You know how people whine about the stereotype airplane peanuts? Well guess what. They are delicious! And they gave us a bad of crackers, too (they were pretty gross). Sure, i couldn't open my peanut bag because they allow no sharp objects on planes, but i digress. The myth is broken!
I'm probably waiting in the airport as you read this. There are so many opportunities to wait in airports. You wait in for the line, you wait in line, you wait for your friends to come out of the line, you wait for your late plane, you wait during the plane ride, you wait to get luggage, you wait to go through customs, and of course the ultimate waiting time: The Layover.
Sometimes you get a fun layover, other times not. For a fun example, getting a layover in Korea for 6 hours was pretty fun. I did arts and crafts, ate a smoothie, bought gifts, played with a fellow waitee Korean toddler (so cute!), and ate pepper chocolate. Plus, gained lifetime bragging rights.
So, farewell fair friends and fair home! Hasta la vista, baby!
Jet lag and marshmallows,
~Hannah Hoo ;)
With that out of the way, here is another list of events in a homeschool family life that could be turned into a field trip:
So, for the public schoolers out there, this is what its like to be homeschooled. In two words: Field Trips.
Lovely Love,
~Hannah Hoo
Good Morning, everyone! Its time for the awesome, slick, sublime daily word!
The onsen (Japanese Public Bath) is a juggernaught misunderstanding between American and Japanese cultures. An onsen is a indoor (see above) or outdoor public bath. The best definition I can give is that it is a steamy bath spa where you don't wear swimsuits and there is usually a men's onsen and a women's onsen seperated from each other (there are a few unisex onsens, however).
n) 
Tis' morning,
Another hint: Take the time to wrap your gift(s). Your host family will apreciate the beautiful wrapping and it will make a simple gift a little more special.
Please enjoy your host stay and good luck in finding the perfect host family gifts. If you have suggestions or ideas, post them in a comment below. Thanks!
Thoughts in teapots,
~Hannah Hoo
If you have anymore ideas or funny/embarrasing experiences, leave them in a comment below. Enjoy this list and poke around online or in a travel book to find out more entertaining ideas!
~Hannah Hoo
It is revenge.
All those worms,
frogs,
and fish that I dissected this year in biology are back to haunt. And is it a coincidence that my science books were at the site of the crime? I THINK NOT!
Here's what happened....
It was late last night, and I was immersed under the waves of sleep. My mind and body were completely shut down after a long night of babysitting, but that is another story altogether. From beyond my unconcious mind, my body felt an itch. I wiggled my arm. A little later, I felt one on my leg. I turned on my other side. Finally, my mind decided to turn on the light. I reached up over my head...and the huge metal reading light fell on my head. I groaned like a discontented zombie and fell back into sleep.
Maybe half an hour later, i felt another itch on my arm. I shifted in bed. Then, an itch on my neck. And, was it just my dreamy state, or was the itch...crawling? I decided to chance head injury and turned on the light. The good news: The lamp stayed put. THE BAD NEWS: I wasn't alone in bed.
I looked down to see tiny red specks crawling all over my arms and covers. I turned my head, and right next to where my hair pooled on the pillows a fountain of ants errupted from the crack between my matress and concrete wall. "ANTS!" I yelled in my head, and scrambled off. Then, I realized the meaning of "ants in your pants".
The buggers were crawling all over inside and outside my PJ's. I did a wild little dance while ripping my PJs off and throwing them on the floor. From the crumpled heap, Eyore looked up at me from my night shirt. "I told you ants would come."
I raised an eyebrow at him. "You also said that snakes, tarantulas, and resurrected dinosaurs would infest my room." I quickly sneaked a peek around my room. No velociraptors.
"Oh ...well. (sigh...). I suppose you are going to put us in that washer again? (sigh....)."
"You betcha, Buster!" I held him delicatly away from me and carried hime to the laundry room.
I returned to the site of disasster, ready to find my inner Indiana Jones and vanquish the ants. I filled trash bag after trash bag full of ant-y covers, pillows and sheets and lugged the bags upstairs and onto the front porch. (By the way, I put a new pair of PJs on.)
It was 3:00 in the morning when I finished and my bed was gone. The ants were struggling to get away as I chased then around a squished them with old tissues. "Noooo!" i imagined them screaming as they silently were snuffed out. They weren't done with me yet, though. The buggers were crawling through my hair and I ran upstairs and stuck my head under the sink. The buggy blaggards disappeared and I squised the last one with my hair brush.
After hours of cold, restless sleep on the living room couch in revealing red shorts, the morning came. So did the realization that I HATE BUGS!
So, bio textbook, I get the message. I warn you though, if you do anything to my final grade, I will BURN you. Lets see my textbook try any more revenge tactics, now.
"Hannah!" he hugged me, and Rachel ran up after him. "I'm just stealing Rachel's hug," he said with smuggy smile.
