pollyblog

I have this crazy notion that all really talented people are bi-polar. Here’s how it works. While manic, these creative types spend their time in a chaotic, frenzied state, producing brilliant works nothing short of genius. They have no time for sleeping, eating, and cleaning up after themselves like the rest of us mediocrity. Their time is spent purely creating. Then, after they’ve spent that round of brilliance, they sink into depression where they brood about, all the while finding inspiration for new material for even more brilliant creations to be brought forth during their next state of mania.

I am not bi-polar.

One would think this is something to celebrate. Yeah, I’m normal, and mediocre. Other times, like when I read something that expresses my thoughts, feelings and longings so completely but someone else expressed it for me, normalcy and mediocrity seem more like a curse.

So, what’s a mere mortal to do? Wait I guess. Wait for inspiration. Wait for brilliance. Wait for the next go round and see if I’m brilliant then.

 Princess Diana died 10 years ago today. I remember gasping and saying to 3-year-old Zach, “Oh, the Princess of Wales died.” To which he replied with heartfelt concern, “Did the whales love her? Are they going to miss her?”

Brilliant or mediocre, I ask ya?

I need some good clichés. Like, “My heart is bursting with happiness.” Or, “My cup runneth over,” or something along those lines. Let’s see, how else can I put this? Last night ended a week of rich, rewarding experiences and I am filled up from it all. Geez, this is HARD to express in words. If you haven’t been there you will likely think I’m off my rocker. If you’ve been in my shoes, perhaps you understand what I’m trying to say.  

We said goodbye to Yuki for the last time last night and it was like leaving a son. Olivia almost cried on the way home saying, “I miss Yuki already.” How can one week – one measly week of knowing someone – bring such closeness? I can’t quite express what it is, something about seeing things through the eyes of someone from another culture, and realizing that similarities exist whether you speak the same language or not.  

At the Sayonara send-off party we were to read a letter to our guest telling him what it meant to us to host him and get to know him. So I whipped something up from the family. Little did I know that so did Jay, Zach and Olivia. Jay’s letter was LOVELY. He was obviously very touched by this whole experience and connected with Yuki in a deep, meaningful way. Olivia’s letter was priceless. Unfortunately, it was hand-written so no copies of it remain. The gist of it was this – Yuki was like her other (nicer was scratched out) brother and she hopes he will come back to see us, in fact, bring his whole family back to visit, she said. You know what, that would be just fine with all of us. 

Thankfully, Zach is REALLY good at imitating him so we keep saying, “Do Yuki, do Yuki,” so it’s like we have him here with us if only for a moment. 

One of the senseis told Jay that the Japanese are very loyal. When you make a friend and put an effort into extending your friendship, you will have a friend for life. Well, I hope that’s the case. I’ve never been that great at maintaining long-distance friendships unless the other end helps me keep things going. Hopefully Yuki and his family will stay in touch. It would be well worth it to all of us in my family.  

Remember what I said yesterday about cultural differences and formality and all that? NEVERMIND.

It comes down to this…teenagers are teenagers, no matter from where they hail. Sure, there are some differences. But give them America’s (or Greenland’s or Denmark’s or Portugal’s) Funniest Videos and they will kick back and laugh and make themselves at home.

 Should you decide to host a Japanese student, forget what everyone will tell you about not taking him or her out for sushi. “It will be like taking Zach out to McDonald’s while he’s in Japan,” they warned. First of all, I bet McDonald’s in Japan is quite different than McDonald’s here at home. Not that I would waste my time going to one but that’s a different story. But the same holds true here. Sushi restaurants here are not the same as those in Japan. And anyway, he wanted to experience how our family lives and, guess what, it just so happens that my children’s favorite food is sushi. So we went for out sushi. My gosh, you should’ve seen this kid. He was praising Buddha. I’ve been waiting for the call all day from the school director saying, “Uh, you were a little extravagant last night and all the other visitors are jealous.” I have to say, it was one of the best sushi nights we’ve had. I think going in there and asking if they had anyone who spoke Japanese may have had something to do with it. They were particularly accommodating and made one of the most gorgeous boats we’ve seen.

