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!
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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!
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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 😀
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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! 😀
Happy belated birthday!!!
I think it’s SO cool you’re hosting an exchange student! What a wonderful experience for both families!
Awesome giveaway too – my most memorable bday was the one when I got to have my very first sleepover – I was excited for months!
I’m a day late, but happy birthday!!
my most memorable birthday was two years ago – i was in vietnam !!!
how very exciting….happy bday and happy exchange student!
my most memorable was this last year turning 40!
happy pisces to you to!
Happy Birthday pretty lady – I hope you have a wonderful day! 🙂
When I think of my childhood birthdays, I always remember the one with the magician. It was just so much fun. I think I must have been 3 or 4, because it was at our first house.
Hope your family has fun hosting Maxi. It seems like it would be so neat!
My 30th birthday is memorable…I was fine with turning 30, until the actual day itself, when I totally freaked out. I was so depressed about losing my youth, and my husband was out-of-state for military training, and it was a Tuesday evening, so I was all alone with nothing to do. So I went to a local tattoo parlor and got my belly button pierced. 😉
Happy birthday!
Your new addition to the household looks lovely! I can’t wait to hear more!
i had the day from h#ll yesterday, so i’m sorry i didn’t get to wish you a happy birthday on your actual day. i hope it was a great one and continues into this weekend (as it should!)
i’m sure you are so relieved that the start of the exchange student program is working out so well. you are wonderful people for taking her in and i’m sure ALL of you will learn from one another.
have a great weekend!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! And…I had no idea you were a twin!! Maybe I did, but I forgot?? Who knows, but that’s pretty cool.
And I had no idea you were getting an exchange student. Wow, what an awesome experience. My mom always wanted to do that when I was young, but we never did. I really wanted to. I hope all goes well! I’m sure it will, I mean heck, she already showed up with COOL gifts!!
HAve a great weekend 🙂
Happy Birthday lady!! 😀
Let’s see – I have a ton of memorable birthdays, thanks to many parties thrown for me by friends. Probably one of the most memorable, though, was my 16th birthday. I went to take my driver’s license test and I failed the parallel parking/maneuverability part as I was using my mom’s 1977 Pontiac Bonneville, which was the size of a cruise ship.
Anyway, I was so upset that I walked home, with my mom driving beside me. Lol.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY BIZ!!!!
Memorable birthday for me: My first birthday in the United States…was horrible, because I had just moved from Singapore, and was lonely and rather depressed because I felt like I couldn’t connect with all the cool kids in school. Haha, not all of them were cool, but every American seemed so big and sophisticated to me!
But then, by the next year, I’d already made a bunch of really good friends…and they “surprised” me with a birthday party! It wasn’t really a surprised because I figured it out before though, heh heh. My friends aren’t exactly subtle, you know? 😉
Happy BIrthday!!
Happy Birthday!!!!!!!!!!!
I guess this past years birthday was the most memorable I can think of right now. Since my birthday is the 23rd of Dec it’s usually always celebrated Christmas Day or Eve which means it’s never been anything too special. Well this year my parents got us all for dinner at their place a couple weeks before Xmas to see my new niece who was born on Nov.28.
Well turns out that was just an excuse to get me and my 2 nephews out there for a surprise BDAY celebration(their bdays are within a month either side of me). Anyways rambling over it was the first surprise birthday party I ever remember having…..was nice after 38years 🙂
Happy Birthday! I loved reading the play-by-play about picking up your exchange student. I’m sure she will have a blast. If anything, she will eat really well…minus the french fry seasoning. 🙂
My most favorite birthday memory was actually this year. Brent through me a surprise dinner with all of my friends. He’s so used to me being late to functions that he told everyone to arrive 15 minutes later than me. I actually finished work early and arrived on time. So the surprise was on them. 🙂 It turned out to be a great evening.
Oh, and I almost forgot: Welcome to Maxi! (I’m a little jealous, she gets to hang out with you all and enjoy your yummy cooking!)
Happy birthday to you, Biz, and to your twin, Jennifer! (Need to dash over to her blog and wish her happy birthday!) 🙂
Oh, my…so many good birthdays! I think one of my best was #21, my college roommate and two of my best friends threw a little surprise party for me after class on the eve of my 21st…it was the auto maintenance class, and we’d done oil changes that evening. 😛 But they let me get in a shower before dragging me out for dinner and drinks at midnight (strawberry margarita!). I have to share a story from my daughter’s 4th birthday, though, because it’s much cuter. We had gone out to eat, and we ordered a piece of chocolate cake with a candle for us all to share. After the waiter brought it and helped sing, she sighed, “That man is *fantastic*!” as he walked away.
Happy Birthday and how exciting to have Maxi there! Birthdays…my husband took me and some friends to the French Laundry, I think it was my 35th.
I really remember my 24th birthday! My best friends snuck me away to my old college town for a weekend 🙂