Jung Sun Arrives!

We are so excited to have Jung Sun (Jenny) stay with us these next two weeks. Sister Cities of Nashville has already been a great organization to work with in this adventure!

Jenny arrived at the airport Saturday afternoon with nine other Korean exchange students (all girls) and, even though we were a couple minutes late, she immediately recognized us because we had sent a family portrait to her via email.

Here, the girls are getting some instruction from one of the organizers. Jenny is the tall one on the left:

We were one of the last ones to meet our student, and therefore the last ones to get a group picture. Asa was not real happy, as you can see. I asked him a couple times if he liked Jenny and he said 'no'. (Once we got to the car, he had already warmed up).

Janet made a poster welcoming Jenny and she immediately saw it and recognized us and waved at us.

She said she slept well on the plane and it was about time for dinner, so of course, we took her to Local Taco! We asked her about what kind of food she liked and she said 'everything!' so we thought we'd just jump in and show her what we like.

There were the obvious adjustments made by everyone, but we have really settled in quickly with Jenny. Her English is excellent, primarily because she lived in Bangladesh for five years and attended an international school where they spoke English. I commented as we left the airport that her English was excellent (I think she got a little embarrassed).

After dinner, we ran by the grocery store and Sweet CeCe's (we're doing the food thing by total immersion) and Jenny took some pics while we were at the store (I shot some video, and will post them in another blog post).

We got home late and the kids were tired, and Jenny seemed tired as well, so we called it a night.

Sunday, we took her to late church (Asa and Jenny slept in LATE). And we took her to lunch with the Long's like we always to after church. We watched a movie while Asa slept, then took a walk around Radnor lake and ate in. Jenny and Elizabeth helped Janet make sugar cookies for Elizabeth's class (and I gave Asa a few bites of dough on the downlow).

Sunday evening Jenny's dad called to say hi to everyone and he was very appreciative that we were willing to host Jenny. They spoke for a minute and we chatted with her for quite a while Sunday night. I think she is handling the time change much better than we did two years ago!

We are very excited to have her staying with us, she is just delightful and interested in us and taking part in everything that we suggest and that Sister Cities of Nashville has organized for them. We are looking forward to the next two weeks with her!

Exchange Student from Korea is coming to the Master's

Recently, Janet heard about an exchange program through Harpeth Hall. She contacted the director and spoke with her and we decided to accept a 16 year old exchange student into our home for the next two weeks. We are excited to have Jenny in our home and we look forward to spending time with her and showing her Nashville. I will post more pics and videos over the next two weeks.

Tips and Hints about Disney World, Part I

I thought I'd do a few posts about Disney, since I have had a few people mention that they wanted to visit soon. Hopefully, I can keep them short and sweet and to the point. Here goes:

1. Before you go- Buy the Unofficial guide to Walt Disney World 2010 (or 2011). It has incredible tips and ways to find deals. In particular, it has great descriptions and recommendations on rides, places to stay, etc. If you have a smartphone, the same company has an app that shows you user generated wait times for all the rides (more about that later). If you don't want to take a stroller, but need one, contact www.orlandostrollerrentals.com. They offer great strollers for less than crappy Disney strollers.
2. Getting there- If you want to fly, Orlando's airport is great. It is about 1 hour from the park. On our recent trip, we drove and it was a breeze. The drive to Orlando is easy for a 10-11 hour drive. I-24 to I-75 the whole way. If you do fly, Disney has a free bus service, which is decent, but slow. In the past, we have used a car service before and for $100 round trip or so, they are great. They will even take you to the grocery store, if you so desire.
3. What to take (guys)- Good, new running or walking shoes. The best, most comfortable socks you have. Cap and sunglasses. Cool clothes (it's almost always hot) and Gold Bond. Don't leave home without it. Cell phones and walkie talkies are great for meeting up. We have small Motorola walkie talkies that work almost all the way across the parks without breaking up and they are much easier than cell phones. Backpacks are great to keep stuff with you. Cameras and video cameras are required, or else you are a bad dad.
4. Where to stay- We love staying 'on property' in Disney hotels. They are more expensive, but are closer, themed and have great Character meals. Character meals are meals where several Disney characters come to meet and great you at your table, based on the theme (Chef Mickey's has Mickey, Donald, Goofy, etc.). Granted, Disney hotels have more ways to get into your wallet than you can believe, but if you can restrain yourself, you will enjoy any of them. The nice thing is, they have many price points (typically from $80 to $350 per night) to choose from. We like the Polynesian resort because it is on the monorail and the room are fun and big. The monorail allows you to get back to your room for a nap for the kiddos quickly and easily from Magic Kingdom and EPCOT (our two favorite parks).
5. What to do- From our experience, once kids hit about 7-8, or more specifically, 48" (some rides are height limited), kiddos can do everything. Here is a rundown of our favorite Magic Kingdom rides (and any warnings. If it's not here, I don't recommend it):

Space Mountain- 48" minimum height- do not miss it, but it is a very dark ride, you can't see anything, so you don't know where the roller coaster is going next. Elizabeth loves it.

