Monday, 8/4/08
Yiying was back in classes today, with an afternoon spent shopping at the University Book Store, then bowling. She was very tired when we picked her up at the bus and said that she didn’t like bowling very much! Oh, well. Another experience to check off her list!
Tuesday, 8/5/08
Sarah, Brian & I joined Yiying and the students for an all-day excursion to beautiful Georgetown, Colorado. It is about a one-hour bus ride from the campus up into the mountains. Our day began with a ride on the Georgetown Loop train; an old mining steam train built in the 1870s to carry the ore found in the mountains. (Check out the website at www.georgetownlooprr.com.) After the train ride, we rode our bus to Idaho Springs, a quaint little town with a population under 2,000! We ate lunch at the famous Beau Jo’s Pizza, enjoying their ‘Mountain Pies’ (a.k.a. huge pizzas!). Yiying and her friends, Chihiro and Yu, each ate 3 pieces, I had 2, Sarah had 1, and Brian ate 4! After lunch, we took about a five-block walk to a little park where we had a gold panning demonstration, then got to try it ourselves! Yiying found three pieces of gold, and Sarah and Brian found two. They were very excited.
Our day ended with a drive to the famous Red Rocks Amphitheater where we got a backstage tour, including the dressing rooms that the rock stars use when they come in concert! The next day, James Taylor would be playing there! All in all, it was a really wonderful day. We finished it up with dinner at my mom and dad’s house – Nana Alice’s Fried Chicken, mashed potatoes, honeyed carrots, and rolls, followed up with ice cream and cookies. It was delicious.
Wednesday, 8/6/08
All of the students held their class at Flat Irons Mall today. They learned all about shopping (like they didn’t already know about that!), at lunch at the Food Court (Yiying had Subway), then went to see ‘Journey to the Center of
the Earth,’ which she didn’t think was very good. Once again, she arrived home tired, but excited from her day. That evening, she made a delicious dinner for us called Hayashi Rice, which had pork, onions, mushrooms & carrots in brown gravy over steamed rice. YUMMMMMMMM!
Thursday, 8/7/08
Today we all went to Water World (www.waterworldcolorado.com). It was an exhausting, exhilarating, and sun-drenched day! Yiying mostly hung out with Chihiro. Brian took a friend, Cameron, and Sarah hung out with them. It was very fun. Yiying liked Thunder Bay best, but thought that some of the bigger water slides were too slow! Sarah and Cameron enjoyed the Half Pipe, and Brian liked the Lazy River and Storm.
Friday, 8/8/08
Today, Yiying took her Yukata (like a Kimono, but made of different fabric) to school with her. They spent the day practicing for their performances during the Sayonara party. We joined up with her at the Old Main Chapel on campus that evening, along with my mom and dad. We were treated to an amazing program including singing, dancing, speeches (including one made by Yiying!), and a slideshow created by Kristy, the program coordinator. Our honored guests were two people from Compass U.S.A., the American recipient of this year’s scholarship trip to Jumonji School in Japan, and the Assistant Principal of Jumonji School, Mr. Fulo, and his wife. It was a beautiful program. Yiying did a wonderful job on her speech, and all of the dances and singing were wonderful. Of course, I cried a lot! After the party, we went to Chili’s for dinner. It was very fun. Check out the slideshow that will follow of this evening.
Saturday, 8/9/08
The kids all slept in late (Yiying finally roused at about 11:00 a.m.!), then joined me in the driveway for a Garage Sale. It was Yiying’s first experience with that! It wasn’t terribly successful, but I made about $160, and ended up with a lot less for the Salvation Army to pick up on Monday! Later in the day, I took all of the kids (including Cameron again) to the movies to see “The Mummy.” The kids all loved it. I thought it was pretty corny! We had hamburgers for dinner, and went to bed fairly early (around 11!)
Sunday, 8/10/08
We slept in again today! Then, Yiying, Sarah and I went with my mom out to do some shopping. Sarah is turning in a job application at a local restaurant this week and hoping to get an interview. So, we picked her up a nice interview outfit to wear in case that happens. Then, we went to lunch at Tony Rigatoni’s, joined by Dave and Brian. On the way home, we stopped by Grama & Grampa’s house to drop off Grama and to let Yiying say goodbye. It was sad! Tonight, Yiying has requested pizza for her final dinner in America. Then, I will help her finish up her packing. We will try to get to bed early since we have to get up at about 3:30 a.m. in order to take Yiying to the meeting place for the bus ride to the airport! I’ll post again soon and let you know how the send-off went!
Monday, 8/11/08
This morning we said 'goodbye for now' to Yiying. Oh, we were so sad to see her go. The morning started very early - 3:30 to be exact - after a very late night - 12:30 a.m.! Final suitcase preparations went into the wee hours as we managed to get her bag under 50 lbs. So, on very little sleep and Brian still in jammies, we hopped in the car (okay, so we didn't really hop, but kind of slunk) and went to Flat Irons Mall to meet the group and the airport bus. There were lots of tears, a few pictures, and many, many hugs. We promised to keep in touch and try to see each other in the future. Yiying sure made an impact on our lives - I think the dogs even miss her! She was a happy spirit to have around the house, smiling and laughing, integrating beautifully into the family, and very confident with her language ability. If we decide to do this next year, the new student will have a high bar to reach! We would like to say a sincere thanks to Yu and Kejian for allowing Yiying to stay with us and giving her this invaluable experience, and a thanks to Yiying for being our new Japanese China-girl daughter.
Farewell! Zai Jian! Sayonara!