A Funny Thing Happened to Me....

...while I was on the way to Joe's room putting the laundry away. I noticed there was no one sitting at the computer!! Ray said just this morning, when was the last time I updated my blog!!! As in...you should let people know what's going on!

We had a great week so far. Eddy is adjusting very well, and right now he is writing his weekly letter to his mom and dad. The supervisor Joy will take a picture of it and send it to the principal in Korea who will send it to his folks. He is to have no email or telephone contact with them for the whole 10 weeks, in the name of forging independence.... (Shoot I just noticed I lost my favourite earring again, 3rd time...always found it back before....hope I find it again!) Anyway....Eddy is doing well....the shell was shed a loooooong time ago and yes...it is almost like having two Joe's. The two are very similar and can be equally silly, and pokey, no sense of urgency. A very different child than the one who arrived on Saturday and that is really great.

Eddy goes to our school, he is in Joe's class, and sits beside him in class. Yesterday Joe got a study hall for not finishing his homework. Eddy had taken his home and finished it and coloured it and everything. Joe dismissed the importance of this project and left it at school. Hmmmm. Hope he takes a cue from Eddy! Last night we had a social at the school with all the Keystone kids and the homestay families. It was a lot of fun. It was nice to get together with families that you otherwise might not have that much in common with. The supervisor came too, she was at our house for supper. At the social, most of the Keystone (That's the name of the school the school they are affiliated with...) students hung out together and spoke in their native tongue. They acted like they were right at home on their own school yard. Playing, running, laughing and having fun. The kids don't necessarily know each other, since the Keystone program is an afterschool program that you can choose to attend, and there are different streams within the program that you can choose from. They go to regular school until about 2:30, and then they attend an afterschool-school. Very intense education wise. Eddy is an only child, adored by all his family. His paternal grandparents come over 4 times a week to spend time with him, he is the center of their universe. He is very upbeat, positive, polite, humourous, quick, open to new things, outgoing...he hangs out with the Canadian kids more than the Korean kids since he is just as familiar with them. Because of his attitude he is well liked. He is a good candidate in the program, it is designed to foster independence and leadership. In the future he hopes to become some sort of diplomat. I think it would be right up his alley.

Today the boys are at Cadets. Craig went to the Reach For the Top, they did so-so. So I had Eddy all to myself. My friend Janice's boys were both at Cadets too and her Keystone student, Joseph was home alone too. We went to the Asian food market in London to shop. The students each get a $10/week allowance. Eddy bought some candy for him and the boys, and some shrimp crackers, noodle bowls, and he showed me his favourite marinade! He MUST spend some time in the kitchen to know that! We also bought a jar of kimchi which is a pickled cabbage type dish that is eaten with every meal.... quite involved to make so it was nice to find it in a jar. I also ate a noodle bowl for lunch....with CHOPSTICKS! It was funny to see Joseph and Eddy point to stuff that they liked and what they didn't like....there was a type of canned kimchi on the shelf too and they said they didn't like that kind.

Yesterday afternoon the supervisor came off the bus to visit with us and have supper. She sat and chatted with me and watched me cook, even took pictures of it, to send to the family back home...so they can see what I am feeding him. We had mashed potatoes and hamburger sauce with french cut beans. Nice simple food, and I suppose peasant food if you had to qualify it. But ooh so good. The supervisor loves the school and how and what we learn...how involved the Christian perspective is.... She hasn't ever experienced it to this extent. Christian school in Australia is much different . Those are neat things to hear. I mentioned that Eddy is signed up to play baseball with Joe and she said she loves to cheer so it will be fun to invite her to a game. She is really thankful for the openness and level of inclusion she is feeling among the families for the students and herself.

So that's an update...

So the week was great. Very busy but that's not new. Work really got in the way of my free time this week but...next Saturday I have a whole day to myself...I'm sooo excited. I might pretend I'm not home! So it was a busy week butI'm so thrilled that I had time to do all the things that popped up. So nice to have the flexibility to move things around to get them done in a timely manner. Ray is also busy this weekend, but is getting everything accomplished ...
eventually. Work is going well, training is still rather bland but must be done. One of the gents at his work set the combination lock on his laptop and then forgot what the code was...it took days to get it open. So there are funny things that happen too.

Ray ran a road race last week and came in third in his age group. He was excited and pleased with that. His next excitement is a canoe race that is coming up.