Buzz Lightyear- fun, moving arcade Toy Story styled ride.

Monsters, Inc Laugh Floor- interactive comedy show (includes audience members). Fun, and cool unless you don't want take a chance of being in the spotlight, literally.

Tomorrowland Speedway- 'track' car ride. Kids at 42" (I think) can drive with adults, and can ride by themselves at 54" tall.

Mad Tea Cups- spinning midway ride that is fun if you don't get motion sickness.

Goofy's Barnstormer- beginner roller coaster, short, fast. 32" minimum height (Asa just missed this one. I am sure he would have loved it).

Winnie the Pooh- Fun honey pot ride through Pooh's misadventures. Some thunder sounds. At times dark.

Snow White's Scary Adventures- Dark mine car ride through Snow White's story. The queen and witch are prevalent, somewhat scary (Asa and Elizabeth both like it).

Dumbo- short midway ride.

Cinderella's Carousel- Huge carousel, probably 50 horses. Try and find Cinderella's horse (the unofficial guide has tips).

Mickey's Philharmagic- 3D show with special effects. Great show, can be a bit intense. Elizabeth loves it, and Asa kid of liked it, other than the 3D.

Peter Pan's Flight- Fun, dark boat ride over the Peter Pan story, from the kid's bedroom to London, Neverland and scenes with the pirates, mermaids and lost boys.

Its a Small World- Relaxing, dark, slow boat ride through many cultures. You will not get the song out of your head, though. (NOTE: it is closed until October 22, 2010).

Haunted Mansion- Dark, scary ride through a haunted mansion. Some ghosts and scary imagery, but Elizabeth loves it. Asa slept through it.

Country Bear Jamboree- Cute animatronic bears singing silly songs. Asa liked it.

Big Thunder Mountain- Fast, somewhat dark, roller coaster. 42" height minimum. Elizabeth rode it 7 times!

Splash Mountain- Long boat plume (5 of 'em) ride through the Song of the South story. Cute and colorful, you may get wet. Sit in the back of the boat if you don't want to get wet.

Pirates of the Carribean- Dark, slow boat ride through the POC story. Some loud cannons and such. Pirate-type imagery. Asa loves it. Tell them if its your first time (and then check your stroller for goodies).

Magic Carpets of Alladin- Alladin-themed spinning midway ride.

Enchanted Tiki Birds- Small bird animatronic show. Cute story, can be somewhat loud.

There are many other things to do in the Magic Kingdom, but this post will just be about rides. I am tired. Enjoy! Goodnight.

Way cool, I assume VERY expensive furniture

This could make living in the city, in a cramped apartment tolerable. This stuff is very cool. Way to go, Italian designers!

It's the Dad Life

I thought this was just too funny to not share. Partially because I can relate to about 90% of it.

Dad Life from Church on the Move on Vimeo.

Beach Pics from Seaside

We went to the beach last week with the Longs from Church and we took a TON of pics. You can find the link to my flickr page here. Here is the group shot on the beach. (8 out of 9 faces looking at the camera ain't bad). Janet and I looked through them on flickr and she was laughing at my captions just a bit.

Anniversary surprise!

For fun, I took Janet out for a surprise lunch on our anniversary. Janet didn't know what we were doing or where we were going. That was all by design. She was a good sport, going along with me and trusting that I had something good in store for us!



Here is a link to our pics from the afternoon.

Enjoy!

Nassim Taleb on CNBC

Quote: "We're in the middle of a crash." He is sooooo spot on.

Korea travels videolog

Judging from the number of pictures (over 700) and videos (220) I shot while in Korea, you'd think that I captured every single aspect of our trip. Well, I feel like I caught a whole lot of it, but there are a few distinct moments I wish I had caught.

Using my small, fun and easy to use Flip Mino video camera, you can see why I recorded over 200 videos. What I have compiled here in about 8 minutes of video are some of the better, more fun videos I shot. Much of it will look familiar, as I shot them side-by-side (like when Elizabeth is holding the shark, you can hear the camera in my other hand).

You will notice a lot of videos on the subway, that's because it was a place to set things down and pull out the camera (and we used the subway A LOT). Sorry that some of the videos are so shaky. It's hard to keep a little camera steady!

To watch the video, please click here.

Banks' problems explained in one minute!