Hosting year has ended...
...and it was NOT all it was meant to be. Honestly, had this been our first hosting experience, we would never have hosted again. Luckily we have learned that most hosting experiences are wonderful, and we just had a rare bad experience. I also learned that no two experiences are the same, just like no two students are the same.
I won't dwell on it, though, because we are going to host...AGAIN! This time it will be through a different organization. I'm determined to work with an organization who has the best interests of the entire group in mind...the parents, the student, AND the host family.
Malte was our first exchange student in 2012-2013. He just graduated from high school in April, and received his test grades last week. So...he's official! In Germany, they do not have commencement exercises, no caps and gowns, etc, so I ordered a mortarboard and tassel for him. He got it just in time for his last class. I have pictures that I should share! He plans on interning with an engineering firm while going to college next year.
In more exciting news...in two years, Malte's little brother will be exchanging with us! I'm really excited because Gerit has grown up before our eyes. With Emily and Matthew away at college by then, Gerit and Michael will have a great opportunity to bond as brothers. They are a lot alike, so it should be fun!
Summer is here. It's rainy and miserable in Missouri. It has rained 30 out of the past 33 days. Houses, streets, creeks and streams are overflowing. Once all the yuck is gone, we will begin our exciting summer. In the meantime, I'm subbing for summer school, and the boys are waiting for dry land. We have our Kids Bowl Free account ready and activated. Have you heard about this? Just sign up at Kids Bowl Free, and every day this summer, your kids get two free games of bowling per day! All you pay for is shoe rental! Then...and this is exciting...for just a total of $25 for ALL SUMMER, you get an additional 4 people on your family account.. So for $25 for the whole summer, and the cost of shoe rental each day, we get to bowl TWO GAMES EVERY DAY! We've done this for years, and are kind of sad that this is the last year Michael is eligible.
So...from hosting to bowling...I guess we covered a lot today!
I won't dwell on it, though, because we are going to host...AGAIN! This time it will be through a different organization. I'm determined to work with an organization who has the best interests of the entire group in mind...the parents, the student, AND the host family.
Malte was our first exchange student in 2012-2013. He just graduated from high school in April, and received his test grades last week. So...he's official! In Germany, they do not have commencement exercises, no caps and gowns, etc, so I ordered a mortarboard and tassel for him. He got it just in time for his last class. I have pictures that I should share! He plans on interning with an engineering firm while going to college next year.
In more exciting news...in two years, Malte's little brother will be exchanging with us! I'm really excited because Gerit has grown up before our eyes. With Emily and Matthew away at college by then, Gerit and Michael will have a great opportunity to bond as brothers. They are a lot alike, so it should be fun!
Summer is here. It's rainy and miserable in Missouri. It has rained 30 out of the past 33 days. Houses, streets, creeks and streams are overflowing. Once all the yuck is gone, we will begin our exciting summer. In the meantime, I'm subbing for summer school, and the boys are waiting for dry land. We have our Kids Bowl Free account ready and activated. Have you heard about this? Just sign up at Kids Bowl Free, and every day this summer, your kids get two free games of bowling per day! All you pay for is shoe rental! Then...and this is exciting...for just a total of $25 for ALL SUMMER, you get an additional 4 people on your family account.. So for $25 for the whole summer, and the cost of shoe rental each day, we get to bowl TWO GAMES EVERY DAY! We've done this for years, and are kind of sad that this is the last year Michael is eligible.
So...from hosting to bowling...I guess we covered a lot today!
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