Sad farewell

We got Otoha to O'Hare a little after 8 a.m. this morning. She had bought so many things, L gave her an old carry-on kitty suitcase so she could get everything back home. Here she is in the car on the way to the airport looking over the photo album L lovingly had put together for her over the last two weeks.

The traditional group picture after all the students have their boarding passes. L is in the back row above the Japanese flag; Otoha is at the far right.

Then it's time for hugs and tears.

L bought matching stuffed animals and gave one to Otoha and one to keep to remind them of their time together.

And another tearful hug. One of the United Airlines employees came over the group and jokingly told them to stop crying because they were making her cry. Lol. L came home and slept all afternoon. I think she's exhausted. Otoha was our fifth, and we believe final, Japanese student we've hosted. IT was a fun two weeks with her.

We had Ai visit when E was a sophomore, Ruri was here E's senior year, Takako with B his senior year, Mayu with L her sophomore year (we hosted Mayu from October to late June and had two goodbyes with her) and now Otoha.

Auto Show and farewell party

Today was our last day with Otoha so we decided to go to the Auto Show!

We got there before the show opened at 10 a.m. The girls walked around by themselves while Andy and I were on a mission to find new reusable shopping bags. We found a lot. The girls went on two "rides." On this Volkswagen one, they sat in the back while a driver took them through a course.

Of course, Andy and I had to sign a waiver before they were allowed in the vehicle. They also did a Jeep "ride" and Andy went along on that one. While they waited in line for that, I was in line for a free T-shirt from State Farm. The girls were able to get coupons for their free shirts after the Jeep ride, handed them to me in line, and I was able to get their shirts too.

This is the Hyundai Kona that E is hoping to buy. They only make green in a model fancier than she was planning to get. We'll have to see what happens with that when we get out there late next week. Cute car though.

Andy took a liking to this new Buick Enclave. I don't think he's due for a new car yet but I did like the color.

We had a quick lunch at Chili's in North Riverside before coming home and putting on the meatballs I had to make for the evening's Japanese students' going away party.

Andy and I also loaded up E's boxes and took them to the UPS store. They should arrive Friday. Ten boxes = $700 in shipping fees. Glad Microsoft is paying for that. Makes me wonder if she could have just everything new out there instead of shipping anything. I'm so glad the boxes are out of the dining room!

The farewell party started at 6 p.m. These are some of the shoes that were in the hallway from all the students and parents.

The kids played card games before the food was served. L is on the right.

While the students were playing cards, Otoha and her friends were writing their farewell speeches. She mentioned in her speech that she was happy to meet E and liked speaking Japanese with her. She was sorry she didn't get to say goodbye since we left for the airport before Otaha was up Friday. But E was Facetiming us when L came home with Otoha and several other friends so she was finally able to say her goodbyes.

In college we called this the "after hours," the party after the first party ended. There were a total of six kids playing cards until all hours of hte night. Andy and I went to bed. L drove them home just before 1 a.m.

Shopping and dinner

Today after school I took L, Otoha and her friend Mimi shopping. It appears Otoha has purchased too many souvenirs and now needs another piece of luggage to get them home. Hmmm.

And we had to make a Costco run to show Mimi. Her host student has been sick this week so she hasn't had much of a chance to get out.

And Otoha made us a Japanese dinner tonight.

We had udon and she didn't want to go through the hassle of breading and frying chicken so she asked me to get chicken nuggets. I was OK with that. At least we weren't served sushi.

I thought this was funny - both girls taking pictures before we started eating.

Celebrating a meal well done.

And Andy looked over E's apartment lease before she signed it. Tomorrow she leaves for Seattle!

Cheers!

Nothing was on TV last night except the State of the Union Address so we took E and went over to Margarita's for their Tuesday night drink special. E had a mango margarita.

Andy was happy that he finally had someone to share some guacamole with.

