Disneyland Nov 23

For anyone that still checks this site, sorry for the delays in posting. Work has been VERY busy including trips to Finland and many long hours at home.

Anyway, I got a nice break last weekend by taking the girls to Disneyland. They are decorated for the Christmas holiday and the photo shows Minnie in a holiday dress.

Ina, Bethany, and Hayley came along and invited Simone to join us for her first ever visit to Disneyland.


The Disney photographers took a picture of Simone with Tinker Bell in her hands.


I don't have time to write all of the details, but we had a fun time. We were able to balance time to go on rides with time to take some pictures. Ina was even brave enough to ride the California Screaming roller coaster with the other girls. It was a big step for her since she was terrified of it. She says that she won't ride it again, but I can tell that she has some pride in conquering her fear of trying it!



It was a lot of fun introducing Simone to Disneyland and giving Ina another chance to see some new parts of the parks (Disneyland and Calfornia Adventure). I have to admit that I am a kid at heart and enjoy the rides and the overall atmosphere too. However, I find that I enjoy watching the kids have fun and paying attention to the decorating details as much as the rides and shows. For example, they have some very creative landscapers which is something that I never noticed when I went to Disneyland as a kid!

Flat Land? Depends on your perspective...

One of Ina's first comments about California was that it is very flat. She is used to rugged fjords and mountains at home.

She is basically correct. We have small mountains in Orange County and bigger mountains to the north near Los Angeles.


This is a picture in the Los Angeles area with mountains in the background. In the Winter, there is often snow towards the top of these mountains. On most Winter days, we can see the mountains in the distance. In the Summer, the haze and smog often hides the mountains from our view.


In Orange County, we have local hills and two mountain peaks. The two peaks look like the saddle on a horse, so together we call the peaks "Saddleback Mountain". We get snow on these peaks maybe two or three times per year.


This is a typical picture from the Orange County area. We have rolling hills and flat lands for houses. Saddleback Mountain is in the background throughout most of Orange County.

So Ina's perspective makes sense. She is used to a rugged landscape and a lot of the area here is flat with mountains and hills in the background.

Last week, we met another exchange student that is new to the area: Simone. She is from Denmark (note: a flat country with no mountains). Ina and Simone spent some time at a local mall to get to know each other better. I picked them up and on the drive home we could see the mountains by Los Angeles in the distance. Simone's comment: It's so nice to have mountains to look at so that everything doesn't look so flat.

A different, but still valid, perspective! Are we flat or not?

By the way, I got the photographs for this post from a nice website from a local blogger. He has a camera that takes panaromic pictures and posts them to his blog. He has a lot of fun California photos there!

The website is: http://geraldsfuller.com/the-panorama-page/

- Rob

A few notes

Sorry that I have not been able to do very regular updates. Life is busier than I expected right now!

Now that Ina has been with us for over 2 months, there are a few things that I have observed.

Mail from Home: Ina LOVES to get mail from home. Whether it is a letter or a package with some goodies, she always has a large smile when something shows up from Norway.

Picking on Bethany: Ina and Bethany delight in picking on each other. They really are like sisters sometimes, but it is in good fun. Like real sisters, it sometimes goes too far and someone gets annoyed. However, neither one seems to stay upset for long. Overall they get along great and seem to have a lot of common interests.

Speaking Norwegian: We have tried to get Ina to teach us some Norwegian words. However, we are not very good at it. We have picked up a few words, but usually we just say them wrong. Ina is very patient with our attempts to speak a few words, but she has to laugh at us sometimes since we have trouble saying things right.

Reliable: Ina has been very reliable. She always gets ready for school on her own. She offers to help with meals and does the chores that we asked her to do without complaints. She is always ready to go when we are leaving somewhere. It has been great to have such a reliable member join our family!

Patient with our Schedule: We have a lot of activities as a family that do not match Ina's interests. She has been a good sport about trying things out with us and patiently joining us for things that are probably boring for her.

Sense of Humor: It has been very important that Ina has a good sense of humor with our family. We like to joke around a lot and Ina has never taken that personally when it is directed at her. She has also said some funny things and can be silly with us. That helps all of us learn how to live together!

There are a lot more things that I can say. However, I wanted to make sure that I got a start and made some notes about some of my thoughts.

For Ina's family at home, thanks for being supportive of her while she is here. It makes it easier for her and us that she has the support and love of her family.

