Living with Exchange

Well our household is finally slowing down a little. For those who didn't know we've has an exchange student from France staying with us for the better part of three weeks and he was a vegetarian! That last piece might not have been a shock for some, yet when everyone in the family loves meat the way we do and you have someone staying with you that doesn't even eat fish and you have to provide packed lunches for them - it becomes a real issue, yet we survived. Our son goes to France in late February and will be staying with the same person who was here.
Having an exchange student certainly brought to mind all the things we take for granted like peanut butter. Yup, peanut butter. They don't have it in France! Or a freak snow storm in October is nothing to worry about. The 15cm we had that week was the most of guest had ever seen. Or attending a church supper or going trick or treating. Yup, you guessed it, they don't do that in France either! and in the midst of it all the toilet broke and had to be replaced which, with only one bathroom, created quite the concern.
So now we're on the other side of that adventure and oddly enough we miss our quest. It seems that he left a very real impression on us and it was actully quite enjoyable having them around. Of course it meant doing things a little different and paying very close attention to our diet, yet this was a learning experince for all 5 of us and it's one that I think we would do again.
So while the chocolates are now all gone the memories live on. What a thing it is to exchange cultures with someone and to be intrusted with someones child from another country. Vive La France! Aux prochaine.