Culture!

We are hosting two German highs school students for three weeks. They arrived yesterday and everything seems to be going very well. The two girls, Vanya and Betty, are already good friends in Germany, so they are very pleased to be rooming together. They are lovely, polite, speak perfect English and think everything is great. That's the kind of house guest you dream of. Here they are leaving for school this morning and saying good bye to Maggie.

We've already had our first cultural exchange. I asked if there was anything they wanted to eat or didn't want to eat so I could stock the groceries accordingly. Vanya mentioned last time she was here she had some lovely cheese from Philadelphia that was very creamy and wold love to have that again. I said, Philadelphia Cream Cheese? Yes. No problem. They had bagels and cream cheese for breakfast and Betty had never heard of them or tried them. Of course she loved it (how could you not?). I guess that's not technically MY culture but I think Bagels are assimilated enough that we can all claim them.

Maggie has had limited interaction at this point. The girls met her when they got home yesterday, but they could barely stay awake and were in bed by about 7:30. They will have plenty of time to get to know one another.

The new refrigerator arrived while I was at the airport (of course.) Thanks to the generosity of my friend Rose who waited at my house for the delivery men, it is in place and cooling food again. I tried to convince Vanya and Betty that my kitchen is not usually in such disarray, but I'm not sure I got that across. The plastic wrapping on the refrigerator helped me look a bit more credible.  Of course now its a day later and the food is put away, but the disarray continues, so maybe it's not just the new refrigerator.

Have a grand day.

Big Day

Maggie is about to get on the bus to go to school like most school days. But today is very different. Maggie is going to be the host student for two exchange students from Germany and they are arriving today. Our guests are two girls and they will be in the US for three weeks. They will not attend Mission High, where Maggie goes. Rather they are part of a program at ISA - International Studies Academy in Potrero Hill.

My brother is a teacher at ISA and they were a little short on host families, so we volunteered. The girls, Vanya and Betty, will be here for a week, then the group goes to Los Angeles, then back here for the third week. We are all looking forward to this new adventure.

I did let the organizers know that Maggie is not exactly a typical American High school student and wanted to make sure that the students placed here understood the realities. I certainly don't need to shock a visiting teenager. These girls know what they are walking into, so we don't have to worry about that. I received a couple of emails from Vanya, and it is clear her English is excellent, so we will all get along great, I'm sure.

I am picking them up at the airport and then taking them to their school for a reception. My brother will bring them here after school so they could arrive shortly after Maggie gets back on the bus.

Of course today is also the day that our refrigerator arrives and right now the counter is lined with non perishable items that have been in the fridge since it went out on Saturday. Think about it. What is non perishable that you keep in a refrigerator? Beer, of course. And there's also a bottle of champagne.

 I really hope the new one is in place and all this put away before they get home from school. I would have their first impression to be a kitchen counter lined with alcohol. They were informed about the disabilities, not the alcohol.

Auf Wiedersehen!

Test drives

Last weekend Maggie, Steve and I went appliance shopping. We were having new granite countertops installed on Monday and we were anticipating the need to replace the dishwasher, stove and fridge. The assumption was that they would look too shabby with the new countertops. We went to a large showroom that had a variety of all three appliances. It was a self-contained appliance store, not a Lowe’s or a Home Depot, and it had a parking lot with easy wheelchair access. Perfect.

Maggie thought that place was hilarious. There were so many things to pull on and touch. Keep in mind that Maggie does a lot of “cooking’ and she gets a say on how the new appliances handle. Dishwashers are boring because there is just one handle. Stoves are not important because her mean mother does not let her near that. (Burn much?) But the refrigerators? Now that was good test driving material. Steve positioned her so that she could try out each door. There were at least 50 refrigerators there and she test-drove probably 30.

Steve was playing used car sales person to her buyer.

“So, ma’am, you like the feel of this.” (Signs yes)

“That’s one of our best sellers.” (Looks at him quizzically)

“What will it take for you to take this home with you today?” (Laughs uproariously)

Though we were just looking, we did garner some important information. Never would have thought this, but we now know that we cannot consider getting a water dispenser, and especially not one with a sensor that cues it to run. Maggie would have water running everywhere. The sensor would be particularly entertaining. Every time she stuck her hand even in the vicinity, she would get water.

We also learned that a full door fridge would not do. Right now, we have the fridge on top and freezer on the bottom. A full side by side will be entertaining for her to open but there will be numerous dents in the door as it repeatedly hits the wheelchair. (Oh, by the way, you might want to stay away from the floor models in that particular showroom). That discovery plays perfectly into my plan, however. I want one of those two-door fridges with a pull out drawer freezer on the bottom. No dents, no water dispenser. No problem. Right on.

We did not buy anything last week and likely will not do so for a while. All three appliances are old, but all are functional. We ultimately decided to wait until they break. We are not good consumers – we actually use things for their entire useful life.

Bonus – When the granite was installed, the appliances looked fine – in fact better than ever.

Here are a couple of "before and after" or not quite after - there's no backsplash and no faucet. Oh, and the counters are clean which weill not last more than a day. Note the turkey in the before picture #1 - This was Thanksgiving morning. Counters a bit more cluttered than usual.