"Peter, move it. Hannah!" Rachel reclaimed her hug and Peter ran off to see some people he knew. "Its great to see you, I didn't know you would be here," I asked in delighted confusion.
She would have answered, only the crowd of people pulled me along. Someone shoved a freshly printed pamphlet into my hands: "2010 Homeschool Graduation". I tried to walk quietly as I ran to catch up with my family, scanning the sanctuary for some good seating. You see, my funeral/wedding/secretary heels are about a half-an inch to big for my feet. I solve this problem by stuffing the toes with tissue paper (shh, don't tell anyone) and if I'm not careful, i make crinkly sounds.
The sanctuary was crowded with people of all ages; friends and family of the graduates. Everyone had their best suits, skirts, dentures, shoes, and wigs on. Plus, at least one lady had their best marshmallow bag on and a extremely droopy top. I noticed tons of people I knew, tons of people i recognized without names, and tons of people I couldn't believe were related to the other people.
We eventually found a empty row just a few pews down from the stage. This afforded an almost perfect view. Not quite ideal, since a wooden alter post appeared in almost every photo, but still.
The lights flickered in warning, and the stereotype processional music began. A hush and scattered giggles fell over the crows as one by one, graduates walked down the aisle in their black robes, red sashes, and cardboard hats with the little tassel that that kept swinging in front of their noses and making them go cross eyed. About 1/3 of the way through entering graduates, the song came to an end. After a few moments of silence, it began again. Due to a uncoordinated DJ, this happened at least 3 times before they had herded every graduate into the rows of chairs behind the stage.
The ceremony began with a pastor opening in prayer and some Sir whats-his-names making mini speeches. We paid homage to some flags, then waited for the show.
Out of all 30 something homeschool graduates, two performed. One of the performers the crowd wanted more of...the other one not so much.
To the melodious sounds of Muse, a colorful grad wowed the crown with her vocals and cherry red heels, peeping out from under the black gown. The next girl wowed the crowd with the neon orange pants and retro flats now visible as she stood up with her guitar. The crowd was then again wowed not by her singing voice, but perseverance of singing the song despite the crowd's inability to hear what she was singing. Then, in its extended and possibly drug related glory, she sang:
Puff the Magic Dragon.
At her high school graduation.
After losing her voice.
Yes, it was a little painful.
Yes, it was probably written by someone on drugs.
Yes, she ended it by saying "Whatever" because she couldn't hold the note.
Yes, I will never forget that.
On to more, er, melodious subjects: it was time for the guest speakers. Now, at a regular high school graduation they speak for about 10 minutes, giving high schoolers a pep talk about the future and warning them against drugs, pregnancy, bad friends, taxes, drinking, and all of the above. You forget this is a homeschool graduation. This is what they talk about (with terrible sound system so you can't hear them in the audience barely):
~ Falling in love after high school
~Having trustworthy friends
~The evils of a certain radio station
~Saying bad words is, well, bad
~ The husband's science genius
~The wife had a odd uterus thus the miracle of their children after trying to conceive many times (This won't embarrassing AT ALL)
~The educational value of everything and anything
~The uses of good friends who will tell you if you are being stupid
~Genetic hand sweating in front of crowds
All of these subjects and more were covered in a 20-30 minute speech. Turns out, the graduates couldn't hear a thing the speakers were saying because the sound speakers were turned to the audience. Not that the audience could hear that much anyway. It was probably for the best.
Here comes the "Awww" photo taking/impressive credential graduation bit. The Grad made his way to the stage where their life goals and the list of elderly neighbors/nursing homes/soup kitchens they had worked at. Except for one guy, who's intro speech seemed to be an advertisement for Chick-Fil-A.
Finally, near the end of the line of Graduates, my brother walks onto the stage in his black dress and square hat. My mom and dad make their way to the stage, and my toddler sister Emi climbs onto the pew to get a better view. Just as the "Here's your award" hugging, picture taking, general priceless moment stuff begins, Emi leans back and topples over the back of the pew! A man behind us manages to push her back over, but the moment has passed when i look up from her mortified and tear-stained face. Oh, well. There is always college graduation, right?
In all my years, I have never seen so much hat hair as when they filed down the isle and threw their hats into the air. Curly, matted, sweaty, stringy, icky hat hair. It made for some nice, memorable photos ; )
The after party wasn't much to rave about. People awkwardly tried to make conversation with each other as they ate black icing that turned their lips and teeth black and blue. I did find out that the orange pants turned out to be a complete orange jumpsuit under the black robe. I mostly sat with my Grandma and waited for the ordeal to end, then we went to the Outback Steakhouse to celebrate. (Interesting fact: When your table is next to the restroom doors in an Australian themedrestaurant, it is rather entertaining. The doors read "Blokes" and "Sheilas" so the people pace back and forth between them, poking their heads in and trying to figure which is which. )
That was the extent of the graduation. Dress up, laugh at your siblings in dresses, eat black icing, take blackmailworthy photos and listen to Puff the Magic Dragon. Homeschoolers are special!
