Tryouts and Character

I have to give him credit. Julius is constantly trying to push the limits of what he can do. The words I cant are not in his vocabulary. He has decided he will go out for baseball and not for just any position he wans to be a pitcher. So he gets a glove, balls and a net and starts practicing everyday for three months, he works out tirelessly and falls asleep most nights with his books in his lap. He drinks protein shakes twice a day and eats more bananas then your average chimp. He has gotten taller maybe a bit broader as well. His strength has increased more than 40%. But with this said he walked out onto the field yesterday for Pitching tryouts and actually asked the pitching coach to show him how to throw. I had to admire his spunk yesterday to go to tryouts with dozens of other guys and then say basically I know nothing about your sport and I am not afraid to ask you learn or try out. Such character, such a character.

"I am not always right I am just positive I am right" J.B.

Medical school at night?

I have wondered what my student has been doing up at night on the computer. Now I know.

Julius and I have been butting heads the last few days. Apparently he has been going to medical school at night, not really but he is a 16 year old teenager and is sure he knows everything. He has a severe sinus infection and although he has not gone to school for 6 days because he has been terribly sick he is sure that he does not need to see a physician or get medication.

After dragging him off to the Dr.s yesterday afternoon, I explained I don't think he passed the medical boards as he is pretty sick and needs medication, although I found it funny he did not understand.

Julius's infection has shown me that although I thought his paperwork was up to date, it was not. These things happen and the outcome could have been worse.

We had asked for and received and extension from both the group here in the US and the group in Germany. But somewhere along the way his health insurance had not been renewed.

Remember when you have a student keep the paperwork together and in up to date order.

I considered this a lucky break that we only had a sinus infection and some antibiotics instead of a broken bone, as we all know Julius and at any given point he can be found walking on banisters, doing flips on his snowboard or seeing just how slippery black ice is when you have sneakers on.

Lesson learned here...make sure your students paperwork is up to date.

"Did you know I was supposed to leave today?"

December was a world-wind month. We had so much going on. Chen seems to have settled in with his new family and is doing well. Julius has kept us in forward motion never giving us much of an opportunity to look back. Normally we have a regular artificial "plastic" tree for Christmas. To say that this year would be different was an understatement. Julius manage to convinced us to march out into the woods during a classic snowstorm and cut our tree down. Right before Christmas Julius decided to take up baseball, luckily like skateboarding and snowboarding he only injured himself lightly. He had hurt his wrist with snowboarding(It looked like a hairline fracture but luckily it wasn't). He received a black eye with baseball for Christmas(he was playing catch during a snowstorm). So far weight training has not given us any cause for injury just sore muscles, (I say this last bit softly as I knock on wood). Although late last week I was making breakfast as he wandered into the kitchen and began making his protein shake,

"I should be leaving right now." he commented rather matter of factual.

"OK where are you going." I answered, always on guard, with Julius he is independent and one can never tell what he is going to do next.

"Nooooo, I should be leaving back to Germany right now." Julius has a long drawl on certain words when he needs to make a point.

I stopped, it hit me like a lead balloon. Where did the time go? Half way already? The last two months had passed like the wind. My heart sank as I thought how our lives were made so different by this young man and how different they will be when he leaves. Will we ever see each other again? Will we ever laugh in the same room? Probably not. My eyes welled and I turned to wash dishes so he would not see what I knew to be inevitable.

"Did you know I was supposed to go back today?"He continued on as only Julius can, I just stared into the sink of disappearing bubbles, realizing like the bubbles, Jules would be gone soon from our life, leaving an deep imprint in a Julius sort of way quickly, lightly, happily.

I am already crying at the thought of there will be no more words of wisdom, "Like you must live every moment in happiness" or "I have many small accidents so I will never have a big one" (that one has me worried.) or why don't Americans take the time to write wishes? What he doesn't understand is although he is here to learn from us and our lives, he has taught all of us so much more about life.

