A whole year?

Time is not quite flying

Alicia had fun at the basketball tournament "depending on the moment." She woke up sick and didn't feel well all day. Also, that day, the day Laura went back to Kansas, was the four-month anniversary of Alicia's arrival in the US. They were sad to say goodbye again but, even worse, it reminded Alicia of how much longer she'll be away from her home, family, and friends. She's been here only slightly longer than half of the total time she'll be gone.

Likewise, people ask me if I'm surprised to realize how long Chloe's been gone, and hasn't the time just flown? Yes and yes, until I realize how much longer she'll be gone. And then I try to think of something else.

Adios, Laura

lt was a most anticlimactic goodbye. Because of schedule changes, Alicia had to take the 6:40 ferry with us, get off at Vashon, and wait at the terminal for about an hour before the basketball bus got there to board the 7:55 ferry to Seattle and then up to Bellingham (about two more hours) for the basketball tournament.

Laura couldn't believe that Alicia takes such an early ferry every day - she never fully woke up. After they said a quick goodbye when Alicia got off at Vashon (all eyes were dry, except mine), Laura and I continued on to Seattle and then to the airport. We were early, the plane was on time, and there was a long line at security, so Laura got in line right away. I came home to a house devoid of Spaniards until late tomorrow night, when Alicia gets back from the basketball tournament. Tomorrow we're going to downtown Seattle to spend the night and celebrate New Year's Eve.

Observations

Some observations, based on seeing both girls together. They have different accents. I don't know it it's because they live in different regions in the US (although they don't have accents specific to Washington or Kansas), because they aren't together and so are less likely to talk alike as their English proficiency progresses, or if they sounded different before they left Spain.

Curious thing, accents. The other day Alicia watched Harry Potter in English for the first time, then asked me if Americans and English people have different accents. Even though she was in England for a week this summer and she's an accomplished English speaker, this was the first time she noticed a difference in the way we speak.

So much more of Alicia's personality was evident. Not different, just more (which I also noticed when she was with the other exchange students). They are both intelligent kids who grasp a surprising number of American nuances with little explanation.

Getting them to not speak Spanish to each other when they were with anyone else was not easy, and it's easy to see how hard it would be to remember that. They had a better understanding of what it's like for the rest of us, though, when they got their pedicures. Everyone in there is Korean, and they speak Korean to each other the whole time. When I would tell the girls to speak English, they'd tell me what they had been saying so I'd know that they weren't talking about us. They were quite certain, however, that the Koreans were talking about them, and they didn't like it one bit.

Lack of compassion

The girls saw the exchange student from India on the ferry. They asked him if he'd heard about the tsunami. Yes, but he didn't really care because his town was not affected. Besides, there is too much population, so it's okay. He also asked Alicia if she'd ever been to Europe. And yes, he knows she's from Spain. Alicia is having a hard time comprehending that - he didn't know that Spain is in Europe? This is the same guy who wouldn't cook in Japanese class because cooking is beneath him - they have a girl to do that at home in India.

Because I don't know him or any other recently arrived Indian guests in this country, I don't know if his behavior is based on his personality or if cultural influences explain his attitude. When transferring pictures from his camera to the computer, I noticed that most of the pictures are of himself, so I'm leaning toward personality. Apparently not every exchange student's mind is broadened by his experiences, but we can hope that at least he'll remember that Spain is in Europe.

Spanish sisters see Seattle

The sisters went to Seattle again yesterday to go to Seattle Center, then back downtown and maybe do some more shopping. I realized that what they most want to do is spend time together, so I let them off the hook about seeing the Seattle Art Museum's Spain in the Age of Exploration exhibition. And, if shopping is involved, everyone would be better served if they went without me.

So much to do at Seatle Center: ice skating, free passes to the Pacific Science Center (thanks, Ann), Imax movies (including Polar Express in 3D), and Experience Music Project. They went up in the Space Needle, ate lunch, then took the monorail back to Seattle and went to see Meet the Fockers. They took the 9:20 AM ferry and got the 7:35 PM ferry home. Much better that I didn't go along.

I did not play with the colors in the following photographs. Despite what you've heard, sometimes the bluest skies you'll ever see are in Seattle.

Seattle, from the bus on the way in.

View of the Science Center, Puget Sound, and that's Vashon in the distance on the right. Looking southwest from the Space Needle.

Spanish sisters (Alicia, Laura) on top of the Space Needle.

Seattle, looking northwest from the Space Needle.

It's a smaller world

Concern over the tsunami that hit Thailand, India, Sri Lanka, etc. is another example of how this exchange program has made my world smaller. One of the three exchange students at Vashon is from Thailand, another from India. And Anna Rae's mom has a friend who is teaching in Thailand who writes a blog full of interesting photos. I have no idea who she is or even how Anna Rae's family knows her, but I'm worried about her. Likewise, I barely know the girl from Thailand or the boy from India, but I'm worried about their families and how scared they must be until they can get word about their families' safety.

