First off, I love people watching at the airport. It's way better than the mall and art fair people watching. I love the happy reunions I witness. I also love to follow a person (visually only - I haven't reached stalker status yet) across the airport and imagine their plans or where their path is taking them.
There was 16 kids located from all over the world (China, Thailand, Germany that I know of from the signs) on Alex's flight that were being picked up at the Detroit Airport as foreign exchange students. Everyone had signs and interesting ways to welcome their kids. I felt a little outdone in my sign adventure. Lesson learned. In the future I will be my completely over-the-top sign designer with no fears of standing out.
Katey, our area rep, told me it's very difficult to pick your kid out of a line-up because you have one picture and that doesn't take into consideration tans, haircuts, growth spurts, etc. Alex was one of the first kids off the plane. I knew him instantly and surprisingly, he knew us too.
It was a happy reunion!! Because of our multiple conversations back and forth via email we had things already to talk about. I'm happy to note that there was no awkward silences or strange situations yet. I'm sure they will come. I'm very thankful not the first night though.
We already introduced Alex to Wendy's (we failed to eat dinner beforehand). As much as we frequent there, we thought we might as well get it out of the way. He noticed how much slower we are forced to drive here and that there are a lot of fields. He comes for a little town outside of Frankfurt. However, in his class at school there is 25 people. Rick graduated in the 80's with 89 people in his class and I had 110 in my class. He is excited about that part. WE drove right by the school. Alex said he already "toured" it online with the link I emailed him. Great!! MY thoroughness pays off.
We gave him a tour of our home. We left ambient lighting on so he could see it when we drove up. The cop that was arresting someone on our way there I'm sure made a great first impression too. Nice!! Small town cops like their authority.
His house is (gulp) 450 years old, senior to the birth of our nation even. We did have to tell him about our dreaded bat situation. (Yep! another one this week. It actually hit Rick in the head because he unexpectedly walked into its flight path). He wasn't surprised.
We are off to a great start. He seems very comfortable. I'm thrilled!! I spoke to Katey and she is having a rough time with her student (apparently he has never been told NO and expects fancy desserts on a regular basis). When I brushed my teeth this morning, Alex had already moved into our bathroom cabinet. It made me smile. I'm glad he is making himself at home and felt comfortable enough to do it without our direction. I am still dreading the "rules" conversation we have to have before he starts school. We have a grand approach though "Right now you have our trust, you can lose that though. The more you lose it, the tougher the rules get". Teehee! Let's see if this works. Luckily Rick is going to take the lead on that one. I'll be the "money" girl and breakdown the budget and what's what in that department. Like any good parents with their first child, we will faithfully avoid the "sex" talk as long as possible.
PS> Alex and SweetPea like each other. Phew!! Situation averted :)
2 comments:
Welcome Alex! So glad things are going well so far darling. Prepare to be exhausted this week. :-)
I expect fancy desserts every night, too. What are you gonna do about that? :)
Congrats, dear! You're going to be the best parent ever!
And if you need to give him the sex talk, just hand him over and I'll drive him too PP. hehe
Post a Comment