I am not going to lie, I was a nervous wreck before picking up our exchange student!  Would she like us?  Would she feel comfortable?  Is this the longest period of time being away from her parents?

My anxious feelings were quickly washed away when I saw her walk through the airport doors, she spotted Hannah and gave her a hug!  They have been corresponding by email for over three months, so they have gotten to know each other somewhat.

Each student, both German and American, had to fill out a questionnaire so they could match up like students.  Um, pretty sure I got a German version of Hannah!  After sending an email to her Mom letting her know that she was safe and sound, her first order of business was unpacking!  Hannah gave her 2 drawers in her dresser and half of her closet space and one shelf on her vanity.

I believe she was unpacked and everything was in order within 30 minutes! 😀  Tony and I both remarked that had it been us in the same situation, we both would have just lived out of our suitcase!

This was the first time that I’ve gone to the International terminal at O’Hare – it was very confusing getting there!  Short term parking is no where near the International terminal – you have to take a train to get there!

Hannah waiting for the train to the terminal 😀 I love that dress - its from Target!

We literally had about 5 minutes to spare before they came through the customs doors!   First picture of Hannah and Maxi!

After she finished unpacking – she gave us presents!

a bath kit on the left and then German chocolates, gummies and wafer cookies 😀

In the course of their conversations over the past few months – they discovered their love of coffee!  Maxi brought Hannah a travel mug from a German starbucks!

I wasn’t sure what to make for her first meal, but in the car ride home I discovered she likes seafood and pasta, so I grilled shrimp and made pasta – only one snafu – while making the sauce, I thought I poured in garlic powder, but it was french fry seasoning!  I took one bite and it was so salty, so the girls made a grocery store run to get me tomato sauce to fix it 😀

it started out good! Canned diced tomatoes, fresh basil and lots of garlic!
I just marinated the shrimp in olive oil, garlic and Italian seasoning for about an hour
I grilled garlic bread - loved it!

Our goal was to keep her up until 8:00 p.m.   She had to get up early to go to school with Hannah this morning.  After dinner, she took a long shower and at 7:45 was ready to call it a night.  At one point at the end of the dinner she started speaking French!    Hannah later told me she said in German in the kitchen “there are so many languages going through my head!”

Coffee in hand, they both made it out on time this morning!

Okay, now for the giveaway!  What’s  a birthday without presents! 😀

First up:  Italian salt holder – I love having salt at the ready next to the stove!

And who doesn’t love anything LeCreuset! Silicone prep bowls!

All you need to do to enter is leave a comment telling me about a memorable birthday – it can be about your 6th birthday or a surprise 30th birthday!  Enter until Sunday night and I’ll pick a winner by random integer on Monday morning.  Oh, you can see my birthday recap last year with pics for any new readers!

Happy Birthday to my twin sister Jennifer! 😀

Happy Friday! 😀