For our friends (especially Hayley and Bethany's friends), thanks for being so accepting of our new family member. You have helped Ina fit in while she lives with all of us for this school year.

For Ina, thanks for being part of our family, for having a great sense of humor, being patient, and continuing to let us know your likes and dislikes.

- Rob

Preparing for Halloween

Halloween is coming at the end of this month. We have a lot of decorations that we have collected over the years. When I got home last weekend, it was time to take them down from the attic and prepare for the holiday. Celeste and the girls bought some pumpkins for decoration while I was out. After last Halloween, Celeste bought some decorations at special sale prices that we are using for the first time this year. In the picture below, Ina is helping open up some of the new decorations.

The girls spent a lot of time trying to decide what to wear for their costumes for Halloween. Ina tried to convince Bethany to dress as a prince with Ina as the princess. However, they changed and now Ina will dress as Marilyn Monroe and Bethany will be a ladybug. Hayley told me what her costume would be, but I can't remember.

Rachel (who helped us paint Ina's room last August) is having a birthday party on Halloween night. The older girls will go to that party, while we find something else fun to do with Hayley. We have to make sure that Ina gets to go Trick or Treating to get candy while walking from house to house.

- Rob

Don't mess with her chocolate!

I traded places with Ina for the last two weeks. While she was in California, I was in the Nordic region (Finland to be exact). I have been to Sweden twice in the last year and now Finland once (with two more trips planned before the year ends).

Whenever possible, I try to bring home some sort of small gifts for the family. This is my way of thanking them for taking care of things at home while I am away. On my first trip to Sweden (December 2007), I picked up some bars of chocolate to bring home.

These chocolate bars were a big hit! When my customer from Sweden visited California in March 2008, they kindly brought some chocolate bars with them. Now when I go to the area, this is a common request from the family.

When Ina arrived, she brought the family some very nice gifts. This included similar chocolate bars from Norway that were also a big hit. Ina received a care package from home with similar chocolate too. She shared a piece with me one day with crunchy bits in it, so I knew that she liked that.

On my trip to Finland that just ended, I picked up some chocolate to bring home. Bethany and Hayley each got the same bars as I brought before. Ina got a chocolate bar with the crunchy bits in it. However, I got a different brand of chocolate for Celeste that was a little smaller (Karl Fazer).

It turns out that Celeste likes the chocolate bar with crunchy bits too. She has not tried the Karl Fazer bar and I'm sure that she will enjoy it. However, she looked at Ina's bar and said that she would be sharing it. :-)

I have seen videos of mother bears or mother lions guarding their young. Ina had the same look about her chocolate bar. She quickly retreated to her room for the first taste of her new prize and to find a suitable spot to guard it.

Of course it was all in good fun. No one is really worried about sharing chocolate. There is plenty for all!

- Rob

Senior Paper

At our high school, the students have to write a "Senior Paper" in their Civics or Economics class. The intention is to prove that they can use critical thinking to analyze some information and draw conclusions. Another intention is to make sure that our High School graduates can actually read and write!

Ina is taking Economics right now and is working on her Senior Paper. I think it is valid to make sure that she is capable of critical thinking and can draw conclusions, but I also think it is fair for me to help her in several ways.

First, English is not her native language. While a goal of this year is for her English to improve, I feel that it is fair to help her with her grammar and the words that she chooses.

Secondly, she has not grown up around our political system like most of the Seniors at the school. Therefore, I feel that it is fair to help her understand the basics of our political system and guide her with the research that she needs to do.

Beyond that, the assignment is hers. I gave her suggestions on what to research, but she is doing the research (although I am doing the research in paralle with her). She is then doing the writing. I am reviewing what she writes and making the grammar and wording suggestions. I am not planning on changing her conclusions -- those are hers and not mine.

The assignment calls for her to analyze the economics of 5 proposals from each of the main Presidential candidates: Barack Obama and John McCain. That is a LOT of work! By doing this, she will actually be more informed about the candidates than a majority of Americans!

The other fact that I have to admit is that I am becoming a more informed voter by helping Ina with this paper. I have had to review the candidate's web sites, review articles about their positions, try to help Ina find out how they will pay for their proposed policies, and similar research that takes a lot of time. It's easy to make a choice without really understanding the details of the choice. I am learning more details about the choice than I ever have before!

I don't intend for this to be a political blog, so I will not comment on the choices. However, I am sending a big "Thank You" to Ina for helping me do a better job of using my right to vote.

