stevenpiziks (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
stevenpiziks) wrote2012-10-13 11:41 pm
stevenpiziks) wrote2012-10-13 11:41 pm
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Exchange: The Arrival
Remember when I went to Esslingen, Germany last summer as an exchange chaperone? The program I went on is bringing twenty-some students and two teachers here this October. One of the teachers needed a place to stay, and I offered to let her stay with us. I already knew Sybille fairly well from the previous trip, but I had to warn her that she would be staying in the House of Men!
Before she arrived, we shifted the boys around. Aran and Maksim will be sharing a room again while she's here, but that's fine--they shared a room for years and are used to it. Aran lives a Spartan existence, so it was easy to move him, actually.
I realized that the boys had never dealt with a long-term guest before, let alone a female one, so I went over a few rules and procedures (remembering to close the bathroom door every time, no post-shower nudity, knocking and asking permission to enter any bedroom, it's okay to ask questions about Germany, etc.).
KL, the other American teacher in the exchange, met both Sybille and her partner teacher Nina at the airport and waited with them until the students were all picked up by their exchange families. Then KL met me at a strip mall not far from my house so I could pick up Sybille. The four of us had gotten along very well in Germany, and it was very nice seeing them again. By now it was fairly late at night and Sybille was dealing with jet lag and travel exhaustion, of course--she'd been on the go for nearly 18 hours, all told--but was quite chipper. At home, we got her settled in and shown around. We talked for a bit, and then it was bed time.
The next day (Thursday) was a school day. Sybille went with me. The exchange students followed their host students through the day, and Sybille and Nina coordinated from the library. After school, I stopped at the store, and Sybille and I chatted about differences between German and American shopping. We also talked about different European archaeological sites we found interesting. She's been to Crete, and I was envious.
That evening the exchange held a welcome party at a parent's house. It was very nice. We had lots of food and a bonfire. The German students sang a pair of songs for everyone, which everyone liked quite a lot.
Friday morning, the exchange program vanished for a three-day field trip to see various sites in Michigan. They come back on Sunday evening. So far everything is going very well. I do need to find a few entertaining things to do evenings this week, though!
Before she arrived, we shifted the boys around. Aran and Maksim will be sharing a room again while she's here, but that's fine--they shared a room for years and are used to it. Aran lives a Spartan existence, so it was easy to move him, actually.
I realized that the boys had never dealt with a long-term guest before, let alone a female one, so I went over a few rules and procedures (remembering to close the bathroom door every time, no post-shower nudity, knocking and asking permission to enter any bedroom, it's okay to ask questions about Germany, etc.).
KL, the other American teacher in the exchange, met both Sybille and her partner teacher Nina at the airport and waited with them until the students were all picked up by their exchange families. Then KL met me at a strip mall not far from my house so I could pick up Sybille. The four of us had gotten along very well in Germany, and it was very nice seeing them again. By now it was fairly late at night and Sybille was dealing with jet lag and travel exhaustion, of course--she'd been on the go for nearly 18 hours, all told--but was quite chipper. At home, we got her settled in and shown around. We talked for a bit, and then it was bed time.
The next day (Thursday) was a school day. Sybille went with me. The exchange students followed their host students through the day, and Sybille and Nina coordinated from the library. After school, I stopped at the store, and Sybille and I chatted about differences between German and American shopping. We also talked about different European archaeological sites we found interesting. She's been to Crete, and I was envious.
That evening the exchange held a welcome party at a parent's house. It was very nice. We had lots of food and a bonfire. The German students sang a pair of songs for everyone, which everyone liked quite a lot.
Friday morning, the exchange program vanished for a three-day field trip to see various sites in Michigan. They come back on Sunday evening. So far everything is going very well. I do need to find a few entertaining things to do evenings this week, though!