Big Orange & Kilwin's

Marissa began school today, so she did not get to enjoy all the fun.  :(

Dylan and Daani are not yet back in school so they got Jule and decided to do whatever teenagers do... eating and shopping and having fun!

They ate at Big Orange, which is one of our local favorites.  They specialize in traditional hamburgers, but there is nothing normal about their food.  It's great!

And then they went to Kilwin's for ice cream.  I am so jealous!  Even I have not had time to go here!

Now they are off to the University to meet Andrea for a "paint war."  I have no idea what this is, but I'll post pictures when they come in!

Jordan's Move-In Day

Today Jordan moves into the University of Arkansas at Little Rock housing.  It will be his first night officially away from home and in college!  Poor Wimee!!!!

Jule was there all day as he moved in. She got to meet his roommates and see his apartment.  Jordan is very lucky!  Normally Freshmen have only a tiny room to share with a roommate, and the bathroom is a community bathroom.  Probably the same as most in Germany.  But somehow he was placed into an apartment-style room where he has his own bedroom and shares a living room, kitchen and 1.5 bathrooms with three other guys.





Here is the layout of his apartment:


Tonight we watched the Perseid meteor shower.  We saw maybe 30 shooting stars.  It was great!  And somehow, the temperature cooled off so that it was absolutely perfect!

Wild River Country

The kids visited Wild River Country all day Tuesday!

Again, I could not go so I have no photos, but here are some photos from the internet for Jule's memory.


Also ask her about the "toilet bowl" and if she died in there.

It's HOT!

It is the most hot time in Arkansas right now!  Because the humidity is so high in this area, we have two temperature readings:  one is the temperature and the other is "how hot does it feel to the skin?" We call the second one the "heat index."  On Monday the heat index was 46.11 here.  Thankfully it was a pool day at Laura's house.

I didn't write much about Laura in previous blogs.  She is one of my favorite people, as she is so thoughtful and accommodating to people.  If you have met her once, you feel as though she's a great friend already.  She is also one of the most fun people I know.  She loves to entertain people at her house.

Below are our friend Annelie (she's from Germany) and Laura at my Christmas party in 2014.  This group loves to be silly and have fun!

So Monday Jule went with Lili, Dani and Andrea to Laura's house and there met Wimee, Marissa, Jordan, Dylan and our other friend Shierlene and her four kids.  They stayed in the pool until dark!  I was working but it appears that she had a good time!

This is Davin, Daani, Jordan (behind Daani), Dylan #2 (behind Jordan swimming), Jule, Andrea, Dylan #1, Marissa.  Davin and Dylan #2 belong to Shierlene.

The first one is Maddy, Laura's youngest daughter.

If only you could hear Andrea's laugh.  I wasn't there and I can hear it right now!

Jule and I were speaking about how the decision of Anita and Christian to let her come to America has made such an impact on her life.  Anita and Christian... that gift to her was something that I wish all parents could give.  She realizes how lucky she is that you have put her first in so many areas of life.  The fact that you allowed her to get on a plane and come to a foreign country has changed her life forever.  For her whole life she will have friends and a place to stay if she wishes to visit.  These people in these photographs are some of the best people in the world.  And they all love Jule the same as their own families!

Monday night Jule stayed with Marissa.  I hear that they did not sleep very much!  :)

Wally World

One of the only places Jule has asked to go is to Wal-Mart!

This is a mega-store that is in nearly every city in the U.S.  Its corporate offices are in Arkansas so it is especially popular here.  I have written about this when Jule was here before because people literally go crazy trying to get in the doors and to the sales on "Black Friday" (the day after Thanksgiving when everyone does Christmas shopping.)

This picture gives you an idea of the size of one of these stores.  This is just a tiny amount of the inside view of one...


So Sunday we went to Wal-Mart for grocery shopping.  I have nothing really to eat at my house for a teenager, so it was necessary to do shopping!  Jule got some of her favorites... Pop-Tarts, Whatchamacallit candy bar, Lay's potato chips, Nestle cookies and some other things that she has missed in her time away.

The Meeting of Marissa

So I mentioned that we have kept Jule a secret from Marissa.

Wimee decided that we would make a surprise for Marissa to find out Jule is here.

We went to a restaurant called A.W. Lin's.  Jule sat at her own table and Lili and I hid in a booth. Then Wimee, Marissa and Dylan came in and sat down... and talked about how "that girl at the table looks exactly like Jule!"  (How strange is that??)  Jule only smiled a bit and looked down and ignored them.

You may watch one video here:  https://youtu.be/APu9hHVlXlE!

And another video here:  https://youtu.be/anQzJgv9n1o

After we all ate lunch we went to Park Plaza mall to one of our most favorite stores called Dillard's. This store carries very nice brands and is normally expensive.  But they have the best sales ever!  And today they are having a sale!  Jule bought a pair of shoes that were 65% off the original price.  (Even this is not a really good sale.  If you go on the right day you can get 65% off the original price plus another 50% off the already reduced sale price!)