We weren't out very long. The girls were out shopping so they came home and made themselves dinner. We did catch some of the speech, at least what we could hear over the girls playing cards.

On The Ledge

L went downtown after school today with friends to take Otoha and their Japanese students to the top of the Sears, er Willis, Tower. It was such a clear day yesterday that we thought they would miss their chance at some nice views, but the clouds seemed to stay away this afternoon. Looks like they were able to see quite a bit.

The whole gang on The Ledge!

Woodfield day

Today we took Otoha to Woodfield Mall. She decided to buy Build-a-Bears for her friends back home. That's a lot of bears!

She ended up with two bags full of bears. Hope she has a plan to get those on the plane.

L got herself a Star Wars bear that resembles the character Rey.

Then we stopped at Costco so L could get some snacks to take her to friend A's Super Bowl party tonight. The girls sampled their way through the store then had lunch. Otoha got a slice of pizza while L had a hotdog. On the way home we stopped at McDonald's so they could get a hot fudge sundae.

And what's this in the sky? The sun!! The last sunny day in Chicagoland was Jan. 21. It's been the longest cloudy stretch (12 days) in the area in just over 22 years! That's E’s whole life!

It was warm for February. Chicago broke a record of the warmest Feb. 2 in history, beating 51 in 1992. It was 47 when we were at the mall early this afternoon. Apparently O'Hare got up to 52 degrees.

Japan Fest

L and Otoha had a busy day at the school's Japan Fest today. They came home, had tacos for dinner, then played Monopoly with E.

Games and talks

L brought home her friend, R, from school with her Japanese students and the girls played games and had pizza for dinner.

Meanwhile, Andy, E (back today from her U of I visit) and I went downtown to the Field Museum's Night of Ideas. I took this picture of the skyline while they were paying the parking meter. (The museum and Soldier Field wanted $30 to park in their lots! Fortunately, we found a spot on the street.)

The event was open to the public, free with reservations. It was really busy. We sat for a talk by Fermilab scientists before spending the rest of the time just walking around looking at the exhibits we usually don't see ...

... Like this one of the meteorite that hit Benld in 1938, going through a resident's garage and Oldsmobile.

The crowd thins out.

Otoha's birthday

L and Otoha were busy last night making and decorating cupcakes to bring to the school to celebrate her 17th birthday.

L stayed up late and decorated the dining room after Otoha went to bed. L decorated the huge cupcake too. Otoha was in such a hurry today on our way to school she didn't even notice the table! She did notice it after school.

L and Otoha had a late-arrival day at OPRF so they came to the Nursery School with me. Otoha read a book in Japanese to the class about Olaf. The kids then guessed what it might translate into English by looking at the illustrations. The kids were surprisingly calm and attentive.

In our free time today, I showed several kids how to make origami dogs. I helped them fold the paper and then they decorated their dog however they wanted.

We took Otoha to Red Robin for dinner. Allison met us there.

When we got home, L lit the candles on her cake and she blew them out.

Then L got out her blow-up Pikachu costume and started dancing around the house. She's debating donating it to the school's Japanese program, if sensei wants it, to use at future Japan Fests and bake sales.

Otoha thought it was pretty funny.

Sightseeing in Chicago

While Andy and I were at church and a meeting to hear about a youth trip to Purdue this summer, L, Otoha and E went to Target. This afternoon we all went downtown for some sightseeing. The girls wanted to go up in the Sears Tower but it was too foggy.

We parked in the garage by Andy's office so after a quick bathroom stop there, we walked to Daley Plaza where the girls posed by the Picasso.

We did a little shopping then went to Millennium Park ...

... where the girls saw the Bean.

We walked up Michigan Avenue stopping in a few stores along the way. I wasn't sure we'd make it to the Water Tower before it was too dark to take a picture. We barely made it.

And for dinner we went to Pizzeria Due for Chicago-style, deep-dish pizza. The restaurant was surprisingly not busy. It was a Sunday night though.