And just like that, we’re a family of 5. Our foreign exchange student arrived on Sunday night. His mother has requested that I not use his name or face online, so I will be referring to him as KT and if there are photos of him, I will blur his face. Obviously I am going to still take one million photos for my annual scrapbooks (which allow 1000 photos and I always max out), but I want to make sure that I am partnering with his mom to co-parent across the world. He traveled roughly 25 hours from the time he left his home in Japan until he arrived at our house. He was very friendly and chatty, but also thrown off- no appetite, tired, and of course, a little unsure. He was BEWILDERED by the puppies and they were only a little bit obnoxious. The boys said hi and then mostly ignored him. I anxiously showed him around our house, showed him his room and desperately tried to feed him. Night one- just 3 years to go…
On Monday, the boys were with Grandma Debbie and KT was home. Jet lag kicked in hardcore and he napped for a chunk of the day. It was mostly a quiet day as I tried to catch up on work after a week out of the office. .
On Tuesday, Shyanna was with the boys (her last week with us) and they were busy playing. KT was still pretty tired and out of it. He and I made a trip to the Asian grocery store and found some familiar items to have on hand. We spent a few hours at school because it was his laptop orientation where we learned about policies, etc. and then he got his brand new imac (which he is very excited about and Xander is VERY excited to get someday). In the evening, the boys were on their own because Christine and I went to see Wicked. This was the third time seeing it together (we’ve seen it in NYC and Iowa). We went out to a fancy dinner and then spent the entire musical on the edge of our seats, trying not to sing out loud, or burst into tears of joy. It was AMAZING.
On Wednesday, Shyanna took the boys and KT mini golfing. I worked. Nate worked. It was feeling more and more normal after being on vacation and welcoming a new family member.
On Thursday, it was Shyanna’s last day with the boys. The boys really enjoyed having her come and I LOVE her. She goes to school near our house, so she will still dogsit this year and babysit if we need a backup. So it wasn’t goodbye, but I was still so sad she won’t be here every week anymore!
KT’s jet lag seemed to be gone towards the end of the week and his appetite was good. He and the boys finally had a breakthrough when he asked if he could play one of the video games and I told him yes, but I don’t know how to work any of them, so Xander had to help him. Since then, they’ve been playing and talking more and it’s feeling more and more natural. Nate and I had “host family orientation” where we learned about culture shock and talked logistics of hosting. The 3 boys went to Grandma Debbie’s house for pizza. After our orientation, we picked everyone up and headed to a nearby park for the 10th grade back to school party. Every class has their own party and I was excited to go to an upper school event. I found myself feeling very maternal and very nervous- the same way I felt when Xander started kindergarten- silently begging someone to be nice to KT and be friends. Luckily there were lots of friendly kids who crowded around him to introduce themselves. I introduced Augustus to a few cool looking boys, saying, “this is Augustus, he will be in pre-K and he wanted to meet some new friends”. The first boy gave him a fist bump. The second boy offered high five, but when Gussie went to high five him, he pulled his hand away and said, “too slow” which Augustus thought was HILARIOUS (and then did to me about 5 more times through the night). I was grateful for the big kids being so sweet to my boys as well as to KT.
On Friday, KT spent the day at school for exchange student orientation day. He walked though the schedule and learned about the school. Xander and Augustus had their last swim lesson. Xander wants to try out for the swim team and his teacher was complimentary about his swim skills! Augustus has been riding a balance bike for 2 years (even though he has a pedal bike) but on Friday, he finally decided to make the switch and he basically hopped on and started riding! KT started getting used to our routine of going outside after dinner every night. The first night we did it, he was very hesitant, explaining that he isn’t really an outside guy, but even a few nights into it, I can see that he was enjoying himself.
Saturday was a busy day! Augustus got his hair cut. Xander went to a birthday party for a friend from his class. KT and I went school supply shopping. After all of that, Sean and Rachel organized a neighborhood (plus a lot of other people) party. There was a lot of pizza, a lot of snacks, drinks, hanging out, ping pong, and more. The kids came up with a very clever game of real-life Mario Kart. They designed and built their own carts completely on their own and then raced around. I was very proud of them for being so creative and independent. We ate pizza and snacks. At some point, the kids turned to me and said, “will there be cocktails” because when you grow up happy-houring every week, apparently you grow accustomed to kiddie cocktails. It just so happens that I keep 7up, grenadine, and cherries on hand. Another super fun, way too late night of summer fun.
Another busy day today as we headed to my uncle’s cabin for a summer-fun day. KT was very unsure and he’s not a fan of water. I told him that in the next 3 years, I would eventually get him in the lake, but for now, I was happy he was willing to come along on a pontoon ride and just hang out for the day. The boys LOVED being pulled on a tube behind the boat, jet skiing and wrestling Uncle Danny on the water mat. We paddle boarded, and there happened to be a parade just around the corner and Grandma and the boys collected a GIANT bag of candy while watching the parade. My win for the day was when KT asked if he could drive the pontoon! Nate taught him how and he was a natural! We’re going to make him “outdoorsy” eventually.
It has been a very busy week (our last full week of the summer!). We are adjusting to life as a family of 5. We are learning a lot about Japan, about KT, about ourselves as a family. KT is very talkative, asks great questions, offers to help often, is very polite, and seems to be getting used to us (and all of our loud chaos of puppies and little boys). I am looking forward to school starting and giving us back a stricter routine and a little less nonstop fun (this summer has been awesome but I am EXHAUSTED!).