How it all Started

First off, I am starting this blog after picking up Nack from airport. However, a lot of things have transpired to get this point, and I'm sure we'll have many stories to tell now that he's here. I decided to chronicle Nack's life in the USA so that he would have a nice memory of the time he spent with the Winkles family. That being said, let's start from the beginning.

The Question
It was sometime around March of this year that first call came. It was my friend Kanittha from Thailand. She told me that Nack was interested in becoming a foreign exchange student, but that Wanphen (his Mom) was worried about who the family would be. Wanphen suggested a few names to Kanittha, but Kanittha finally asked her "why haven't you mentioned K. Roger and his family?"

Wanphen's family and my family have been friends for many years. It seemed like a logical choice to Kanittha, but it wasn't so easy for Wanphen. In Thailand, they have something called "krengjai." What this basically means is that you do not want to do or ask anything of someone that would put the person you are asking in a bad situation. In Wanphen's situation, if she asked me to be a host family for Nack, she was worried I would have to say yes because of my obligation to our friendship. She was worried I would not want to host Nack, but I wouldn't be able to say no. Kanittha solved this problem: she asked me instead.

It didn't take Livonia and I long to make that decision. We immediately said yes, and called Wanphen to tell her we would be honored to host her son.

From there, things moved pretty quickly. Rather than explain it all here, I'll post a few of the emails that led up to today. That should be enough to bring everyone up to speed on what happened.