The return of Rei

[Ozero]

Rei (codename for our first visiting international student [from japan]) emailed my wife asking if she could come visit for a week.

It's been a year or so since Rei's year-long stay with us. We'd kept in contact through email on and off since then. When she had left, it was on barely friendly terms, due largely to her lying to us about having a boyfriend (CPB 'cel phone boy') despite the fact that we told her many times that it would have been fine with us if she had a boyfriend.

When she asked if she could come stay for a week, purportedly to see our new baby daughter, we warned her that our two guest room were full, and she might have to stay on the pull out sofa.

We also warned her that one of the students staying here is Ping (codename for a chinese girl who's in her 3rd year here) They had never been on good terms. She said that was fine.

Today, Rei arrived. Troubles with CPB issues seem to be water under the bridge. She had little gifts for me (cool little 50 piece gundam toy), my wife (from what i saw, mostly hairband type things), and the baby. (hello kitty apron she will have to grow into, but already looks cute in)

This time, Rei brought a laptop with her, so she wont have to use the (slow) computer in the kitchen. The laptop doesn't have wifi though, so there's now a cord running form the router in my bedroom/office, down the hall, and into Rei's room...

...well, Rei was given the baby's room, since my wife didnt want to subject her to a week of living out of the pull out sofa... so now the baby's in our bedroom. Bedtime is not as smooth, and tonight's bedtime is still a work in progress, but the worst seems to be over, knock on wood..

My pets have not given a statement on the current state of affairs.
'Radar' (From korea, codenamed for her common sense, thoughtfulness and quiet cheer) knew Rei from Rei's first stay here, when Radar was in another homestay house. If Radar has anything against Rei, shes been far to nice to give any sign of it.

As for me and my wife, it's like getting the Rei back form before the CBP issue polluted everything. Rei DOES have intent to meet up with CPB and 'some other korean friends'... the cynical side of me say "Geez, she's in canada to hook up with him.. does she know he's been dating other girls?"

Ah well, we shall see as the week unfolds...

[Plekto]

You should be writing this down - you can't possibly make a script like this... :)

[stsparky]

Awesomeness!

[erbiumfiber]

Congrats on the baby!! Haven't seen you around the General Discussion or All Things Japan forums in a while (I haven't been checking the other ones :box: ).

Sounds like a full house and a three-ring circus...it's a wonder your baby is sleeping at all.

[Beowulf]

Wait is Radar the beagle you posted about earlier?

[ミュー]

Somehow I don't remember the prequel to this, but 'cell phone boy' rings a bell. How exactly did your place become a halfway house full of random Asian females? Don't take my words as a plea for some leftovers, though, I've got my hands full >_>

[Ozero]

yeah, i wondered if people would remember my posts (last year? earlier) about the adventures of being a homestay host... I havent been on party due to the baby, and party due to a nasty Oblivion addiction.

'Radar' isn't the beagle. Radar is the korean student. The beagle's (real) name is Lucie/Lucy (spelling neer was officially decided)

How DID my house become a halfway house for random asian females? (and occasionally a german) Well, my aunt (in-law) was involved for a year in the homestay program, to host students (mostly highschool, but they were some parts that do elementary students) She had a mexian student, so I assumed we would be getting mexican(s) as well. (We had 2 rooms available)

But after the girls (school board inspector decided the rooms were too pretty to waste on boys, so we've always had girls) from mexico got assigned to a different home, (Thie parents didnt want them having to ride the bus to the school they wanted, which someone told them was better for some reason)....

-so we got Rei. Much to the amusement of my friends who knew I was into anime. (Not the new stuff that's popular now, ick.) So I bore many a joke about keeping the squid safely on a leash.

-sometime later, Asuka (super friendly german gal who's coming to visit in june! whoot!) came along for a few months, much to rei wanting to be the only person in the house going to our locla highschool

whoops! times running out, i'll continue the recap later...!

[Ozero]

aaaanyway, then asuka left, with the teariest farewell all around that any hollywood hack could ask for, and the day before, we got Ping.. much to Rei's anxiety.. Rei got to be OK with asuka, (since they didnt travel in the same social circles at school, and it didn't risk the revealing that Rei was hunting for a korean boyfriend...

but ping posed a greater threat. As well, Ping quiety HATED japanese people due to a bunch of WW2 stuff that has been passed down generations. So that was not fun.

