One Saturday, a few weeks after C. arrived, her plans with some friends fell through and I actually didn't have anything planned.  I realized that she had been here a few weeks and we had really never done anything alone together.  So, we thought about what we wanted to do and I remembered this museum out in Baker, Oregon that was quite unique and since I love historical museums, I asked if she wanted to go.  She was game, so we hopped in the car and drove about three hours (two for normal drivers) to see the museum and then returned.  I was nervous in the car the whole time, but we did it.  I wasn't yet sure I actually like driving, but we did get there... I think we took more pictures, but I could only find one.

When I first came back to the states in July 2009, the one thing I was NOT looking forward to was getting back into the driver's seat.  I even put off buying a car as it seemed that my mom and my sister were both more than willing to drive me where I needed to go and I used the money for traveling (seems to be where my priorities are).  However, after a year, I was to start hosting a foreign exchange student and knew that I needed a car.  So, my brother got on Craig's list and helped me find one about four days before she arrived.  She was really looking forward to getting her driver's license and I was looking forward to having her practice by driving me around because that is how much I hated driving (notice the past tense).  Well, as the months have gone by, and I have driven more and more I realized that I actually like driving...wow!  Was I becoming a 'true' American?  In November, I decided that I wanted to take C. to Seattle and asked my aunt and uncle if we could crash at their place.  I even decided to take my car and give C. the practice driving at the same time.  I enjoyed the trip so much--even the driving that I decided to take more road trips when possible. Last weekend, C and her friend visiting from Switzerland and I traveled to Minneapolis, Minnesota to go to the Mall of America.  I have the added privilege of working from home, so the girls can shop during the day while I work and it has been wonderful.  I have decided to turn this blog into a 'road trip' blog and chronicle our road trips from the past year and into the future.  My mom and I are talking about road tripping together to Houston Texas next fall so that she can go to the international Aglow convention and I'm scheming even more trips as I can travel somewhere over the weekend, work at my destination as long as I have internet connection and then travel back the next weekend.  I have an awesome job!

Yesterday was the first time I had been to an American church potluck since 1998 and it has probably been a lot longer than that since I was at one from a rural area.  It was wonderful!  You see, in Finland, the churches had potlucks (or potblesses as my church in Illinois called it), but like many things culture differences arise...  In Finland a potluck mainly consisted on baking and sweets, but no main dishes so it was never a true meal--mainly a snack.  Whereas a traditional potluck in the USA has at least two tables.  One table is full of main dishes (casseroles, chicken, pasta, etc.) and salads of all kinds--almost everything is homemade.  The 2nd table is filled with dessert.  It was great.  I also had the privilege of sitting next to a couple who had lived a decade in Africa so they also have an international outlook, which was great.  Anyway, YAY for American country church potlucks!

• This was the first Easter I have experienced in the USA since 1998. The holiday this year was uneventful and I really took the opportunity to get some much-needed rest.  I went to the local Quaker church on Easter and really enjoyed it although it didn't have the fanfare that so many US churches have on Easter--except for the worship--I would have forgotten it was Easter...
• On Saturday, my sister and I spontaneously went to the movie, The Blind Side.  After she puts the kids to bed at about 8 PM, her husband sometimes lets her go out and play.  We were just going on a ride and all of a sudden she got this bright idea to go see this movie.  I had tried twice before to see this particular movie as I had heard so much about it and this time, it worked out.  The movie was good, but not as good as I thought it would be.  I had heard that some people cried during the movie, but for the life of me, couldn't figure out where they would have cried...  Anyway, it appears that the US theaters have followed Europe in that they now have commercials before movies.  My sister said it has been happening the last five years or so.  I was quite surprised since that was one of the differences between movies in Finland and in the states.
• Last week, J & mom & I took the 'boys'--Alpo and Hubble to the local lake.  This was the first lake Alpo had been to since we were in Finland and Alpo had a ball. It wasn't all that warm, but the cold water didn't stop him as he ran into and out of the water.  When I finally get a car, I'm going to make an effort to get him to a lake more often.
• This past weekend, I had the computer OFF for 48 hours, which, for me, is huge!  
• Another change for me as I return to American life is that Easter is NOT a four-day weekend.  Everything is open on Friday AND Monday... I thought the USA was a Christian nation?  It is ironic to me that Finland took a four-day weekend and yet most of the churches are empty and the USA has a regular weekend and the churches are full...
• Why am I blogging, you ask? (when I really have nothing to say)  This is probably my favorite video on You Tube and it will explain why:

I have now been in the states for almost exactly eight months and have been reflecting lately about the things that have changed and have come up with a small list that I was quite surprised about.  Some of the things are of a superficial nature and some are not.  Since I'm more of a bullet point writer, here are my bullet points:

