Meet Tehniyat

(Double click the photo to get a closer look)
Tehniyat (I misspelled her name in the last 2 posts!) arrived yesterday at 3pm. What a fantastic girl! She is super animated, talkative, smart, and very cheerful. When we moved all her boxes into bedroom, we instantly sat down in the living room and talked politics (she wants to be a politician when she grows up and her uncle just ran for PRESIDENT of Pakistan). She is very involved in the debate team at Parker School and on Saturday won a trophy for the team. She speaks 8 languages. We took a long walk with the dog and she skipped along and said "OK house rules!" and we just talked about a few rules we would like to see (no boys when we are gone. Curfew at 10pm but she can stay up doing homework etc as late as she needs), Keep area tidy, etc. I think she gets a kick out of seeing us lay down parental rules since we don't have children yet and are a young couple. Saturday we made Thanksgiving dinner so Sunday we had leftovers and explained that she was about to eat the most traditional American meal she could possibly eat! She wanted a picture, but we told her she would eat the same meal on the right American holiday next week. After the long walk and dinner, we sat out by the chimnea and talked by the fire. There is a Arabic symbol on the back of our chimnea and we told her the catalog says it says 'The top of the pyramid" and she said "YES that is what it says!" Her school is about 3 minutes away by bike. (probably 4-5 walking). It's only 1/4 mile away. So I think this will be an incredible experience for all of us. When we go to Denver for Thanksgiving, she will stay with our neighbors who she knows very well. Moki has figured out that there is a new sibling in the house. So I keep petting him and reassuring him that he is still the precious baby of the household!

Is you is, or is you ain't, my baby

OK, it's 10:20pm on Friday night and I'm friggin' NESTING! Strange, never felt before mother hen instincts are kicking in (and scaring both myself AND Alex). We are gluing the broken desk so she has a place to do homework. I've thoroughly cleaned her room and drawers. Alex has had an Arabic prayer rug for years, and I placed it in her room facing Mecca (yes I Google Earthed to find the exact coordinated as to not offend her). We are fashioning curtain rods and confiscating curtains from other rooms so she has privacy. I just downloaded a ton of Pakistani pop music so she feels like she is right at home (and I'm currently listening to it over our speakers as we get her room ready). I am epicurious.comming traditional Pakistani dishes so she feels comfortable (and wikipediaing dietary restrictions). I just brushed up on the 5 pillars of Islam. (10th grade English/History class just came rushing back to me!) Oh gosh. Did I just open Pandora's box to motherhood? Tomorrow is our last supper. We are having 2 friends over for a mock Thanksgiving dinner (since we will be cooking for Uncle John in Denver ourselves). And Tehmiyat arrives Sunday! Stay tuned!

BIG NEWS! WE'RE HAVING A......16 year old!!

So last night I'm just trying to get through my 15 hour teaching day. My last lesson was running late and Alex nervously starts to tell me that he has interesting news. I'm like "Alex, come on man, spit it out! I gotta teach in like a minute!" I'm thinking he's about to tell me he needs to stay in Maui longer than expected for work. But instead, he tells me that there is a 16 year old Pakistani Muslim foreign exchange student who desperately needs a home or she's sent back to Pakistan and she would need to move in by Sunday. My jaw drops. My student's at the door. I calmly (and nervously) smile and say "Honey, can we talk over dinner?"
So we talk till midnight. And after sleeping on it, this decision seems like a good idea and meant to be. So today we made phone calls, filled out forms, and talked with the director and figured all our questions and concerns out. Concerns being, #1 there is a major reason we don't have little Jessie and Alex Juniors running around. We both work 15 hour days almost every day. I'm not kidding. We don't have an eating schedule, and I'm lucky if I can scramble to find something semi edible to cram down our throats at the end of a long exhausting day. Most host families have children, and hence are already in the zone for schedule and routine and structure. I'm 28, and hardly old enough or qualified to be a parental figure to a 16 year old. Yes I'm a teacher and my day is constantly filled with energetic excited children whom I teach, discipline, and love. But I get my hug quota filled for the day and they go home to someone else. I won't be able to guarantee driving because of my crazy schedule.
But after expressing all these concerns, something just clicked. It was around 1pm today I felt this calming peace about the whole situation. I have always found it a great significance that Alex and I both have adopted Korean sisters. We both grew up in multi cultural homes. I know one day we are meant to adopt an international baby. And giving Tehmiyat (that is her name) a safe, comfortable, caring household for the next 6 months and learning about her culture and religion seems like something Alex and I would find ourselves doing. And to freak him out even more, I told him "Yeah Honey, great idea!! And if I get used to having a child in the household and miss her when she leaves in May, maybe that means we are ready for children!" And that made HIS jaw drop!
Oh, and the director needed me to e-mail a picture of the 2 of us. I couldn't find a SINGLE picture where Alex isn't making a funny face or just staring blankly at the camera looking like a stoic serial killer; I found lots of great ones of me WITHOUT Alex in the picture; And I couldn't find a single picture WITHOUT the 2 of us holding a glass of wine.

