The sound of the river was soothing after the rush to help pack gear and get 12 teenagers and 4 adults set up at our campsite. For the past few months, our group had trained for a 10-day trip to Guatemala with a series of lessons on teamwork, cross-cultur...

Although arranged marriages (miai-gekkon) are declining in Japan, in the early 70's and especially among families, at that time, of the older generation it was very common. Eke had been told from a very early age that her husband would be chosen for here...

Mom and dad had just returned from a short honeymoon after being married in Tacoma in early September. They arrived home at nearly midnight before dad had to head out to his brother's butcher shop where he had worked the past two years. The day was busy...

It was in 1962 that mom and dad started welcoming exchange students into their home. The first was from Indonesia, followed by Argentina, Brazil and then several short stays from Japan and China. They even had a young man stay for two years from Canada...

Mom and dad prayed every night for Carlo wishing him a safe trip. They too had not heard from Eke since she left that early day in May. Uncle "Joe" had visited some time the middle of June and spent the night as they talked till all hours as mom and dad...

Anyone who has driven on highway 99 from Delano to Bakersfield once, let alone every day of your life, knows that landing in a place like Tokyo was going to be quite a shock. Between Delano and Bakersfield, even the rattle snakes and prairie dogs don't w...

In spite of working 2 jobs, studying at every break, attending class and getting in as much language lab as possible, Carlo felt like the summer continued forever. He had not heard the sweet voice of Eke since the first week of May and it was driving him...

Eke had been living with our parents for close to 9 months as an AFS student in the '70's when Uncle "Joe" arrived one evening and without a spoken word, influenced her to pack her bags and leave for Los Angeles immediately. Eke's only explanation was th...

"I love you baby..." was heard often as a child as I was growing up. Dad encouraged...dad taught...and dad was always there. At one point when I was a child, my mom, dad, and two siblings all suffered from asthma. As the doctor bills began to accumula...

We're all different. No two individuals are exactly alike; however, there are some general categories that seem to hold true. For instance, there are the Morning People and the Night People. I am definitely of the latter variety. About 9:00 p.m. something...

Arlene of our staff shared the following delightful story with me the other day: "I answered the quiet knock at my door, wondering who could be there. As an American attending a Spanish language school in Guadalajara, Mexico, I was very new to my neig...

I get up each morning with a chuckle inside from something that happened the day before. It is always some sort of humorist twist I have put onto something that happened or I heard and there are times I think people wonder "what the heck is going on insi...

It was 1981 and we had agreed to receive the advance promotional team for "Up With People" for a 2-week stay. Their assignment was to coordinate everything for the show which included promotion and making sure all of the stage arrangements were made in a...

I was watching Annika give a golf clinic and one thing she really stressed was to keep the same golf swing regardless of what club you are hitting. If you need more distance then use a less lofted club. If you need less distance then use a more lofted c...

In June of 2007 Mrs. Winer and I retired. When one achieves a milestone, rewards equal to the accomplishment should be given. So on Sept 9, 2007 Mrs. Winer and I arrived in Paris France. For the next 24 days we enjoyed ourselves more than should be al...