Graduation Day at last!

Well the big day arrived on Sunday. Aya had completed her year in an American High School as a Senior.

For her it was a sad day because she now doesn't get to see the friends she had made in school. Her circle of friends isn't as large as some of the other exchange students in the organization. Most of it is attributed to how receptive she was to making new friends - most of who approached her, instead of her reaching out to them.

As I've stated before - we encouraged her to meet some of my daughters friends, but somehow there was no real connection and she shied away from hanging with them. I don't believe she gave it much of a try to be honest, she had already in her mind who she wanted to befriend.

The graduating class was 300 strong - although it went fairly quickly, started filming - but ran out of battery time.

She attended a graduation party for one of her friends and plan on hitting up a few more parties before she prepares for her departure.

Bright lights, big city...indeed!

Well we finally did it. We booked a trip to NYC and even decided to spend one night there.

It was little hectic as we drove down to New Haven, CT to catch a train (Metro-North) into the city during a week-day. I purchased the tickets ahead of time and recommend it in case it gets busy. I purchased off-peak tickets to save a bit with the whole family.

My goal was to get to see the Grand Central Station – as it’s been depicted in many movies: The Day After Tomorrow and most recently I AM LEGEND or at least the Times Square part was.

You can’t go to the city without at least taking in a Broadway play if you hadn’t seen one. We truly wanted to see WICKED but unfortunately it’s usually a sell out and I wasn’t able to obtain tickets for the booked day.

We took a family vote and the next best choice we saw was Phantom of the Opera.

As tourists we choose the All Classic New York Sightseeing choice by double-decker bus (open top). We could not have chose a better week in New York weather wise it was 70-75 both days and the evening was also perfect.

Lots of walking around Times Square day and night (especially was awesome) all lit up.

Places we actually stopped were: Battery Park, Liberty Island (we were too late and the crowd was incredible to reach Ellis Island), Ground Zero (under heavy construction), Strawberry Fields in Central Park, The Dakota Building and of course our Hotel the Beacon.

The bus ride took a large chunk of our time because it was a long loop and its supposed to be hop on and hop off, well the problem is the buses that come around every 30 minutes are also pretty full so good luck hopping on.

Aya was excited and tired all wrapped in one – I’ve never been to Tokyo but I can only imagine its similar or maybe more jam packed with people.

Key Points and opinions:

• 
  Train ride to NYC was about 1.2 hours
  


• Grand Central was pretty open in the center and had some nice ceiling paintings, believe it to be Astrological.
  
• 
  Bus ride is only nice on the 2nd deck and if there is room.


• Taxi rides were crazy and a disadvantage with 5 people as they can only take 4 (so double fare) two cabs.


• Lots of walking is tiring (no wonder New Yorkers are fairly thin)
  


• Time Square is awesome looking at night

• NYC Planet Hollywood restaurant isn’t all that (food and service poor)


• NYC Hard Rock Café food and service was really good, we enjoyed the singer/band item contributions displayed (have been to quite a few HR and this is one of the better ones)


• To see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Isle I would recommend going first thing, as we somehow with the slow buses didn’t make it in time, even though we pre-purchased our tickets. So we only got to see the Statue and even then you have to buy another ticket for the museum to get to go into the base (only) as now there are restrictions to entering the statue. Also the security check point prior to the ferry was annoying.
  




• Ground Zero was just a big hole with lots of construction, not sure what I expected but thought there would be more to it like a shrine. There is a tribute place but they were charging 10 bucks a head (that’s not fair)
  
• Strawberry Fields – was nice but smaller than I imagined


• The Dakota Building was nice: My wife is a big Beatles Fan and basically mourned at the site of where John was shot. Ironically we spoke of wanting to meet Yoko as we had heard she still lives there. Lo and behold she comes walking up the side walk and passed us! We didn’t realize it until it was too late – hat and dark sun-glasses. My wife was shocked and felt blessed to come close to someone that close to John Lennon.


• We missed our opportunity to go in the Ladies Shopping district along 5th Ave and Macy’s multi-floor store. (maybe lucky for me)


• The M&M Store was nice (the girls loved it)
  

• The Virgin Music store was 3 floors of cool music items and books.
  
• The Phantom of the Opera was amazing (I was surprised as I figured it to be an old outdated play and boring). Little hard to understand the Opera songs, though in English.
  
• Empire State Building: Long lines, security check points and long wait. (Will never try it again until I want to kill 2-3 hours) our problem was we tried to squeeze it in before the train home and was stuck with the clock ticking. Another series of unfortunate events was we opted to take the last 6 stories up to the deck because the elevator line was going to be delayed. [needless to say we are out of shape – we were completely out of breath] – it gave you an appreciation of what the NYC Firefighters had to do while entering the Trade Towers stairs for rescue.
  
• McDonald’s (world’s largest eat-in) was awesome in lighted marquee but reminded me of a Night Club because they played videos projected on every wall.
  
