Cake and more cake

This guy turned 19 today! And he found out he made the dean's list at U of I for the last semester. A good day for B.

Mayu's neighborhood guy friends made a matcha-frosted cake for her today. It says, until we meet again. So cute and a nice surprise!

From sensei:

It is Friday, June 22 and it is our last day of school!! It is bittersweet. Students are already saying that they don't want to leave here. They are very loved by the host family, the school and the community. They have represented America, Oak Park community and OPRFHS very well. They have always been polite and kind, curious and adventurous, and lovable. Many teachers have stopped by Deaton Sensei and I to thank us for bringing our students and how our students have been a great influence on their students. It truly has been a joy to watch all of the students blossom here in Japan. They have been through sufferings, but they are definitely better and stronger people. ... At the end of the day, students said the final goodbye to their homeroom class, where they hung out, prepared for the festival together, ate lunches and took classes. Some of the students were tearful. But they all learned that we can understand each other and become friends no matter where we come from. Students learned a lot about Japan of course but more so, they learned a lot about their own country, culture and who they are and where they come from. They are more aware of their foundation and that is priceless.

Tomorrow is the last family day and we will have a goodbye party in the afternoon, where students will perform the play and the song again. They will also each give a speech to their family. After that we leave on Sunday to Tokyo! ... And THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR LETTING YOUR CHILD COME ON THIS TRIP!!!!!!!! They have changed our lives for the better as we witnessed their lives being changed by this experience. It has been amazing and we will all treasure the memories that we have made here for life.

And some pictures she sent:

The drawing the home ec teacher was talking about the other day.

Visiting an elementary school.

Lunchtime.

A (some of the) group photo.

L in her gym uniform jacket.

Back to the Field Museum

Andy's drink is smokin' at the Field Museum's celebration of Maximo. We brought the girls along and B was supposed to come, but he fell asleep and didn't realize we wanted him to come with so when I woke him he said he'd rather stay home. Boo.

The girls at the cocktail hour.

An overview of Stanley Hall.

One of each of the desserts provided. The little milkshake had a chocolate straw but it was the consistency of chocolate milk. Maybe it wasn't a milkshake?

We also got to tour the new Antartica Dinosaur exhibit. This dinosaur is so big I only come up to its knee.

And from sensei:

L went to a cafe with her family. She told them that she wanted to do "more" fireworks, but they took it as "bigger" fireworks so they went to this special store and got a lot of really big fireworks. They are planning to do them tonight.

ISU keychain

Our free keychains from the Alumni Association came in the mail the other day. The association gives them out to new grads and on Facebook lots of alumni were asking how to get their own. They said to contact them, so I did. My keys are already on it.

Our Tiger Lillies have finally bloomed.

The work on the alley across from us starts soon. We watched them move in a lot of heavy equipment tonight.

Maybe the cats sense Mayu is leaving soon? They've been jumping up for her to pet them and keep wanting to be played with. And from Japan:

L went out to dinner with her host family. She said she had the burger with cheese inside it.

Sensei's report:

Hello! It is Wed. 6/20!

We were in school all day. Some students are tired. We have been going non-stop. Kids were out doing things most of the weekend, so they didn't get much rest. Yesterday was a hot day and we walked to the temple in the sun. Although it was very close to school, it still made us more tired. So we have a few kids resting at the nurse's office this morning. We should make signs saying "reserved for Americans" and put them beds in nurse's office ... The nurse continues to take care of our students. She is a saint. The beds there are actual beds and they are comfy! I think OPRF purposely make the beds uncomfortable so students wouldn't stay all day.

We made the newspaper again this morning! Our zen meditation outing is in the paper! Back to school day. ... Deaton Sensei and I came back to teacher's office and a home ec teacher came over and showed us drawings of bento that Lindsey and Seamus did. She said that students were studying nutrition so she had them draw bento and analyze the nutritious value. Lindsey's drawing was pretty good! It has rice, tempura shrimp, apple slices and fish paste. She colored it nicely too. Then, Seamus's. Yes. It was ... cute. es, even the home ec teacher said that it was "cute." We will leave it at that. OPRF has a pretty good art program so maybe he can take a class next year.

Tomorrow will be a long day, visiting three elementary schools. We hope we can give you a good report!

Tale of two stations

These were taken at the same time as the president spoke today at a business gathering:

This is why it's fun to switch back and forth between the conservative and liberal stations. The differences are glaring. Not sure which one I believe. There has to be a middle of the road somewhere. I just haven't found it yet.