At this time last year, I would have been interested in the scientific aspects of the earthquake and tsunami and had a vague, fleeting sense of sadness at the incredible destruction and thousands of lost lives, but I had no personal connection to that part of the world. But these are no longer just land masses with arbitrary borders; they are the homes of people I know.

Chloe's Christmas

It was white. When we first heard that Chloe was going to Spain, the last thing we thought of was a white Christmas. She had a pretty good Christmas and being with Abby probably helped more than she knows. When I talked with her on the phone, she asked if it was warm and happy here and said she could picture the fire in the fireplace and everyone getting into their stockings, but she wasn't sad.

It wasn't bad for either of us, but we certainly missed her. I even drove by Pets Mart, thinking that I should stop and buy something for the dogs and cats. Then I remembered that it's Chloe who always pesters me to buy the animals Christmas presents. I didn't miss that and they didn't seem to notice their lack of giftage. It probably would have been a lot worse for us if Alicia and Laura hadn't been here, and a lot worse for Chloe if she hadn't been with Abby. Our Christmas package for her arrived in time and she has at least three more, from other family members, to look forward to.

If Chloe had been home, she wouldn't have met her host mother's cousin, a monk who they just adored and who gave them a personal tour of the monastery. She also loves her host father's father, who is very funny, so being with the family was fun for her. Probably not so much fun for Alicia's cousin, who surely missed her two cousins this year.

We haven't received the box of Christmas gifts for us and assorted other people from Chloe yet, but we got one gift last week. She made a photo album documenting a typical day in Pamplona, starting with her not yet out of bed in the morning. It was such a good idea and we love it. Those are the details that often get forgotten when reminiscing years later. We'll look at it often.

They haven't heard anything official about moving but are hoping they can do it after January 6 (Epiphany, Three Kings Day, the last day of Christmas) so they can spend that major holiday with the family they know. They like living where they are, but recognize that it's probably good that they'll be moving, and they'll still see each other often. One of the host fathers wants his exchange student gone sooner (she and another American girl - they're all American - will be taking Chloe and Abby's places), but unless he complains to Rotary, they'll probably be able to move after the sixth.

Christmas dinner

A bunch of people Alicia and Laura don't really know, but also some more presents for them to open. Getting gifts from people they don't know was a little surprising for them. When Laura commented on that, Christopher asked her if she was okay with it. She was. Here Laura is showing uncle Larry and Nana her photo album of Kansas.

That's uncle Bob and cousin Parker looking at the photo album that Chloe made for us of a typical day in Pamplona.

Brenna and Aunt Michele, holding her new digital Christmas camera.

Alicia had said that at home, when they go to the grandparents' home in Peralta for Christmas Eve, she, her sister, and their cousin always perform a little skit of some sort for the family. I suggested that they could do it for us, but she wasn't too interested in that. So they chattered, often in Spanish to each other, we ate, and that was about it.

Perhaps I should be offended

While sitting by the Christmas tree, my mom asked Alicia if they had a bunch of different ornaments on their tree at home, like ours does. Alicia said, "Yes, but we usually put all red things because we think it looks better all one color."

Christmas morning

And then there was Christmas. Steve woke me up to say he was building a fire and did I want him to take the stockings down first? I told him to leave them until the girls got up and could see them: "They're already up." And then I looked at the time: 9:30, the latest I have ever slept on Christmas morning, even before we had kids.

Laura and Alicia, comparing gifts.

After the stockings, Laura asked if she could keep hers and I said no because we just might need them the next time we have two girls named Laura and Alicia at our house for Christmas. Once again she demonstrated her intelligence by completely getting my sarcasm when she said, about the stockings, "Good. This is the best part." Then she said she would hang it somewhere - she didn't know where, but somewhere - at home next year. Chloe said she and Abby were also excited about the stockings I'd sent.

Four girls from two different countries, all excited about Christmas
stockings. Two of them because it was a comfort from home, and two of them because it was not from home (and they love their home), but typical of their host country.

Alicia, Laura, Christopher, Christmas breakfast.

We opened presents, Alicia tried on the couple different hats, scarves, and gloves she got, we ate breakfast, and then cleaned up the present debris to get ready for dinner guests. One of Alicia's presents was a new watch to replace the free ponytail-holder watch she always wears.

She likes it, but will have to get used to the "points" because she's used to all numbers. Alicia documented part of her loot, below. I got Laura an international phone card so she can call her friends. Their father told Alicia, when I got one for her birthday, to save it to call grandparents, but I told them I bought them so they could call anyone they wanted to, especially friends. Alicia said that maybe Laura could pay her back for using her card to call her friends, but Laura wasn't too interested in recalling how much time she'd used on Alicia's card when she called her friends during the Halloween slumber party that Chloe and Abby went to.