Sunday, September 9, 2012

Sundays in My City: Meet Maren

Unknown Mami

Sundays in My City is a weekly photo meme hosted by the lovely Unknown Mami.


Our Norwegian foreign exchange student has settled in nicely in her short time with us so far. Maren and Kendall are seniors at Tinytown High School, and they are both hard workers, getting into the swing of early mornings and rigorous academics, as well as meeting new people and getting used to their classes.

Maren is sweet, shy, and responsible. She brought us very thoughtful gifts from Norway, including the best chocolate I have ever had!  She is patient about our difficulty pronouncing her name, which I very much appreciate.

Yesterday, Maren attended her first-ever block party, at which there was tons of food, karaoke, and dancing. While Maren doesn't fancy herself as a dancer, she got right in there and gave it a go!




Today we are off to Grandma 4444's house for lunch before the first regular season Packers football game. Maren and I have to attend an exchange student orientation meeting this afternoon, so we'll miss out on the football festivities (but I plan to take her to a different game in the future).
I'm sure she'll find the cultural experience of Green Bay Game Day quite interesting, when the time  comes, but for now, we are just enjoying settling in.


Note to self: Pick up a Packers shirt for Maren :)

To see scenes and folks from around the globe, visit Unknown Mami's Sundays in My City.

25 comments:

  1. Welcome to the family, Maren! Glad to hear school is going well for you. I hope they didn't make you do the Hokey Pokey.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Welcome to the US Maren. Please note that not all Americans are like Green Bay Packer fans. Oh how do you pronounce Maren?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi Maren! :-) Wishing you a happy time ahead!

    Have a great week, Barbara!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Welcome, Maren! You couldn't have picked a more perfect family with which to stay! I know you will enjoy the school year! And, it's okay if you become a Packer's fan...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. What a sweet thing to say! I hope Maren agrees with you :)

      Delete
  5. Good to hear Maren is settling in so easily. I'm sure she'll have fun at her inaugural Packers Game. What is the national sport in Norway?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Maren isn't into sports, really, but she says skiing is pretty popular in Norway. Soccer is also popular, but Maren says Americans are much more into sports than Norwegians are.

      Delete
  6. I just noticed that your daughter is your clone. How adorable. You two should enter a mother/daughter look a like contest.

    Hello to Maren!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. How sweet of you to say that! We do get that, now and then, but we don't see it. Since I think Kendall's gorgeous, I love to hear that she looks like me, of course.haha :)

      Delete
  7. We had an exchange student from Norway when I was in 7th grade!
    I hope your experience is much better than the one we had 1 1/2 years ago, but we had a 16 year old boy who thought he was on vacation!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. haha So far, so good! I've heard some horror stories about exchange students like that, but I'd be surprised if Maren turned into a party animal. She and Kendall are very well suited to each other; they both have self-respect and solid values. I think we got lucky :)

      Delete
  8. She is going to have a blast! It will be a time she will remember for-eVer!!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Welcome Maren! We visited Norway this summer and thoroughly enjoyed your home country.

    ReplyDelete
  10. It looks like Maren will have a wonderful time living with great people. Such a fantastic opportunity for all of you.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Don't scare little Maren by wearing a slice of cheese over your head when the Packers play ok? She might never recover...lol.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Welcome, Maren! Just know that you are with a very nice family who have a lot of fun together and will make sure you enjoy America. Even I have never been to a block party yet! That Packers game will be quite an experience, I'm sure!

    Like you blog header with you and your puppies!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Lovely ladies, all three of you! I bet Maren will have a blast.
    (BTW how DO you pronounce her name?)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well, see that depends on whether or not you have a Norwegian accent! Maren has been kind enough to tolerate us pronouncing it like car-en (like the vehicle+ en), but the "r" part, when she says it, sounds sort of like a rolled r. (My tongue doesn't roll.)

      Delete
  14. I'm so thrilled that Maren is fitting in so nicely. She looks like she's enjoying it all too!

    ReplyDelete
  15. I'm so happy things are working out and she is settling. Is her name pronounced like Karen but with an M?

    ReplyDelete
  16. I love that you get to have this experience. It's going to be a great year!

    By the way, I think Maren might like the Bears better. Just sayin. :)
    (KIDDING, only because I know it would be dangerous for her, considering where she lives. ha!)

    ReplyDelete
  17. Glad to see that Maren is fitting right in.

    ReplyDelete
  18. What an incredible opportunity for both your family and Maren! (And I must say she's a lucky girl getting to experience life with your family.) I'm sure she'll be a fan of the Pack in no time!

    ReplyDelete

Your 2 cents...