Marissa was so tired on the way home! She fell asleep in the auto sitting up. You cannot see her face because this girl has more hair than anyone I've ever met! Jule snagged a picture of her!

After a long day of shopping, Jule and Marissa decided to watch D.U.F.F. movie from Redbox.  Redbox is one thing that Jule and I say that we cannot believe has not come yet to Europe!  Redbox is a movie rental company that allows you to go to most gas stations, McDonald's, grocery stores (and other locations) and get a movie from a "red box" and it costs $1.25 USD to rent for the day.  You may then return the movie to any other Redbox that is close to you... even if you have traveled to another place far away.

Redbox looks like this:


The movie that they watched was D.U.F.F.  You will have to ask Jule how to translate this.

What to do?

In America school begins in August... about the same time in Germany.  But we have many different start dates because we have many different types of schools.  Some schools are regular public schools like Jule attended.  Some are S.T.E.M. (focusing on Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) and others are charter schools (receive some government funding but they are allowed more flexibility with course of study.)

When Jule first came to America all her friends were in regular schools.  So many years later the kids have grown up and some are in college.  It's strange to think.  But Jule will have one or two weeks before they all begin classes.  It's perfect that Anita will be landing in Little Rock on the same day that the last of Jule's friends begins her second year of college.

School beginning now is a great thing, because Jule gets to go with Jordan, Andrea and Daani to see their campuses over the next few weeks.  There are lots of activities especially in August to make the new students feel welcome, so she will get to participate in these before beginning her own journey to the university.  She will get to have the fun of American universities well before she has fun at her own in Germany.

As of today, most people know that Jule is here.  But one person does not:  Marissa.  We are keeping Jule's presence a secret from her until tomorrow when we will pull a big surprise on her at a restaurant!

One of the things Jule mentioned that she is craving from America is "white cheese dip."  This is typical at Mexican restaurants in America.  (It's funny, but Lili tells us that nobody in Mexico eats white cheese dip.  This is an American thing.)  Anyhow... Daani works at a Mexican restaurant during her summer home, so we went to eat there and let her serve us.  

I think Jule was pleased with the white cheese dip!  We brought some extra home.

We ordered from the menu Chimi Richi. This is meat, peppers, onions, tomatoes and spices in a tortilla shell.  It is customary to serve with cheese, Mexican rice, and refried beans as shown in the picture below.

Yet again this is becoming a food blog!  :(

She's back!

Jule has come back to America to visit for one month before she begins college!

She arrived Wednesday, August 5th to Andrea, Lili and I waiting for her!

All Good Things...

As we say... "All good things must come to an end."

For my American blog readers, note that Jule and Hermann the Elf arrived safely in Unna on Friday, January 4th.  Hermann has already climbed the Christmas tree.  Jule's family had a gathering for her on Friday night.  She's still dealing with jet lag.

This concludes my blog of Jules Adventures in America.  I hope this chronicle of her journey will inspire more Americans to be hosts!  It's a great learning opportunity for host and student!  If you have questions, please contact me!

Much love to all!

Christi

Special Message to Anita and Christian

To Anita and Christian... I thank you so much for allowing Jule to come and stay with me, and for trusting me with the well-being of your daughter for so long.  I cannot imagine the courage it took to allow her to cross the ocean to arrive at a complete stranger's home.  I hope our communication and this blog have given you some peace knowing that Jule has been surrounded by people who have cared for her and welcomed her into the country with open arms.  You have a wonderful daughter who is intelligent, caring, giving and thoughtful.  She has a great personality, a wonderful sense of humor, and a fervor for living life to its fullest.  She is fearless, and that will take her far and allow her to enjoy life one hundred percent.  If I ever had a daughter, I'd want for her to have so many of Jule's qualities.  You have done such a wonderful job with her.  She has been a joy to have in my life for these five short months.  She has enriched my life more ways than I can say.

Also, I have been so focused on Jule that I have not appropriately thanked you for the love and gifts you have sent from Germany here to me!  Anita... it was so wonderful to get to know you, even though the translator doesn't always say things exactly correct!  I think we are a lot alike.  :)  The gift of your friendship was the best of all!  And thank you to the family for the pen for Christmas and all the sweets that you sent, as well as the beautiful watch on my birthday.  I will be delivering a few of the sweets to Jule's teachers next week with a note from Jule as a "thank you" for their guidance.  Oh, and yes... the things that I use the most and I never said a formal "thank you" for... the hair bands from DM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Jule will tell you that I wear them around my wrist because I need them so often, and sometimes I wear ten of them because I'm afraid I'll lose the first nine and won't have one ready.  :)

Once again, I feel blessed that the family allowed Jule to have this experience.  I pray that she will carry the memories, lessons and friends for a lifetime!