1. At the grocery store, I have noticed even more food items and was frankly quite overwhelmed when I went into the grocery store.  The one thing that was surprising to me was all the different items of food one can buy that originated in a restaurant.  For example, if someone just loves TGIFridays, he/she can now buy the mixes or frozen food items from that restaurant.  For those of you in Finland--it would be like buying your favorite dish from Rossos and making it yourself--quite strange to me.
2. Another item I have noticed that took me by surprise was the number of prepaid cards a person can buy.  When I left, one could buy a walmart gift card and few other stores.  A decade away and you see these prepaid gift cards for every imaginable store/restaurant.  The credit card companies have also got into the racket.  When I bought my verizon cell phone, I had 50 dollar rebate and it came to me in the form of a prepaid visa card.  Quite convenient actually.
3. I don't know if it is something that I didn't notice before or if it has actually changed--we are slobs over in this part of the world!  In Finland, I thought it was odd that people didn't always dress for the occasion, but it seems that over here everyone just wears t-shirts and shorts (or jeans/sweats) when shopping and such.  The one area that hasn't changed much is that people still dress up when they go to church.  In Finland, it seemed to be a generational divide.  People born before the 70s dressed up, but people born in the 70s or after seemed to wear jeans all the time (but they still looked nice).  I noticed today in church that most everyone was dressed nice and I saw few jeans (might just be the conservative area I'm living though).  So, when Americans are out and about, it seems the dress is more casual than I'm used to (I've started dressing the same though).
4. One area I have been puzzled about hasn't really changed, but I have and that is in the area of politics.  I'm still very morally conservative, but find the rampant fear around conservative America confusing.  I know that there is a mistrust of government, but I don't think the Obama administration is out to kill all the poor old folk via euthanasia.  I'm also quite confused why so many people are upset by the health care reform.  Albeit, I have been saying for years that the health care needs reformed, but that the American mentality is not ready for it--I guess I was right.  I was well taken care of in Finland.  When I could afford it, I went to a private doctor and when I couldn't afford it, I still had medical care through the public system.  Here I have no insurance and hope and pray that I remain healthy... the conservative attitude confuses me and when I have asked people around me, the main response is that we don't trust the government, which just doesn't make sense to me.  We voted them into office, did we not?
5. Another change here has just been in the last couple of years as the internet has become affordable and mainstream.  The big video chain store was forced out of business because of this.  The two new innovations are Netflix and the Red box.  Netflix allows you to rent movies via the post and or to stream directly from the internet depending on your subscription.  With the red box, you can pick it up from a vending machine outside of places like McDonalds and Walmart.  No need to go into a video store anymore.
6. The telephone company provides internet and cable and the cable companies provide phone service--there are all these bundled packages that just don't make sense...
7. I hate the phone I bought and am not too impressed with the phone company.  Although I can change my phone, I can't buy an i-phone with my current company and am locked into this contract for another  18 months and counting!  Why can't we choose the phone and the vendor and switch if we want.  Why does AT&T have the exclusive contract with apple?  Why are the nokia phones at Verizon so bad?  grrrr
8. I've been positively surprised with the number of international students who are even choosing to come to a small state like Idaho...
9. I've noticed a lot of legalism among some Christians that has also surprised me.  I could go on, but am choosing to refrain.
10. I'm sure there is more and will add it to the comments if I think of any more...

This past week, I spent about four days in Los Angeles! I had a wonderful time and enjoyed meeting people from the western and southern states.  Most of the people I met were similar to me in one way--they all have a love and a heart for international students!  When I first decided to return to the states last summer, I did a google search looking for an opportunity to continue working with international students face to face as the rest of my job would be live online (internet with webcam and microphone).  I found a couple of sites and inquired about the different opportunities and a few weeks later I received an email from a lady who lives five hours south of where I was moving.  I had nearly forgot that I had inquired about different opportunities to work with international students with all the stress of moving and all, but was happy to hear from her.  Although, we had initially thought I would start right away, I actually didn't start with the company until this past January.  With my unplanned trip to Colombia and then the weeks I spent in Europe, it was better.  Anyway, I am now working with EF Foundation for Foreign Travel, which is an organization that brings foreign exchange students into the USA.  After this past week, I am completely impressed with EF Foundation and am even more determined to find host families and work with the youth that come through this organization.  The kids that I have met so far are amazing kids and I have every confidence that people who choose to be host families will have a great year and will also have the opportunity to open their home, their hearts and their culture--basically their America-- to a young person from another culture and at the same time learn about new cultures, new ways of thinking, etc.  What a wonderful opportunity!  Anyway, if you are interested in sharing your home OR you know someone who is, please let me know.  If you are not in Idaho, I can refer you to another representative and if you are in Idaho--I would love to talk to you!