- Rob

Diet Pepsi

It's amazing what we take for granted here. Having someone with a fresh point of view helps us think about things again.

We found out that Ina really likes Diet Pepsi. In Norway, they serve watered down sodas and you pay for every one you get. Here in the US, it's hard to find a place where you do not get free refills of soda.

We realized how special this was when we asked Ina her preference for a restaurant one day. Her reply was anyplace that had free refills!

- Rob

Disneyland

I need to collect some pictures, so instead of posting some photos I will catch up on some of our activities since Ina has been here.

In August, we purchased Disneyland Annual Passes for the family. It has been a long time since we have had them and wanted to be able to take Ina multiple times during her stay.

Ina purchased her own Annual Pass and we have been able to take her to visit three times so far.

On visit # 1, the entire family went along for a morning visit. We had her photo taken for the annual pass and visited a few rides. Two of particular note were Pirates of the Caribbean and Splash Mountain. Pirates was nice because she got to see the ride that led to the movies. Splash Mountain was probably not what she expected. Most of the time riders are in a log flowing along some nice tubes with dancing creatures. However, there is a long drop at the end that can be scary. Ina took it well, but I'm not sure that she will go on more rides without us telling her exactly what she is getting into! We left around lunchtime.

For visit # 2, Bethany and I took her for a mid-day visit. We walked a LOT and gave her a chance to take a number of photos. Her favorite ride of the day was Soaring Over California: a simulation of a hang-glider flight over many famous California locations. Ina does not like the "thrill" rides, but we got her to try Space Mountain. That is a roller coaster that is inside a dark building. We told her what was ahead, but she tried it anyway -- and she liked it! We also ate at "Pizza Port" (from the movie Toy Story) during the middle of our day.

Visit # 3 was last Friday evening where we celebrated my birthday. The entire family went along again for an evening visit. Ina had a fancy new camera that she purchased here and got to take some scenery photos and some fireworks pictures. We rode a number of thrill rides such as Big Thunder Mountain and the Matterhorn. For a girl that does not like fast rides, she is doing a very good job of trying out some fun ones! The night ended with the Disneyland fireworks show which was bigger than anything similar she had ever seen. It was a warm evening so we got some Ice Cream on the way out.

There are a lot more details available, but that gives an idea of what we have done so far. We'll post more details and photos with future entries.

- Rob

Root Beer

The girls had a snack after school then topped it off with Root Beer floats. Ina said no to the sweets and then about 5 minutes later asked if she could have a small scoop of ice cream. After receiving her bowl she proceeded to put hot fudge on it. When she sat down she asked what Root Beer was. We told her it was a soda like Coke or Pepsi. We encouraged her to try this new soda that she has never had before. Hayley poured her a very small amount. Ina smelled it first and said, "oh it smells horrible." We all started laughing, including her. She then was very afraid to taste it. I told her to take a small sip over the sink just in case she needed to spit it out. She plugged her nose and took a small sip. Immediately she turned to the sink, looking as if she was going to spew. Instead she swallowed with a horrible look on her face and quickly added "YUCK! That is gross. You seriously like that?" The girls and I could not stop laughing for at least 10 minutes. Our eyes were running with tears. Ina was laughing as well and added that her blog will say I made everyone cry today.

- Celeste

Lake Forest City Scavenger Hunt

We were planning on Ina arriving about a week before she actually made it. However, due to some delays in paperwork she arrived a day before a big event: the Girl Scout City Scavenger Hunt. This is a day where Celeste and I plan a series of secret events for the girls. We spend about 8 hours going from place to place so that they can learn about fun things to do in the City of Lake Forest. Poor Ina must have been very tired! She went to El Toro High School in the morning to register and then spent the afternoon with us going from one thing to another. She seemed to have fun and got to meet several of Bethany's friends. I think this helped her get more comfortable with our family and what we are like!

Rather than writing much more, I will share some pictures from the day.

Ina was able to sleep well after this busy day!

- Rob


Stop # 1 - Bead Store
Every girl made their own bracelet with beads.


Stop # 2 - Arthur Murray Dance Studio
The girls received a lesson in Ballroom Dancing (like Dancing with the Stars on TV)


Stop # 3 - Lake Forest City Hall
The girls got to play table tennis (ping pong). We were also supposed to be able to play Guitar Hero on Xbox, but they forgot to set it up.

Stop # 4 - Bowling
Notice the very fashionable shoes that they got to wear!