 A few things I’ve learned from Yuki…Sleep when you need to sleep, even if it's in the car. Walk lightly on your feet. Take food that you want when it’s offered to you without acting sheepish about it even if it’s the last bit on the plate. Pack lightly. Carry small things.

Email from Yuki's dad in response to the photo I sent of Yuki holding Snakey.

"We are relieved to see that he is enjoying to stay in your house. We are looking forward to hear about his doing. Especially, we want to hear what his feeling when he touch the your pet snake."

You gotta love that!

I was just thinking…my kids rock. Remind me that next time I’m getting down on them.

Last night when we sat down to dinner of traditional American hamburgers like Yuki requested, we were all about to eat when I noticed Yuki looking around, a bit unsure. I started to tell him it was fine to eat when Zach folded his hands “namaste-style” and blurted out something in Japanese, to which Yuki responded with the same gesture and words and happily commenced eating. I looked at Zach, I’m sure with an expression of shock and awe, and he said, “That’s what they say before meals.”

Olivia has been the perfect hostess. For once I think Zach appreciates his little sister tagging along and following them everywhere. She seems to know how to lighten things up when it gets awkward.

All right. That’s all I wanted to say. Now I’m off to do my hostessing duties at the outdoor amusement center in 100-degree heat. Sounds like fun.

Our Japanese exchange student, Yuki, arrived yesterday. He’s 13 – 10 days younger than Zach – and he comes from Hiroshima. He attends the Shinonome School which is a sister school to Zach’s middle school. Each year a small group of students and teachers come here at the beginning of school and then a small group of our students and teachers go there at the end of our school year. It’s a rich learning experience for all involved. And hosting a foreign exchange student with minimal English is, well, downright exhausting.

 It’s one thing when you can easily ask someone, “Do you need anything? Are you hungry, thirsty, too hot, too cold, sleepy, etc.?” It’s quite another when little things like that turn into a game of charades and mind reading, as Zach put it this morning. But then having a student from Japan adds a whole other dimension. His cultural upbringing is all about formality and not being so casual and gut-wrenchingly honest like us crass Americans. I can only imagine what we must look like in his eyes. I saw one of the photos Jay took at the welcome celebration that pretty much says it all. I arrived toward the end of the celebration and went over to meet Yuki, who bowed to me politely. I grabbed him and gave him a hug. I figured he needed some maternal affection to stave off homesickness. By the rigidness of his stance I might have figured wrong. Anyway, that’s when Jay snapped the photo of me with my big mouth open and Yuki looking all meek and, well, a bit freaked out.

Ah, but that’s all history. I think he likes us. Well, he might have been starting to until Olivia sicced the snake on him. She just loves terrorizing people with that thing. He’s a great pet. Then, Yuki proceeded to stealthily beat Zach AND Jay in chess, which raised Jay’s hackles and, as much as he tries to restrain it, brought out his competitive nature. The poor kid was so tired but Jay was going, “One more game, just one more game.” I’m just kidding. He might have only said it once.

During the day yesterday, we took Yuki to see some BMX Extreme bike riding. Crikey, those guys are NUTS. Let me ask you, why does one person look at a picnic table and think, “Hmmmm…with a little cleaning and a tablecloth perhaps, this will be a fine place to dine,” while another person looks at it and thinks, “Now, if I can put another picnic table on top of this one, and then add a couple more off to the side, this will be a great place to jump on and off of with my bike.” Veronica, ask Costello about that, would you? I think he’ll have an answer for us. Either way, I think it was a good introduction to crazy Americans.

Then we took him to the rock-climbing wall. “Ever done this?” I asked. “First time,” he replied. We strapped him into a harness and set him loose. And wouldn’t you know it, he climbed right to the top. What a trooper.

I don’t think he’ll go home and say he was bored.

Stay tuned for more. He’ll be here all week.