I've been out of blog ideas for years and am trying to get myself back into the game, so am going to try to post more often (you've read that before)...  Anyway, this past week in review:

1. TOEFL anyone?  Spent four evenings this past week tutoring two foreign exchange students from S. Korea.  Hopefully it helped as they took the test yesterday.  They are both hoping to go to a university in Japan.
2. Right now, I'm involved in three teacher training courses with class time at about eight hours a week.  I'm really enjoying the trainees!  I spend four hours a week in Second Life with the AVALON project (www.avalonlearning.eu) and four hours with the LANCELOT course (www.lancelotschool.com).  If you are a language trainer and want some training on virtual classroom technology, let me know...
3. This past week, with my language training and teacher training, I spoke with people from the following countries:
• Dutch
• Turkish
• German
• British
• Austrian
• Finnish
• Italian
• Greek
• Serbian
• Croatian
• Russian
• Japanese
• Taiwanese
• Canadian
• Kuwaiti
• Mexican
• American
• Pakistani
• Irish
• Hungarian
4. Spent time hugging and playing with my sister's foster babies.  I&E, 8 month old twins have now mastered sitting up--it won't be long before they start crawling and then L&H's life really starts to get interesting with three toddlers and two dogs...not yet determined how long the lovelies will be with them, but we are enjoying them immensely.
5. Alpo is the master escape artist.  Every time I try to leave him in any of the fenced yards, he has a way of getting out.  Finally met the last family on our street this week because Alpo got out and they brought him back.  He is good for the neighborhood networking.
6. Last Sunday, my mom had an auspicious birthday and so we all met at my place for pizza, cake and ice cream.  It was nice to see everyone.
7. The past two days, I have had six teenagers staying at my place from northern Idaho.  They were here for the NWYM bible quiz tournament.  The girls who stayed here got 2nd in the Jr. High division.  I was amazed how early they went to bed.  Also, realized how blessed I am as none of them had to sleep on the floor... A huge thanks to my brother-in-law for making a breakfast casserole for Saturday morning and to mom&J for going to the grocery store on my behalf for other breakfast foods...

One of my good friends in Finland used to turn to me about every time we got together and said, ´time flies´.  I wholeheartedly agree with her and can't believe that Alpo and I arrived in this country over six months ago.  Alpo had it rough for a while, but has really started to come into his own and loves the house and yard.  He still doesn't go outside alone, but I think that is awesome as I don't have to worry about him.  His favorite person in the states is my mom's new husband, J.  When we go to their house, J will stand up and take him outside and just play with him--in fact, Alpo has got to the point that he literally demands it, which I need to figure out how to stop.  Alpo has also taught J's dog, Hubble' how to bark when he wants something--not good, but I guess we can't change it.  We also spend time at my sister's house and she has a 10 month old puppy and Socks and Alpo spend a lot of time outside playing like dogs do.  It has been great for Alpo to be with other dogs and other people.  In Finland, our normal routine was three walks a day and that was about it.  So, needless to say Alpo's quality of life has soared.

One of the reasons that I stayed in Finland so long is because I just didn't want to wonder 'what would have happened if I stayed?'  I had moved so much in my life and have had that question with a lot of the places I lived as a child.  Anyway, when I finally decided to return to the states, I just knew it was right and six months later, I have no regrets.  I do miss my friends, some of the food and the way of life at times, but am enjoying my life here so much that I don't miss it that much.  I know I'll get the occasional trip to Europe plus I need to get to Finland because my friend M&T still have some boxes of my things.  Anyway,  I'm quite excited about the future as it really looks bright.  I am still teaching English live online and currently have some students from Germany, Finland, Japan and Denmark.  I'm also still involved in teacher training in virtual classrooms as well as second life.  Since coming to the states, I have started doing a few other things as well.  I have done some tutoring of foreign exchange students for the TOEFL exam, which has been great as I am able to meet international students.  In addition, I am in the process of starting a recruiting agency for live online language teachers--it has been slow because other projects have taken priority.  In addition, I have added another opportunity/adventure.  I am an International Exchange Coordinator for EF Foundation, which means I will place foreign exchange students into homes in the rural areas of the Treasure Valley.  I'm quite excited about this as I just love international students and am excited to be a part of their exchange year.  I already have someone placed in my home for the next school year, which is pretty exciting for me.  In fact, right now one of my TOEFL students (from Vietnam) is spending part of the weekend at my place and I am starting to realize that I have the room and capacity to have exchange students in my home and I'm quite happy about it.

Anyway, the future is bright!  My goal is to start writing on this blog even more as a record for myself even if no one else reads this...

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