Goodbye Yumiko. We will miss you!

***Update: We received a call from Yumiko yesterday and she is home safely. AND! The airline did NOT charge her for the extra box. They told her she was lucky...indeed she was! I do think, however that if she showed up with a 75-lb suitcase, they would have fined her. I'm glad we decided on the extra box instead.***

Well, we said goodbye to our Yumiko yesterday. We know she is happy to be with her husband and family again, but we really enjoyed having her in our home. She was more than happy to pitch in with helping with dishes, watching the kids (only occasionally-I made sure of that!) and joining us on family outings. When she first arrived, she was staying with another woman while she attended classes in Orange County and she was texting her husband on her cell phone to the tune of $200 a month (go ahead and gasp, I did!). We IMMEDIATELY set her up with a Yahoo email account and she happily emailed her husband every day. Then she met up with some au pairs from the same organization that she came with and they convinced her that she needs a Facebook account. So being the cool Facebook mom that I am, I showed her how to create a FB account. Now she and I can email and FB to keep in touch. That's been the best part of technology. I have kept in contact with many of the students that stayed with us due to email. We had a student from Russia several years ago and until email, it was difficult to stay in touch because the Russian mail system was unreliable-and she was renting a room from a crazy woman, but that's another story.

Back to Yumiko. I called the airline to find out what the checked baggage requirements were. To go from Los Angeles to Tokyo economy class you are allowed 2 checked bags and a carry-on. Checked bags cannot be more than 50lbs. One of her bags was a whopping 75lbs! Overweight bags will be fined $252.00!!!! (yes, gasp again!) So, how much if she has an extra bag? Answer: $84.00. Better, but still yucky. I asked if the "luggage" could be a box? Answer: Yes. DONE! We put the extra 25lbs of stuff into an archive box, taped it good and tight, printed an address label so it wouldn't get lost and off she went!

It was great having her stay with us. Having international students is always an adventure. We have had a great many stay with us. Some have been not so great, but the majority have been wonderful and has given our children a positive view of other cultures and traditions and has been teaching them how to be hospitable and share their blessings with others. All in all, a good experience.