Exchange Students

[Meathead]

Tonight we will have two new guests in our home. It has been several years since we last had exchange students. Kiryu and Akira are both eleven year old boys and are from Kumamoto, Japan. Kiryu loves baseball, computers and math, and wants to become a doctor. Akira's favorite activity is fishing and he wishes to become a fisherman when he grows up. They will stay with us for only two and a half weeks. I think the program has changed a little, previously it was slightly over a month.

Pictures and updates will follow!

[yose]

That is great that you can do this .I bet it is a culture shock on both sides. Can't wait for pics. thanks

[Moparformances]

your going to turn them into slot junkies... when they grow up they will end up being Pachi pros... and, they had to come to America to learn to play at such a young age

[Drunkenclam]

hehehehe No age limit on entry in your house. Your have to find out which is there favourite. Then to the best fishing hole,

[dattia]

That is wonderful... I enjoyed following your stories from the last time. Too bad the time is short, I'm sure you will make the most of it!

[Meathead]

Well, they arrived a little late tonight. They landed in San Francisco at 5:30 and the bus did not show to pick up the group. They arrived in Auburn at about 9:30pm. We greeted each other briefly in the parking lot at the church where they will go to school for their two weeks here, and then we climbed into the car for the drive home. They were absolutely silent on the way home. Although it was dark, their eyes were out the windows, taking in everything they could see. I imagined I would be doing exactly the same thing if I were in Japan. We arrived home and they opened up a little. They understand quite a bit of English, much more than our previous students, or at least these two are bold enough to try it out.

They met our pets. They both got a kick out of Sunny, our parrot. He talked to them and laughed when they did. The dog quickly warmed up to them, too. After that they got to see the three machines I bought from Mopar a couple weeks ago. That really broke the ice. They've been all smiles since and any shyness or apprehension has disappeared. They spotted the roulette table and after 10 minutes, both were betting chips like they've been doing it all their life. The only thing that drew them away 30 minutes later was the flashing lights on the pachislos behind them. It's 1230 am, and I think I may have to tell them to go to sleep since they have a big day in the morning. It is alarming that I have corrupted them so thoroughly in just a couple of hours.

Tomorrow they go to a barbecue in the late morning with their fellow students and then we will take them out on the boat for some swimming and fishing. We will have another hot day tomorrow. I will try and get some photos up in the evening.

[Sid]

sounds really cool!

[new in town]

It is a Good thing you are doing here Meathead.

I wish I had the Time to do something like this. . .

Enjoy the Time with your Extended Family ! ! !

Oh Yea . . .

Spoiler

Pic's ! ! !

[Meathead]

Today we took our two boys and invited two of our neighbors who also took in a child each. We went to our nearby lake and barbecued some fish and chicken for the kids. The neighbors brought their kayaks and the water was the perfect temperature. Everyone swam and played in the water for hours.

Our two boys are Akira and Kiryu. Also with us were Diago and Shion (the girl), all eleven. I think the girl is very homesick; it was difficult to get a smile out of her and she rarely participated with the boys. Or maybe that is just her nature. All three boys played well with our boys as well as our neighbor's kids.

[Meathead]

Later in the afternoon the boys spotted an eagle's nest in a tree and you could hear the chicks as we floated by. They watched as mom or dad brought them some prey.

Even though the drive home is less than 15 minutes, both of our boys were fast asleep in the backseat halfway home. We had a hard time waking them up. I think the jet lag has finally taken hold.

[Drunkenclam]

Looks like they all had a good time

[yose]

That is a beautiful lake where you were at.The kids look like they had a great time and are well behaved.Shion does look a little shy.Maybe a little culture shock. I am sure they will have good stories to tell when they get home.You are doing a great thing for these kids meathead, you should feel proud of yourself and family.Well done.

[Meathead]

I learned Shion was here last year. The family that had her previously has contacted our neighbor and they wish to see her again. Maybe she just misses her old host family?

I guess we are lucky each time we do this. The boys we host have always been wonderful, occasionally shy but always polite and a pleasure to have. We keep in contact with several of them still. I am hearing from the Japanese teacher that runs the program in Japan that there are two girls this year that are so homesick, they are inconsolable. Hopefully that will change soon.

Some of them are very young. In this group, the youngest is 10 and the oldest 12, but I have seen as young as 9. I think I would find it difficult to send my child overseas to a strange family at that young age.

[takethecastle57]

Man , you're spoiling them rotten !! Even when I was growing up in Wisconsin I never had it that good . A fishing pole , a can of worms and a nice lake with my other brothers and sisters but never bother my dad or grandpa while they were fishing .

[Meathead]

Today a couple of the fathers had a day off so we loaded up the Jeeps with exchange students for a trip around our neighborhood. Foresthill, the town we live in, is on the edge of the Tahoe National Forest. My friend Greg and his wife took in an exchange student, Diago and we were joined by Keith and Shion.

First stop was Greg's gold mine. The kids were excited. We walked into the mine and were shown the dynamite, some of the equipment he uses, and of course, some gold as it's found in a hard rock mine. We had all the kids turn out the lights when we were deep in the mine. Talk about absolute darkness! You could hear how nervous the kids were, and it didn't take long before one of them clicked on their light again. After that, we took them down to the bottom of the canyon to a small lake where we had lunch and the kids fished and swam.

They were surprised at how cold the water was. Most of the water in this lake arrives underground in tunnels built in the 50's and 60's from lakes farther east. Although they didn't swim for long, all three of the boys jumped in. Shion opted out. Several years ago, my wife and I overturned in a canoe on this lake. It takes your breath away. That was the last time she ever went in a canoe there.

[Meathead]

We brought the kids to another fishing hole, and each of the kids got to try a little target shooting with a .22. Afterward, we drove to a Forest Service lookout where the kids met a local ranger who showed them around the lookout. They each signed the guestbook and were shown how to use the spotting device that utilizes a map, turntable and some sights to pinpoint the locations of fires.

[Meathead]

On the way home we found some snow and they had a snowball fight in the middle of August!. They also found an old well with a hand pump. They all fell asleep on the drive home.

[luckydog]

we had a pump like that at our summer cottage in the 50's ice cold water even in the sumertime

we went modern later and put a jackpump on it

[yose]

Beautiful scenery where you live. Those kids have probably never seen country like that,let alone a gold mine.You are truly a great host .

[Drunkenclam]

Looks like you gave them all a real treat. Many happy memories being made