Welcome Van!

Van arrived on Thursday afternoon. She landed in Spokane about 4:05 pm and was picked up by the area coordinator because I didn't have time to get to the airport after work. She arrived here about 6:15 and was very tired. We visited for a while and then she went to sleep. As many of you know, it is a long flight and jet lag is no fun.

Friday morning, I took Van to school and showed her around. The we registered her for classes and she began her American school experience! Getting adjusted to a new culture, home, and school all at once is very difficult but she is doing well. Fortunately, she only had one day of school and then has the weekend to relax and get her bearings.

Saturday, we went to an exchange student/host family potluck and orientation meeting. Van met several other students from Vietnam who had been here a couple of weeks already. They told her that it just takes a little time to adjust. She made other friends there and got some email addresses, as well. We also have two other exchange students in our school, so that is helpful. Here is our first family photo at the picnic. Van and Holly have hit it off well! Holly smiles a lot at her, plays with Van, and goes into her room if the door isn't shut. Holly also ran right over to Van several times during the picnic and sits in her lap. Here they are together on the swing.
I was surprised at how many exchange students there are in our region. With all of them spread out among different towns, it is hard to gauge how many there are until they are all together in one place. Many of them started making new friendships at the picnic and will probably get to do a number of activities together throughout the year. Here is a group picture of some of the exchange students. Van is in the center shading her eyes from the sun. These pictures were funny to take because many host families were taking pictures and none of the students really knew where they should be looking, so everyone is doing something different.

The girl on the far left, Nikki, is from Taiwan and was very excited about Holly being adopted from there. She asked if Holly would learn Chinese later and I told her yes. Holly also met a 4 year old little girl who was adopted from China and whose family is hosting an exchange student this year. When we do these types of gatherings throughout the year, Holly will have a playmate, too!
As usual, Holly enjoyed the food very much! She particularly like the cupcakes and peach cobbler.
I have been wondering what Holly is going to be for Halloween since it is coming up shortly and I have to make a decision. A couple days later, a catalog showed up in the mail with three pages of costumes. I would look at one and think "Oh, that's so cute! Holly would look great in that." Then I would see another and another and another. Obviously, no decision has been made because it is so hard to decide! I've got to do it soon so I can get something ordered and don't have to try to go shopping for one. Here is Holly sitting on the couch with the catalog after we looked through it together.Now that school has started, we are trying to get back into the swing of things and a more solid routine. Although afternoon nap time is not going well, I must say! The tired girl just wants to stay up and not take a nap until late in the day. I've got to figure out some way to fix that because I want to see her when I get home, not have her asleep still!