Rei landed her BF... I'll find/past THAT adventure later some time, but "CPB was a large point of conflict, until we found a little peace, shortly before Rei left us.. but it was still tense.

Ping's parents and grandparents came to visit for a bit, and I found myself eating out a lot to avoid the healthcode violation I used to call my kitchen. After that, we had no students for a month, so the school board got us to host a short-stay, which turned out to be 2 chinese TEACHERS, which was a change of pace.

When school came back in, another german came for a while, but never really 'melded' with the house due to homesickness. Lovely lass, quite nice, so i codenamed her gretchen or something.. just for irony.

when gretchen left, ping told radar (which was staying in another home that wasn't so great, i hear..) to move to our house. "my host family is best!", so making sure we didnt step on any toes, we accepted radar over- a change in her life that made her decide to stay in this town, and not go to boarding school (to escape the previous home)

Now and then radar fills a decorative bowl in the kitchen with candies, just because she 'likes how it looks'. The 'korena eater bunny' stuck again last week. hehe..

then another summer came, and we got to spend it with NO ONE here! And we realized the money we were getting form the program wasn't that big of a deal.. it seems most of it gets spent on the girls anyway.

Then this school year started, ping was back for her final year, and radar was back for grade 11.

Then we get an email form Asuka asking if she can visit in june "Hellz ya!" Asuka rocks. Then one form Rei. "Hmmm, alright... this could be difficult.." as mentioned in the first post.

I skipped a lot of detail and suck, but i jsut recapped like 3 years there.. hehe...

Now it's day 2 or Rei's visit. Noon, and she's not up yet. Jetlag will do that.

"you should write this down", yeah, I am! My previous posts are saved on my HD, also...eventually, after my 2nd sci fi book is out, I'm gonna do a non-fiction that has a focus intended on my injury in 2001 and the resulting paraplegia.. (with a humor slant to it.. hard to explain), but it's also gonna be about life in general, and being a host is going to factor in significantly, as will my new daughter, obviously.

rushed post again, no proofreading! Gotta go meet a client!

[kitsunepixie]

I remember these posts. They reminded me of a daily comic strip or something. I'm looking forward to reading more!

And Rei must have really liked you guys (besides having a place to crash) if she maintained contact with you. I know a lot of exchange students who don't stay in contact with their host families down the road.

[Beowulf]

"you should write this down", yeah, I am! My previous posts are saved on my HD, also...eventually, after my 2nd sci fi book is out, I'm gonna do a non-fiction that has a focus intended on my injury in 2001 and the resulting paraplegia.. (with a humor slant to it.. hard to explain), but it's also gonna be about life in general, and being a host is going to factor in significantly, as will my new daughter, obviously.
Wait, wait, I don't remember anything about you having a 1st book? Seriously, like a published manuscript and everything, cause that would stupendously awesome! Is it on Amazon? Because I will seriously buy one.

[Jetsetlemming]

Rei Asuka
I think I'm seeing a pattern to your codenames.

[Shishio]

Wait, wait, I don't remember anything about you having a 1st book? Seriously, like a published manuscript and everything, cause that would stupendously awesome! Is it on Amazon? Because I will seriously buy one.

http://www.ozero.ca/books.html

[Ozero]

yeah, i guess we're the 'cool' host family... but i suspect rei is mainly here to hang with old buddies, and we were a convenient place to crash.. :P With a cute baby... ok, that's just cynicism talking.. it's neat having her around- like I said, it's the rei we enjoyed having around before the cellphoneboy drama.

codenames- yeah, Rei and Asuka are code named after EVA characters.. well, i need codenames, and there was a german and a japanese girl... and not far away sat the 'obvious' answer, my EVA dvds... mind you, Asuka especially does NOT match personalities at all. Outgoing? yes. But mine is a tad less aggressive. No one else has gotten an anime-themed codename, but if I ever get a japanese student who's a gun-nut or something, I guess she'd get named Motoko. (shrug)

