River tour

We couldn't let Mayu leave Chicago without an architectural tour on the Chicago River so we did that this morning. E came along. Here's Andy and Mayu at the very start of the tour.

Had to get a picture of E in her Illini jacket in front of some U of I building. Not sure what it is.

It had rained a lot lately so the water was really high in the river and the boat got really close to the bottom of the bridges. They kept warning us not to stand up, don't touch the bridge and don't have your mouth open when you're under a bridge and looking up. Ewww.

Such a pretty city.

And to make things a little more interesting, the bridges were being raised and lowered today to allow for boats to get into the lake. The only comment I remember the tour guide saying about Trump Tower was about its "huge" letters. They were (and are) quite the controversy.

Me and Andy.

Nice picture of me with E.

After the tour, Andy drove to Long Grove for his volunteer training at an upcoming golf tournament. He also worked the first shift of doughnuts (3 a.m. start time) so he's had a full day. He got home just in time for us to drive to church for our friends' surprise anniversary party.

Their college son decorated the parlor. It looked really nice. We came home when Mayu couldn't get the back door open. She had gone to dinner with friends.

And I woke up to this picture of L saying goodbye to her Japanese host family. This was Saturday. Sunday they leave for Tokyo.

A bit from sensei about the farewell:

We got to talk to all of the host families and thanked them. Everyone one so emotional. All of the parents said that two weeks was too short and we should make it a longer stay. They are all very attached to our students. Some of them said that they were not coming to the airport :). There are many others who are not coming back, but we will do our best to bring back about 30 kids. When you see your child at O'Hare, he/she might look completely different, maybe Asian looking. But don't worry. You will get used to this change pretty quickly. Remember, we told you that your children have changed tremendously from this experience. Their physical appearance might just be one of the changes. ... Students did great emotional goodbye speeches to the families. They all had difficulty communicating at times and it is not like they were able to have deep conversation, but they laughed together, ate together and they existed in the same space for two weeks and it created a strong bond. As they get better at Japanese, they can talk more and more things and they can get to know each other more. So we hope that the students will keep in touch with their families. This is not a goodbye, this is just a beginning!