, most of which was just the boat ride. The weather was a bit breezy and although being August the chill off the water was bit unusual, some of the student bundled in "hoodies" (sweat shirts).

Aya seem to feel the cold the most, we told her just wait until Winter. We did learn a new word in Japanese those: Tori-Hada meaning "Goose-bumps".

A few days later we went shopping, which seems to be Aya's most favorite thing to do. She used her debit card, which he had never had in Japan - I am guessing it was due to the fact she's always carried cash or wasn't old enough to apply for a Credit Card/Debit card. It was her first day using it.
She thought it was the most convenient thing; swipe, type and buy.

I told her its a double-edged sword since sometimes people get into trouble because its so easy, they don't realize they are overspending and people become deep in debt.

We took her to our favorite ice cream store: Cold-Stone Creamery. They make the most flavorful, textured hard/soft ice cream there and free waffle cones (to die for). She enjoyed it, but said it was too sweet. I think the Japanese tongue isn't used to all the sugar American put into their diet, because there were several other times where she said something was too sweet.

She enjoys the clothing line Roxy and seems to buy only items from that line, unless there are no other options. I've never really paid attention to fashion, so I am not sure if this is just a popular brand in Japan or it just hasn't taken off big on the East Coast of the U.S. I am beginning to think she owns stock in the company.

On Sunday the 19th, we took a Kayak ride out on the lake. We have 2, one of which is a tandem boat and the other is a single. It was a day of firsts because my oldest daughter took the single Kayak for the 1st time and this was Aya's 1st time in a Kayak. I had a feeling we would have to attend the store pictured below first.

All seemed to go well, taught her some basics in paddling and steering, though she didn't paddle for long as I was doing all the work in the back seat. I felt like I was a Gondola pilot showing off Veince in Itlay.

Our neighbors preparing to board their Bayliner and asked if the girls wanted a ride, to which they excitedly departed the Kayaks and went on his boat. (They even had an opportunity to pilot it for a short time, which was thrilling to her.)

Reservation not required

Regrettably it's been several days since my last post. It seems like time is flying by, though I want this month to chug along a bit more.

Aya had her Math Placement test on Tuesday the 14Th, the experience was odd according to my wife. She was brought to the school in the morning and there were about 15 students awaiting to take the test in the lobby or cafeteria. My wife asked Aya to go sit with the other students waiting, but she froze - didn't want to go in to sit with the other students. My wife had to ask Aya 3 times before she moved, ever so hesitantly.

Finally the Math teacher came down to greet the students and told them they had to proceed up to the 3rd floor; all but Aya started walking towards the stairs. My wife told her she had to go with the students and that she couldn't go with her or support her during the test. I don't know why she thinks there will be someone with her during her testing or schooling, though we've explained that to her already. I am guessing she's got 2nd thoughts about all this, but wants to suceed.

That evening I spoke with Aya, asking her about the test. She said it was little difficult because there were some word problems, but the answer sheet were (fill in the circle) multiple choice which made it easier. The questions (equations) were fairly easy she said (as I knew this since her math back in Japan seemed to be like 1st or 2nd year of college here).

Aya seems a little more relaxed now, however a little more reserved when it comes to certain situations. She does the dishes every night and shares that responsibility with one of our daughters, switching between rinsing or washing.

We sat down one night and created a chore list and either assigned or asked for volunteers from the children (ours and the exchange student). Granted we don't have a lot, my own kids make it seem like it's the end of the world and I am driving them to the bone. Sadly I had double their chores when I was their age as I am sure my parents had triple mine; we seem to be breeding children who expect more and do less with each generation.

Aya says she's lives in the country side, but somehow I don't envision that being an island and near cities and tourists year round. Who am I to argue, I've never been, but can view on a map (I've tried Google Earth, but it doesn't show a lot of detail in other countries as well as North America).

The other night I started to practice her English again, but I think she didn't really review the words nor looked up the definitions as we talked about. Not sure if she's becoming lazy, bored, forgetful or has this feeling that she may miraculously do well and doesn't need to review anything.

She seems to retreat to her room often; sometimes reading some Japanese subject books (little guide books from her High School or write in her daily journal), sometimes napping through parts of the day.

During some of our discussions, I get the feeling she goes places all the time with her friends back home and must have envisioned her stay in America to be the same (New York & Boston) or any other major city in the United States. Many things to do in those cities, where as in the small town of United States, we've got corn, woods and the activities she's used to are missing. Shopping, mall walking, arcades, beaches, hanging out where there are a lot of people, movie theaters and bus/train stations.

I don't feel my sole purpose here is to keep her entertained, but I try to keep her comfortable.

I've tried to explain to her this isn't really a site-seeing trip or vacation, this is a one-year sink or swim in an American High School taking American studies: U.S. History, Literature etc. all in English, taught by English teachers. She assured me she understood, but still acts nervous when we discuss it.