Retraction of sorts

Late last night Julius surprised me by explaining he had been reading my posts and one was wrong and it needed to be corrected.

As an adult I work tirelessly to set a good example for my son as well as other people that I might come into contact with. My father always told me that a man or woman of character always stood up for their mistakes, knowingly or otherwise.

Julius, I publicly stand corrected that you were not stuck in the tree, you were just pretending to be.

109 days and its going to be OK

No one said it was going to be smooth sailing, I was prepared for that. I thought perhaps I could handle it, my naivete' is now posted in bright neon lights across the country. Although instead of hunching my shoulders and sauntering off somewhere tail between my legs. I stand tall and proud that I did do what so many people are afraid to, that perhaps instead of being the final stop in a story I was the important bridge that will help lead to Chen's success, After all we cannot be the hero in the story every time.

Chen came over last night with his new host dad and although I had thought it would be awkward it wasn't. Allen is a kind man with a strong will and a soft smile. These are things that Chen needed that I could not provide that Allen can, as most people that know me can attest is I am not the discipline maven of SW Ohio.
I thought to myself after the guests had left and I turned off the front porch lights. Chen still weighing heavy on my mind all was good and it was going to be OK. Chen had found someone to help him and as I learned through the night his new family had confided in me that Chen was helping them through a lonely Holiday time. So is Allen helping Chen or Chen helping Allen. I am not sure but what I do know is there is a reason for everything and although we might not see it at first the answer is usually reveled in time and it is often better then we ever expected.

Chen will reach his goals now much easier with Allens help, just as he was able to easily reach the top of the Christmas tree with ours.

100 days

Its been a hundred days so I have been told. I battle with the thought I have been a failure.
We drove Chen last Friday night to his new home. I could not help but think about how this must be what it is like when you turn a pet into the shelter. The family all of us including Julius piled into the car, each loading a piece of Chen's luggage into the trunk. Along the 30 mile journey we stopped for what the boys called "The last supper".

Driving down the road past home after home of merrily brightly decorated houses I tried to keep the conversation light the whole time yet in the back of my mind I kept questioning myself. At 7:30 we pulled up at the meeting spot where we were to hand off Chen to someone who could help Chen. Chen's grades had been a roller coaster since he had arrived, sinking desperately low then reaching stellar heights when pressed with termination of the program. As a working mom, with one child in an alternative school program and another exchange student from Germany, 6 dogs and a traveling husband, caring for an Asian student with cultural gaps became overwhelming to me. Chen was sinking academically and I was trying to help the best I could while holding the anchor and treading water. The group that was handling the exchange students saw the situation and with expert ease stepped in and saved both Chen and I from drowning.

Chen is now happily resettled in a city not far from us. His life will be expectedly very different, but I am sure he will definitely prosper and have a more successful year then he ever thought possible.

The Ouch heard around the world

He loves to cook. Julius is my spontaneous exchange student. He is determined to live every moment to its fullest. I have come home and found him climbing trees, where he has gotten stuck and had to be retrieved, sliding down banisters, walking three miles to a skateboard park to get some exercise which is pretty good since he doesn’t skateboard. So it was no surprise when he started baking cookies. Everyday he would work to perfect his chocolate chip cookie recipe, (and yes he cleans up after he is done).
Then late last week I heard him talking in the kitchen. I knew no one was home so I went to see what was happening. There he stood making cookies with the computer propped on the counter as he mixed away he was skyping with his dad. Now Julius's dad happens to be a chef at his own restaurant and since they were skyping he was watching his son cook. Awed by modern technology and the ability to do this I left the room so as not to disturb the private moment. I was barely into the family room when a blood-curdling shriek was heard. I rushed back to find Julius nursing burnt fingers. His dad was there asking if he was OK.
After a moment Julius shrugged and went back to his work but not before I asked what happened. "I picked up a hot cookie sheet, my dad saw it and tried to warn me."


I looked at him and said I guess that was the loudest scream ever, Julius cocked his head like a quizzical puppy, "your dad heard it in Hamburg>"