I do have a book out (and a 2nd edition coming soon) but it's a sci fi with nothing to do with being a host. If you DO feel like getitng it, at any rate, you may as well wait for the 2nd edition- it WON'T be on amazon, (the first edition is), but the 2nd ed will be better, and cheaper.. (no isbn cost, no jumping through amazon's hoops, results in lower cost to make/distro) and it'll eventually be on sale on my printer/publisher's page. The second sci-fi book in that universe is in progress.. then after that, the non-fiction one with the hosting stories as part of it.

today rei went to school for purely social purposes.. i wonder what will happen, and what will happen with cellphone boy...


hmm.. my emial notifications are broken.. owell, i'll have to check in menually maybe.. anyway, the baby is calling...

[Ozero]

update time.
Last night, as were kinda getting to sleep. *that is to say, getting the baby to sleep- in OUR room, since Rei is staying in the baby's room) Rei knocks in that soft way she does.. typical polite japanese knocking.

"michelle?" (my wife, in previous years, head NARC in Rei's sneaking-out-adventures) "Can I go out to meet CPB?" (cellphoneboy)

it was a little late, but Rei's like 18 now, and even better, she was upfront an honest about where she was going. Tim horton's, apparently, but as we've come to know, when any of the girls go out, they usually only mention the first stop in their plan.. often, now knowing their plan entirely until it happens.

Despite Rei's efforts, it was enough to wake the baby, and send her into a screaming fit. Whee!

Unless I misinterpreted what I heard at 6am, that's when she got back. It tim's open that late?

hmm.. I suppose it was kinda a date/bootycall thing... c'est la vie, i suppose. Is it true love, or just lust? Despite Rei's carefully crafted kawaii-isms, (and if you look close enough you can see the seams- it's crafted alright) she DOES operate on her own agenda that doesn't always fit in with the kawaii image.

11 am, i think i just heard her stagger over to the bathroom for her 4 hour shower.

Later today, my wife, rei, radar, and radar's buddy (and the baby) are taking a trip to seattle overnight to shop and be silly. This leaves me and Ping (and my mother downstairs) in the house.

I'll use this chance to plat crappy techno loud for 24h, work on my book, and Ping probably has her own plans already, which is either going out, or calling over friends.

the just in form my wife-
"did you hear CPB wasn't in school the day Rei went? Ping says he doesn't want other girls to see him with Rei, because he's trying to 'propose'."
"Propose?! What the?"
"I dunno... i think she meant hitting on other girls. I asked Ping if Rei knows about CPB's activities, and whether they're still 'TOGETHER' or what. She said she dunno."

Lovely drama...! Gahk.

[dzee]

i used to love all the stories on rei and asuka you had, i think i still do :)

[blank slate]

Day time soap opera writers wish they could come up with stuff this good.

[Ozero]

heh, the rei/cpb stuff is starting to border on the cliche.

anyway, I'm expecting the michelle/rei/radar/baby/friend-of-rader group to get back around 4pm local time. I meant to tell michelle to casually drop the question to rei "So, are you and cpb steady, or is is more casual?" though even such a 'harmless' question would be likely to edge Rei back into her defense mode.

Yesterday Ping's friend (she's radar's friend also, but I associate her more with Ping) knocked on the door around 10 or 11. I thought for sure it would just be my mother. (who lives downstairs, and thinks I need checking up on when my wife leaves me to fend for myself overnight. yeesh.)


"Yes?"
Ping's friend peeks her head in.
"Ping says my interim report card come here by accident?"

"Yes, michelle mentioned that." (In truth, she gave it to me, and told me to hang onto it, and no give it to anyone. It may as well have been gandalf barging in in the middle of the night, telling me to keep it secret, keep it safe."

"It says i missed lots of classes?" (Lots. Chinese class-skipping is an epidemic. They, like Ping, don't seem to see the purpose of attendance if you're gonna ace a test anyway)

"I don't know about that. You'd have to ask michelle."
"Ok, I need it." (to destroy, i'm guessing. Michelle later clarified that she wanted to mail it to ping's friend's MOTHER. They're canadian BTW, first generation immigrants.)