OBloga

I DID listen to my parents and I agree that I should stay away from politics on my Blog. This isn't about politics. This is about HAWAII! I live in Hawaii. As in, have been living in Hawaii for almost SIX years now!! And to see Hawaii now represented in the White House is truly incredible. This is the FIRST TIME IN HISTORY somebody from the Aloha State has gone to the White House. Too bad he is known as the Illinois Senator and not the Hawaii Senator I guess!
But all joking aside, Republican or Democrat, Left or Right, Red or Blue, we are still the United States of America. Unitedly, we all wish the best for our country. Unitedly, we all want our country to be strong and thriving. Unitedly, we want the world to be a better place for our children of the future.
The other day I was talking to Mama Cathy about her childhood in Georgia. And she remembers when there were segregated bathrooms. People of color were not allowed to use the white persons bathroom. As a young child, she just did not understand why. These were fellow childhood friends having to follow different rules. Segregation is still a vivid memory in this lifetime. So yes, this history breaking candidacy is very moving and touching. It reminds me that we ARE United. That our country will ALWAYS continue to grow and change.
But again, this isn't a political blog entry. This is about HAWAII! A place most of my family and friends STILL have yet to visit me since I started this blog! What's keepin' you? The palm trees? The turquoise waters? The sandy beaches?

Post Halloween Eve Recital

WOW! I just learned that if you double click a picture, you can see it zoomed in full screen! Try it with the picture of all my students by the piano!

Even though this time of year is incredibly busy for most families (and myself!) my wonderful students talked me into doing a Halloween recital where all the students wore their costumes. It sure takes the pressure off of playing in front of others when you are dressed goofy! Suddenly it doesn't seem so serious and nerve wracking! My students continue to amaze me and I feel truly blessed to continue to have such a strong, excited, talented studio full of students. It warms my heart to know that parents put their child's education top priority in such difficult economic times. We are all making cut backs this year; less trips to the mainland; more vacations at home; cutting back on our Starbuck's addictions......but I am so happy to see that music lessons are still a top priority for my families. And I hope that my love and excitement for music inspires my students to always have music a part of their lives. My whole life I have known that I wanted to be a music teacher. And I am so very lucky to be able to continue living out my dream job! Congratulations students on a wonderful performance!

Did you know there is a fall season in Hawaii?

When I have to pull out the wool Pendleton blanket to keep us warm at night, I know it is officially fall time in Waimea. Saturday we woke up to a dusting of snow on Mauna Kea, possibly indicating that we are skipping fall and going straight to winter. We raked a big pile of leaves in our front yard, wore ski hats, and took pictures. (causing people walking by to smile at our staged mock fall setting). Sunday was an all day Pumpkin Patch fair. Alex had his Woodbury Green Building Consultation booth set up and I walked around handing out business cards advertising "Save up to 40% on your energy bills! Come visit our booth and enter to win a free Energy audit!" (Luckily since I was dressed so cute I got smiles instead of salesmen rejection like I normally receive when I try to sell a product!) My cousin Ryan came up for cousin bonding family time Saturday night. (He's the tall skinny boy next to me at the Pumpkin patch...I still wonder what Salerno genes HE got to be over 6 feet tall and under 115 pounds! Why didn't I get those Salerno genes?!)

나의 새로 발견된 한국 자매 및 형제 (My newfound Korean sister and brother)

I have not written on my blog about a very incredible current event taking place in my family. Several months ago out of the blue, my parents were contacted by the woman who placed Kimi in the United States. She had information regarding her Korean family. Within days we had the e-mail address of Kimi's older sister Mi-Jeong! Since then our family has been in touch with her and my parents are taking Kimi to Korea next month to reunite with her sister and brother. I recently wrote to Mi-Jeong and told her about my blog website. So this post is dedicated to Mi-Jeong, my newfound Korean sister! I hope one day to travel to Korea and meet my extended family! (I have translated this message into Korean directly below)

나는 가족에 일어나는 아주 믿을 수 없는 시사에 관하여 나의 블로그에 쓰지 않았다. 몇 달 전에 갑자기, 나의 부모와 미국에 있는 Kimi를 둔 여자에 의해 연락되었다. 그녀는 그녀의 한국 가족에 대하여 정보가 있었다. 일 안에 우리는 Kimi'의 이메일 주소가 있었다; s 더 오래된 자매 Mi Jeong! 그 이후로 우리의 가족은 그녀와 연락하고 나의 부모는 한국에 그녀의 자매 및 형제와 재결합하기 위하여 Kimi를 다음달 가지고 가고 있다. 나는 Mi Jeong에 최근에 쓰고 나의 블로그 웹사이트에 관하여 그녀에게 말했다. 따라서 이 포스트는 Mi Jeong 의 나의 새로 발견된 한국 자매에 전념한다! 나는 한국에 여행하고 나의 확대 가족을 만나기 위하여 1 일을 희망한다! (나는 한국어로 이 메시지를 아래에 직접 번역했다)