  All-in-all it was a fun experience up to the very end, when we were offered a Limo ride to the train station which seemed to be normal. They too want to make money anyway they can and was better than grabbing two taxis to split up 5 people.
  
  When all was said and done, we arrived home somewhere around 3 a.m. Woot!
  
  

Mom's old stomping ground

Here's link to a town in Japan where I visited and intend on visiting again within in the next 5 to 8 years.

http://www.city.miyakonojo.miyazaki.jp/shisei/kokusaikouryu/english/sightseeing_english.jsp

I know its a random post, but wanted to get it out there.

Opening the lines of communication.

This past week we had the exchange organization representative visit and discuss how Aya and our family was getting along.

A few weeks prior Aya had gone over the reps home in order to get a feel how Aya behaves and they also had a Japanese volunteer from the organization meet with her address any questions she had and concerns.

We basically sat down all together to discuss some of the quirky things we've noticed and to have her ask or mention anything that makes her uncomfortable so we possible can fix things on our end.

The rep spoke with us as family without Aya first to get our take and then with Aya alone to piece together what we said then we got together and discussed it as group.

Some of our questions were answered and you wonder why these questions weren't asked early on. The problem was we felt this was normal to be shy and withdrawn - but she said she was being respectful and didn't want to cause any problems. Aya told us if we see something odd - just come out and ask her what is wrong and she will try to explain.

There were a few key points that came up well all will work on:

1) Communication:

a) If we have a concern don't discuss it behind closed doors with your spouse before knowing the whole deal, instead discuss it as a group.

b) When you see if the student is depressed or not including themselves with the family - include them. Everyone regardless from what country has their own personality and Aya is a reserved person by nature.

2) Breakfast items not eaten shouldn't be left about half eaten: Half a bagel, half a pop-tart

3) Calling and planning ahead: If the student wants to stay after school text at lunch time stating the intentions in case the family has other plans.

The one thing that seemed to bum her the most are her grades, which she is trying hard but struggling in some subject to maintain a C+ as most her grades when in Japan were A's - so it came a quite a blow to her self-esteem.

We explained that 3 years of English isn't going to provide you with enough to obtain A's in an American High School in every subject. She did express that she wants us to correct her English more often - but we are somewhat jaded because my mother speaks English with a Japanese accent so we don't even bat an eye when something is pronounced wrong - we know what is meant and carry on.

As a family we told her we will correct her English on the fly to help her - she feels like her English has gotten worse not better. We will see how it goes.

"I don't know, where ima gonna go when..."

Well I neglected to mention how the volcano turned out.

This project thought I have to admit wasn't 100% crafted by her and I, but the whole making of it was fun.

The kit similar to the one pictured below had a mold and stand. Then we had to mix this cement like compound, if I recall it was plaster of paris. We had to allow it to dry for more than 24 hours after we poured it. Then she painted it and my wife creatively added coconut as grass around the base, dyed green.


We did several dry runs as we were debating whether to use vinegar, club soda and baking soda or diet soda and Menthos.


The kit did come with small tablets of baking soda colored with red dye - but in our independent tests did not fizz much.

She brought the set to school and she did a run for the students and teachers before that night, when the parents were to observe. Well she came that afternoon a little upset because somehow the inner container had a hole and when she poured in the club soda in and added the tablets it leaked all out the bottom weakening the structure of the plaster and nearly destroyed other kids projects on the table.


So I arrived a little that night in preparation to remedy this disaster.

I inserted some tin foil into the mouth after forming a make-shift funnel that would collect the soda and she could add the baking soda at will. This worked out okay if fizzed and spilled over into a shallow dish pan we brought.


I am sure it was no where near the explosion I was hoping to achieve like on the Brady Bunch episode, but it was a big hit with the kids and the teachers.


To make a child happy saving the day is a small parentla victory.

Family gathering went well.

The family cook-in went well. All who originally planned on attending came and we included our neighbors as well for an impromptu sit down for a "Taste of Japan", minus the Sushi.

I sort of knew, but had forgotten how long it takes to prepare and cook a Japanese meal. There are so many steps and things you have to remember and the multitude of dirty dishes, bowls and cutting surfaces it can create.

My mom decided to make a selection of the ton of stuff we had available. I also went shopping that morning and picked up $130.00 more of items we didn't have on hand from the local supermarket.

On the menu that day: Gyoza, gohan, okonomiyaki, niku-jaga and tons of tempura.

We started with the Gyoza making - my mom had two kinds of Gyoza skins one made in Japan and the other package had more but made in China. We involved at least 4 people in actual folding of the skin around mom's secret ingredients. The only ones my mom was able to buy that were Japanese skins which were actually for a dish called Shumai and were square, but they worked the same.

The unfortunate problem was the Chinese skins were thicker and after making about a dozen or so were found them to have mold in the under lying layers in over 12 more skins and some on the sides. Talk about an embarrassing moment. Quality and freshness seems to be in question when getting this type of food from China, in my opinion.

