Can you give me a ride?

One of the things that we really didn't think about before Pete came was transportation. Exchange students are not allowed to drive while in the United States. Even if Pete was allowed to drive, I am not sure we could have handled another teen age driver. Because of this, we spent quite a bit of time transporting him from one location to another. Pete made friends very easily and often when he called for a ride, we would end up driving 3, 4 or 5 other kids home.

At first, this proved quite a challenge. Minnetonka was new to all of these kids and geography wasn't a strong point either for them or me. When asked where they lived, often the response was "by the school" which could mean any one of the 15 or so schools in the area. "By the big highway" was another challenge. I can say that one prerequisite of being a host parent must be to live in an out of the way hidden location! I saw quite a few new neighborhoods that I never knew existed before. We had to resort to calling the host parent once in a while to find out the exact location, but eventually we all figured it out. By January, everyone had a pretty good idea of where they lived, which made the rides much less stressful.

I really enjoyed the kids conversations during these rides. It would give me a chance to hear how their experiences were going - some good, some not as good, and their perspective on America in general and Minnetonka specifically. The debates were often lively and heated, especially when comparing home countries and customs.

We put a lot of miles on the car during the year, but it was a time that was filled with laugher and enjoyment.