From sensei's Tuesday report: Lindsey went to a festival and shopping. She met a Power Ranger and she bought a lot of stuff. Her family also took her to a sushi restaurant where she ate cheese fries ... Today we went to a local temple nearby and experienced Zen meditation. It has become popular and more well-known since yoga became popular but we did it in a very cool temple so it was fun and very educational. The priest explained the history and ideas of Buddhism and Zen, showed us around the temple ground before we went inside to do the meditation. There, students learned how to sit and breathe properly. Then they were instructed to "think nothing", meaning that thoughts come to the head, but not to chase after the thought or whatever comes to mind, but to let go. The priest walked around with a stick and tapped people's shoulders if they weren't sitting properly. (In real practice, this "tapping" is more like "hitting"). He said that in Buddhism, people are equal. There are no people above or below any people. Today, he happens to be the one helping the students doing the meditation, but tomorrow, the students might be the ones helping him do something else. He said that this idea is very important. Also, he said that when he is tapping/hitting the practitioners, he is not punishing them, but he is encouraging them. This is a great idea that I will use back home. When I am tapping/smacking students, I am not punishing them. I am encouraging them.

Going into the temple.

A boy and his cat

Muffles demands attention ...

as does August.

Lindsey's busy Monday (A day off of school since they were there Saturday for the school festival), shopping with classmate M and her host sister:

I'm guessing L bought all of these.

This looks delicious.

Mayu said, "Oh, good. L found a Starbucks."

L and her host sister, Himeka.

Classmate M on the shopping trip. After L posted these pictures on Facebook, his mom messaged me because she heard there was an earthquake in Osaka, Japan. She googled the location and found that it's 500 miles away from Akita where the kids are. Phew. Just said she felt she had to reach out to another parent whose kid is on the trip. We had a nice chat. She was happy to see this picture because she hasn't heard much from him. Boys.

And what a coincidence. I went to the Jewel to grab a couple things for dinner and the song on the radio was "Call Me" which is the song the kids chose to perform in Japan.

Father's Day

Andy and the two kids on Father's Day. Mayu was still at the graduation party/sleepover when we took the picture. Usually, we take the picture outside, but it was too hot.

Apparently, the sleepover morphed into shopping downtown. She came back around dinner time and gave Andy some Godiva chocolates for Father's Day. So sweet. She ate, took a shower and went to bed. Probably not much sleeping happened at the sleepover. And it was super hot again today so I'm sure walking around downtown was exhausting.

My milkweeds have finally attracted a Monarch butterfly. Maybe we'll see more caterpillars soon? E and I searched for eggs this afternoon but didn't find any. Not that we're sure what we're looking for.

And from Japan, L had a big Sunday with her host family.

They went to an Akita dog museum. She's staying in the Akita prefecture.

Wonder if she realizes this is Putin?

They went to a festival.

I think this is her young host sister stopping to smell the roses.

L took some really nice pictures of lots of different roses.

A stop at McDonald's. L said it tastes so much better than McDonald's here ... and she loves McDonald's. This is a caramel McFlurry.

The sign for her McFlurry. It's Gudetama style. She even got a Gudetama toy.

This is in the McDonald's. E said you dump your ice and leftover soda in it before recycling your cup.

The little sister is sleeping? Must have been a long day. L said she was tired too.

I think this is dinner at a sushi restaurant. L sent a video of the food being delivered on a conveyer belt of sorts. Looks like she's having fries with her Japanese foods.

Sweltering Saturday

It was hot (in the 90s) and humid today, but Andy went out golfing anyway. Hmmm.

The girls and I went shopping so E could get Andy's Father's Day gift from the kids - a dozen golf balls he's been wanting to try out. Different from his usual Titleist. I joked with Mayu that it's my favorite store - NOT!

Here's a shirt I liked but didn't buy for Andy. Another shirt said, "Golf Sucks." I'm not sure why that would be in a golf store. Maybe for the golf widows? Mayu went to a graduation party/sleepover so with just the oldest two kids home, Andy and I took a friend up on his invitation to go to Lincoln Park Zoo for a craft brew festival.

It was run by the same group that put on the one we went to earlier in the month with Julie and Kevin.

It was a beautiful, but hot, night to be in the city. At least there was a little lake breeze at the zoo. It was like being at Disneyworld. There are lots of people, it's nighttime and you're still sweating because it's so hot.

Andy talking with his golf buddies, Matt and Tim.

The beer tents were spread out so you saw lots of the zoo and some of the animals that were out. The polar bears put on quite a show.

Tim and Andy talk with Matt's wife, Renee.

Betsy makes a silly face showing off her deluxe pretzel necklace.

Cheers!

And the Japan update:

L and her host sister.

Hello everyone! It is Saturday 6/16.

We are still going! It is the day 2 of the festival. We had a short meeting this morning, everyone is well. The school opened to the public at 9 am and a crowd of people came in. Parents, kids who live in the area, community members, students from different schools in the area. ... Lindsey was super excited to get ice cream. The ice cream is kind of like gelato but they make it look like rose flower.

... Gabe's mother said that he was fun to be around and he was not afraid to try new things. is host sister enjoyed taking him to her English school a few days ago and is looking forward to taking him again on Monday. She also found Lindsey and said hello. She was very happy to meet her. (Lindsey's American family hosted her older daughter two years ago). That was Takako.