We cut up shrimp, peas, beans, carrots, onions and broccoli and made tempura. I couldn't find the box mix I had bought, so mom whipped up her own - it tasted better from scratch. I think we all agreed on that.

Plate after plate was being passed around of the different tempura and Gyoza then we still had niku-jagaimo to eat which is what Aya choose as her dish to make. It basically is meat and potatoes, but in a beef stew sort of way without the soupy part of the stew. I thought it tasted good - reminded me a bit of the way I eat curry rice.

Rice was put out on the table, but for some reason it wasn't making its way to the plates as people seemed more interested in eating the tempura and gyoza. (The rice was eaten next day as a left-over meal for me).

Oh, I forgot mom made home made french fries - but they were gone in minutes. Surprisingly simple and more tasty than McDonald's or Burger King. We used Russet Potatoes and were deep fried in Canola oil.

I noticed that the shrimp went fast both mediums and jumbo.

We all enjoyed the meal and at the end we post-celebrated Aya's birthday (as my family couldn't attend the real date).

Cook Fest 2008!

Getting excited for a family gathering sponsored by me. Although I can attribute it to viewing some of the Blogs I read that show foods.

My mother plans on coming over and preparing some Japanese dishes - I requested 'Gyoza', cooked her way. The recipe she whips up is something she learned when in Japan and she slightly modified it by adding a little more (quality) meat.

There are several different ways to make these and recently I've learned they serve them in some US establishments and call them Pot-Stickers.

The recipe seen is pretty much typical, though mom's is better.

We are going to take this opportunity to have Aya cook some food items she brought with her and some that her mom sends in some of the packages she sends about one every two months.

It's funny, as these packages are sort of what her mom must think as emergency relief packages. They contain teenage magazines, books, comfort foods and snacks to remind her of home and to lessen what kind of homesickness she may have.

I am sure there will be more samplings and have invited my sister who rarely has the time to visit us and the girls.

One of our neighbors recently allowed me to utilize his snow blower since basically to be cheap I shoveled through most of the storms we've had. So in turn I invited him and his wife over on the scheduled Saturday.

My favorite soup is Miso Soup:

Happy Birthday Aya!

Yes, officially Aya has now turned 18 years old yesterday.

She's come home to tell us she has had cake in school where they threw her a surprise birthday party and again at her friends house where her friend from Thailand was celebrating her own birthday (ironically).

Aya last night revealed the fact that she was utterly sick of eating cake as she has had cake the past 3 days for one occasion or another.

As she made that statement my wife brought up a cake with 18 lit candles to the table after dinner, she looked at me with the "OMG" look.

Her mom had sent her a package from Japan with all kinds of snacks and goodies, plus a gift. I told Aya that she could only open up the present from her mom on her actual birthday, sticking with our American tradition. (She was tempted though)

She opened up her gift from her mom, "Jewelery" to include earrings. I believe I mentioned in an earlier post that Aya requested to get her ears pierced but in the state of Massachussetts, no place we went to would allow it without her real parent(s) present. The only way she get her's done is if she was 18 years of age, but this was last Summer when she tried hard to get it done before the start of school.

Well the waiting game was over and we will be taking her to one of the many malls to get hers done properly - she's excited about the excursion.

Her mom did send her a doing-it-yourself home-kit, though I know she tried on her own - but not sure it came out well enough as I didn't see her wearing any after the first month of trying it. My guess is that it wasn't centered and looked akward.

Amongst her gifts we focused on getting her car key chains, car bling stuff because her mom told her when she returns home - she's got a car waiting for her to drive. We of course could not top this gift (mom's always seem to have the trump card).

She told us that she had tried to blow out all the candles when given the cake at school and she failed there, so I told her her wishes she makes before blowing out the candles won't come true if you don't do it in one breath.

She huffed - and - puffed and they were out.

Photo Recap

Apparently I am a little behind in the photo posting department but here are a few.

Images of Halloween, Homecoming, Thanksgiving and Christmas.

The exchange

(To see more click the picture above)

ESL more like English as a common language

At school Aya has been doing mediocre, she is passing her class - though I feel sometimes the teachers are going easy on her as not to fail her completely.

There are two other ex-change students at the school, both of whom seem to be adapting very well. The one girl from Thailand "Gahm", wants to be a doctor one day has gotten all A's on everything she does. Her spoken English is very well.

Aya told me she asked Gahm (which is her nickname, as her real name is very difficult to pronounce) how she does it. Gahm stated that she is taught Thai-English at an early age there (reads/writes), plus she has stayed abroad in the U.K.

In general I beleive the Japanese are behind in their English and the world has passed them - making it even harder to effectively communicate. Though Aya's willingness to learn English waning.

I think the country is beginning to feel the pinch and wants to increase their education - but I think too little, too late. Here is blog link with new on that: Japan's push for more education