"You'll have to ask muchelle, I don't know where she put it. She'll be back around 4pm tomorrow. Well, that's what she said, but traffic's bound to be bad."

"Oh....... where she go?"
"Seattle."
"Can you phone her?"

I pick up our shared cellphone that neither of us use much. "she left her cell here."
"....oh. Ok, thanyyou!"
"Sorry I couldn't be more help." (but not TERRIBLY.)

[Ozero]

Well, the other morning Rei went back home. 6 am flight, need to be there 2 hours early, add an hour of drive time to be safe. My wife headed out with Rei at 3 am, and found it remarkable that she got to the airport in 35 min. (no traffic)

The night before, the three of us talked quite a bit, Ping and Radar being out cavorting due to spring break.

Michelle:"so, did you get to see all the friends you wanted to?"

Rei:"Reh? Oh, yes."

michelle: "and your boyfriend, cellphoneboy?"

rei:"oh, not boyfriend. we brake up. just good friend now."

michelle:"ahh, we heard something like that months ago."

rei:"?!? Where you hear?"

michelle:"Well, Ping and Radar heard, and-"

rei: (a single, very japanese type nod.) "mm. Yes." (if rei had western style body language, there probably would have been an eye-roll here)

me:"we were a little concerned."

michelle:"because CPB was going out with (whatever her name was) and he even got in trouble for cheating in HER, so.."

rei: (silently absorbing info, while I wait to see if she goes postal over this news, then..) "oh? yes. I hear about (whatever her name was)." (not mentioning if she'd heard about the cheating on that girl, but whatever) "But CPB and em just friends now."

me and michelle, (phew)


then as michelle went to go tuck in the baby, I did diches, and rei and I got talking about a lot of things.

me:"the first time you came here, I was worried a little.. because.. I heard about stories of what japanese people think of americans,

rei: ??

me:"about the whole 'rude american' thing,"

rei: (smiles shyly, and does a nervous little nod)

me:"So I tried to be quieter than I normally am. I think that was a mistake, I think I overdid it. I think I gave you the impression I didnt like you, and didnt want to talk to you."

rei: (shrug)

me: "then when asuka came along, she's so outgoing, I had no choice but to speak up. You know how she is."

rei: (very stereotypical cute smile and nod, giggle) "yes."


We never got into the ugliness of the last month or two of her first visit, I guess we were all just putting that behind us. The fact that Rei came back suggested as much form the get go. No need to 'drag the past out into the night'. Maybe she thought about the crap she pulled, maybe she talked about it with people back home (doubtful) or CPB (slightly more likely, as CPB had cautiously stood up for my wife before), maybe Rei just reflected on it all, or maybe it was just ancient history, and got buried.

Tumultuous teens will tend to bury that kind of stuff, especially if it's not a HUGE ordeal, and it's with authority figures (which michelle and I technically were to her), and conflicts with authority figures tend to go the way that the authority wants, regardless of who's right... so why stress about it and fight it when nothing is likely to change as a result? Sometimes it's better to go with the flow and hope the next 'incident' goes more favorably.

Which in this case, it did. She told us where she was going (with some fuzzy parts around the edges of the facts) which showed us more respect that she'd given in the latter parts of her first visit, and we didn't give her any flack about it, since heck, she's older now, etc.

Rei and Ping never can to any sort of conflict- of course it was just a week, but maybe this was a sign that yes, Rei had matured a bit, even if her "I'm so cute" facade was still on full blast.

As much as I have to remind myself that the students we host are not representative of their entire culture, and that they ARE teens when push comes to shove, I find Rei to be a very interesting sample of japanese behavior... she's probably much more typical of japan, than Ping is of china.

Then again, having met many of Ping's chinese friends... hm..

[mugen]

Canadians consider themselves Americans? Or were you refering to the continent?

[Urameshi YuSooKey]

Canada = America Jr.

[blank slate]

Maybe he's an american who moved to canada?

[Ozero]

nope.. i just used 'american', because that's the cliche of the rude traveller. I was worried I might fall into that cliche AS a north american, in the eyes of a japanese girl. She seemed to understand the notion...

but am I perpetuation the cliche of a canadian being over-polite?

sorry.