Saturday, September 8, 2007

In Country

Thursday I was a complete wreck, and then Friday Judy crumbled...or maybe she just got hit with a 24-hour bug...I'm no doctor so I havent' a clue...I just knew I needed to get back home right away...we survived, and by dinner time everyone was feeling fine.

Toby's trip to JFK was uneventful. He did meet up with another exchange student traveling on his same flight from Minneapolis, a girl we had met at the first orientation in the Spring. The orientation in New York kept them busy into the evening, and Toby crashed after that. (A future trip to New York will be needed to take in the sites there...of course, they were staying at a hotel right by the airport, so a walk around the neighborhood wasn't offering many tempations anyway!)

The flight to Frankfurt was long enough to take in one of the movies he ripped to his iPod. We got to say a brief hello (and put some cash on his debit card!) around 1am local time (he was at a pay phone with a long line behind him!). He had a Tom Hanks in The Terminal (called Frankfurt Airport City...I kid you not!) day ahead of him, waiting for his train north, which wasn't coming for another 8 hours! (Thus, the urgent need for cash...you really gotta love a global ATM network...I sit at my computer and instantly transfer US dollars to his debit card from mine, and he can then withdraw Euros from the ATM next to him in the Frankfurt airport...how ever did we survive as children of my generation!?)

No update on the movie crew yet...apparently they were meeting him for the train ride north. Hmm, I forgot to ask him what journaling he did on the flight. Eva (the director) asked him to write down his thoughts and feelings about the upcoming year...so, she'll get a little schooling in working with Toby too!

Sharon continues to look at us like we're just slightly nuts...well, just slightly more nuts than she usually sees. We're spending some time with her on things she wants/needs today, reminding ourselves that with everything leading up to Toby leaving, she's been getting the short end of the stick.

We were struggling about how to talk with Jeremiah about Toby's journey. He really missed Tob/Shar this summer when they were at camp. Turns out we should worry a heckuva lot less. He was having dinner at Lucas' house the other night, and Adam asked him if he was going to miss Toby. Jer said "yes, but he's coming back!" Adam replied, "but, it's going to be a long time", and Jer said "well, not that long!" Ah, my little Zen master.

I'll post an update tonight after he gets to his family in Ammersbek.

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