Hosting Foreign Exchange Students

[carnation]

Miss Australia arrived 2 days ago! We showed her around the high school today and she was mortified (we warned her!) because all these people wanted to hear her speak. Now one of our crazy daughters (the Phi Mu) is going around with her and pretending to be Australian too, which is hysterical because she sounds more like Dick Van Dyke and his awful Cockney accent--also, she's Japanese. LOL!

Y'all, if an Australian ever offers you Vegemite, don't take it! I took some years ago from an Australian roommate and reacted much like one daughter's boyfriend did; he ran to the sink and was holding his open mouth under the faucet. Yeccchh! But take the TimTams, they're awesome!

[carnation]

So here are some things I've learned about Australia:

sooking=their term for whining
youse=their y'all
they don't have yellow school buses and she was dying to ride one!
Cherry Ripes are the best candy bars around!

and: she has been nominated for Homecoming Court!

[carnation]

Our little Aussie made the varsity cross country team and today she ran in the Disney CC Invitational! No word on her results yet but she is thrilled to be at Fright Night at Universal tonight, where she dearly hopes she'll get chased by some monster like some guy with a chainsaw. Apparently, Australians in her area celebrate Halloween in a tiny way and if you go up to a house, you may get candy or you may get a door slammed in your face. She can't wait for Halloween and we've put out all our decorations for her!

She wants to go to one of those seriously scary haunted houses this month, like that one--Netherworld?- in Atlanta. No way am I going with her.

[carnation]

Year #5 of hosting and once again, we'll have a girl from Japan--from the part that was hit by the earthquake and tsunami. She'll arrive next month!