Stop # 5 - Dinner
We ate pizza and played Air Hockey.


I have no pictures from Stop # 6. This was a geocache which is a hide-and-seek sort of game played with handheld GPS devices. The geocache that we found was hanging in a tree disguised as a bird house. I'm sure we will get more chances to teach Ina about this since we enjoy this game!

Stop # 7 - Orange County Great Park
This new park is just starting to be built. We did not get to ride the hot air balloon since the reservations were filled up when we got there. However, they had a live band playing. Ina did a GREAT JOB of showing the girls how to line dance to the band's music. I think this was the highlight of the day!





I have no pictures for our last stop. We returned home so that the girls could watch a movie. We setup a projector and computer with a large screen so that it was like a small movie theater for them.

Starting High School

Ina didn't get much rest for her first few days. The morning after she arrived, Celeste took her to El Toro High School for registration. Mrs. Rashoff was the school counselor that helped Ina. We have known Mrs. Rashoff for a long time because of meetings with our other children and she was very helpful to get Ina signed up for her classes. After a couple of days of school she also helped Ina get into a Biology class together with Bethany.

This picture was taken during the registration meeting and includes Bethany, Ina, and Mrs. Rashoff.


A few days after registration, the first day of school arrived. In California, high school students are allowed to wear beach shoes ("flip flops") on their feet. Of course Bethany had Ina immediately took advantage of this! The picture below was taken in front of our house before they walked to school on the first day. It is only about a 10 minute walk, so it is very easy for them.
Don't they look more ready for the beach than for their first day of school?

- Rob

Ina Arrives!

We were excited when we heard that Ina was on her way from Norway. We received an email from her mom and another one from EF Foundation. We had the flight information and used the airline's websites to track her progress. The last leg of her trip was a flight from Chicago to Orange County/John Wayne airport. According to the website, her flight was scheduled to arrive a little bit early.

My mom, "Gramma Pat", was excited to meet Ina too and agreed to meet us at the airport. Luckily I explained to her what Ina looked like and her flight information. We had a Girl Scout meeting to attend in the evening before the flight arrival time which we left early so that we would arrive to get Ina on time.

Somewhere between Chicago and Orange County, the pilot must have gone to warp speed. The flight got in much earlier than we expected. When we got to the airport, Ina was already there with her luggage. Gramma Pat met her when she arrived to find her luggage, so she was not alone. However, we really felt bad that we were not able to hold up our banners to welcome her to California!

Here is a picture of Ina, Bethany, and Hayley at the airport.

Ina was very gracious about us being late and had a hug for every family member. Despite traveling for more than 24 hours, she took the time to talk to us when we got home and gave us some very nice family gifts (the Norwegian chocolate didn't last long!).

So instead of an airport banner, here is one on the blog:

Welcome to California, Ina!!!

- Rob

It happened so fast!

Our family had briefly discussed the idea of having an exchange student live with us. However, since it was already the summer of 2008 it seemed like it was too late to sign up. We decided to wait a year and then consider it again.

On 7 August 2008, I received an email message at work that included this information:
"... help him place 5 kids between the ages of 14 - 18 years old within the next three weeks or he is going to have to call and tell them they won't be able to come. The kids are expecting to be here at the end of August and will only be here for 6 weeks."

Six weeks? That sounded easy. Not allowing someone to come to the US after all of their waiting sounded cruel.

I talked to the family at around 4:00pm that day. I sent an email to EF Foundation at around 5:00pm that day. We got a call from EF Foundation at around 5:05pm that day. We received two profiles at 5:50pm that day. We also filled in the on-line application to become a host family. The family reviewed the applications over dinner. At 9:15pm that night, we received detailed applications for the two students that they wanted us to consider.

Oh yeah, we were also told that the students come for the entire school year and not just for six weeks. We could be a "welcome family" where the student would stay for six weeks and then move to another home. That didn't stop us, we were now determined to welcome an Exchange Student to the United States! After reviewing the details, we decided that Ina from Norway would be the better fit with our family.

On Saturday, 9 August we cleaned the bedroom and prepped it for painting. On Sunday, 10 August we painted the room (we even had some help from Bethany's friend Rachel).

On Sunday, 10 August we had someone from EF Foundation come to our home to inspect it and tell us that we were officially accepted as a host family.

On Monday, 11 August we sent an email to Ina telling her about our family. Four days from getting the original email to inviting a student into our home seems really fast!

- Rob