The soccer season went fine. T made numerous friends with the other parents and siblings of players. He was known as little buddy for the season. It really brought him out of his shell. For those who want to know, T and G are great buddies. T can't wait for G to get home from school. G is also very patient with T. Let's face it. It isn't easy dealing with a three year old at times and G does it without complaint. The soccer team made the playoffs. Still can't figure that one out with their record, but they did. G was sorry to see it all come to an end.
Before the weather got bad, we took G out on the boat. He got very good at water skiing and kneeboarding. He is looking forward to the weather getting a little warmer, so that he can go again. We also took him to Hersheypark. He loved that. G loves rollercoasters. Hershey has many of them. We went with my family which added tot he fun of the day. T also rode rides for the first time. G also got to go in the fall to the Baseball Hall of Fame. He has become quite the baseball fan. He enjoyed seeing some things, but did say, since he is knew to the sport, some things didn't mean much to him.
The holidays came and went. For Thanksgiving, we went to L's families house in NY. L's parents just moved up to the area that his mother was raised. Her family all lives there. G made many new friends with the family. There were 40 people in town for the holiday. G did well telling people about his life in Brazil. He also got to go to see a science center and learn about the Rochester area. This was interesting to him because he was actually studying the Erie Canal when we went. He got to see it firsthand. For Christmas, we went to see my family. We live less than two hours away from them. To say my family goes big is an understatement. G about passed out when he saw the amount of gifts lined up on the wall. Granted it was for a whole family, but everyone get quite a bit. I keep waiting for the year my mom actually buys less as she claims after each Christmas. G was treated like a regular family member. He spent much of his break playing my brother and brother-in-law on the Wii. It is amazing how far technology has come considering all of the were in different states when they were playing. G also learned how to ski. He was fortunate that his friends here are also local ski instructors. They gave him free lessons. He was a natural. January and February were filled with school and skiing which suited G fine.
G loves school. He is an excellent student. The teachers and guidance department love having them at the school. Every time I run into one of his teachers, they tell me how much they will miss him. He changed his schedule for the second half of the year. The school felt he needed to be more challenged and they placed him in advanced biology and Honors history. He is doing well with those, but I did have to talk to the history teacher. I had to remind her that he hasn't has US history prior to this, and that if she was going to mark him for every little thing than he would to go back into regular history. This was his psychology teacher who wanted him in her class for history. I expected him to get caught up and be able to do things the way she liked, but she couldn't expect him to come into an honors class not knowing anything and be marked the way he was. It wasn't fair to him. Plus, the organization that he came here has a minimum grade requirement in classes, or they would let him do extra curricular activities. His teacher was fine with that once she found out about his requirements, and that this year does count for him back at home. We also had the where I am going to college debate. He wanted to go to college here for a period of time. It doesn't mean that isn't going to happen, but it was decided that he would go home and take the national college test. Depending on how he does on that, he may becoming here for college. If he does, he is applying to colleges near us and L's family. He wants to be near family if he is studying here.
G went to Disney on the senior class trip. He had a fun time there. It has led to many offers for prom which he is still deciding who he is going to take. I was interesting listening to him describe Disney. We had been there plenty of times. I worked there when I was in college. G felt the same as we did that Disney would be so much better if you take some of the corporate out of it. You don't really need a gift shop at the end of every ride. He did all the main Disney parks. he also got to go to Universal and Busch Gardens. It was a great trip for him.
G has now started tennis. He played at home. His father sent his tennis raquet to him. He started playing this week. He did well in the first match. If the kid he was playing didn't cheat, he would have won. Why on earth the kids call their own games is beside me. They should have some umpires or something. His second match didn't go as well, but the kid was great that he played. He even gave Gabe some points. He could have let the ball go out, or call them out. He chose to continue playing the point.
G now has to choose his prom date, and get ready for the rest of his stay. He is trying to do as much as possible with his friends. He said to me, in the car, that when he left to come here he knew when he would see his Brazilian friends again. He has now realized that he has no idea when he will get to see his American friends. G's parents are coming for graduation, and G leaves the day after graduation to go home. I think it is hitting him that his time here is getting shorter and shorter.
In the meantime, we have picked out our next student. We are hosting again next year. We at first were going to take the year off, but with G potentially coming back for college and needing a place to sleep during breaks, we decided to host again. We love the organization, so we decided to do it again. We will be hosting J from South Korea next year. I will keep you posted on the last few months of G being here. It is going to seem so strange to not have him here.
