As you read this, it is quite possible I am at the airport with my family, armed with chocolate chip cookies, greeting and welcoming the newest member of our family.
You might have already read a bit about us hosting another foreign exchange student this year and we are all quite excited to meet her.
One of the things we did to get ready was hit the library and pick out a few books not only on Germany, where Shari is from, but also on Texas, where we live.
Looking through the books on Germany we were able to learn a bit more about Shari and her heritage. And now the kids are ready to ask her a lot of questions. We flipped through the Texas book so we could see what impressions she might already have about our state and also remind us of things we take for granted that might be different and interesting to her.
Just by taking a little extra time to flip through these books together, I feel that our family is more prepared to host our newest daughter. We will keep the books out so she, too, can flip through and see what might interest her… what she might want us to show her in person or tell her about and what she sees in the books about Germany that she might want to tell us about.
We also bought a visual German – English dictionary and a more comprehensive language dictionary at the bookstore. And I even downloaded a free translation app on my phone. I know she will speak English, but I little extra help can’t hurt!
I think we are as ready as we are going to be… let the adventure begin!
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