Play Hard, Work Hard

Monday finally arrived - the day everyone had been eagerly anticipating - Disneyland, at long last! We were lucky enough to have 6 friends together that day - Cameron, Candace, and Sophia joined Michelle, Karen, and Winona for a full day of California Adventure! I enjoyed visiting with Cameron, a polite and well-spoken 17 year old, on the trip to Anaheim. Drop-off happened at 11, and by 9:45 p.m., everyone was squashed - super duper tired - exhausted - finished. Michelle barely had the energy to drag herself in the door and down the hall and to her room. When I peeked in two minutes later she had burrowed a tunnel into her blanket and fallen fast asleep - all I could see were strands of hair sneaking out from underneath the blanket.

The next day, after a bit of extra sleep in the morning, we got right to work  - doing vocabulary and reading comprehension in the morning, and blogs in the afternoon. Of course, all work and no play is too dull, so we took a nice break down the street at Noodle World. I got pad see ew with tofu and mango with sticky rice, Winona got chow mein, and Michelle and Karen got udon. We had a fun lunch together.

Later in the evening, Michelle and Karen prepared a traditional dish with Napa cabbage - it was quite tasty. Tonight we are going to make some more things that they have told me about - including a cold appetizer with tofu and soy sauce - and that's all! - no other ingredients! Nothing!

Winona went to a friend's last night, so Karen, Michelle, and I had a chance to talk for a long time after dinner. Every day we get to know each other a little bit more - telling stories about the past and setting goals for the future - especially English-related goals that will help them achieve the main objective, which is to attend a good college in the US. We took a walk around 10 p.m., appreciating the cool temperature and the clear sky with lots of stars - even so close to LA. I have had so much fun with Karen and Michelle during this home stay!