William left a week ago, today, for his exchange program to Germany. We dropped him off at school, he loaded a charter bus with fellow students - and they drove down to Boston. Half the students boarded a flight to Madrid, the other half to Frankfurt.
I pulled up his flight, and tracked it - while it crossed the Atlantic and flew across Europe.
Only when he had safely landed and I reminded him to turn his phone to "Airplane Mode" (so we wouldn't get a $1500 roaming phone bill) until we could get him on an international calling plan the next day, did I peacefully go to sleep.
Not surprisingly, we haven't heard much from him over the past week. He's sent the family a few photos, and has dropped me a couple texts, but most of my knowledge comes from seeing pictures that his teachers are posting on Facebook.
On Saturday night, our girls were all aflutter. You see, they have Instagram - and when the German students were in the US, this past October, all the kids became fast friends - and as kids these days are prone to do - they swapped "Insta" info. Suffice it to say, on Saturday night, our girls were checking their social media pages when they spotted the German students accounts, and I heard them say, "OH MY GOSH! WILLIAM IS AT A PARTY AND HE IS HAVING A BEER!!!"
The drinking age in Germany is 16. We knew this and we told William that he would likely have the opportunity to have an alcoholic beverage while he was on this trip, and we fully trust that he will make good choices. He's had sips of beer and wine, and champagne with us, on rare occasion. Charlie and I love a good double IPA (especially now that we're in Vermont) and a glass of wine every so often, but we aren't big drinkers and thankfully, William hasn't been in the social circles of kids who drink anything beyond copious amounts of Capri Sun.
On Sunday morning, Charlie and I were up with the sun to take Henry - who has become a serious exercise aficionado - to the gym. While Charlie and I were on ellipse machines, William texted me (in response to my text re: how was he doing) that he wasn't feeling so great. He wrote, "I have a weird headache." So I suggested that perhaps, just maybe, he might be a *little* hungover. To which he quickly replied, "I don't think I'm hungover." Followed by, "Ich habe nur zwei biers und ein shot."
Translation: It was only two beers and one shot.
I told him, "Yep, two beers and a shot will do it!" To which he tried to explain, "But Mom! It was such a TINY glass!" So I reminded him when he had his wisdom teeth out over the summer, and they hooked him up to an IV and in a matter of seconds, he was in la-la-land? Or when I give him a dose of NyQuil when he has a cold and he'll be knocked out cold for the night? Alcohol is a drug, and it doesn't take much to alter your state of consciousness, tweak your blood chemistry, and make you feel bad.
Alas, he now knows what a hangover feels like, he doesn't like it, and has decided that he'd rather stick to Gerolsteiner (sparkling water) and soft drinks for the rest of his trip. If my prayers are answered, for the rest of his life.
In his words, "I've waited way too long to experience this, the last thing I want is to miss a moment of it because of something I intentionally ingested!" Some things you just have to learn on your own, and this is one of them. I'm just extremely grateful that he had the experience - wasn't (too) adversely effected by it, and knows that it isn't his cup of tea. Literally!
That small situation aside: He's been having a wonderful trip - touring Munich, Berlin, Hameln, and an American McDonalds. He's also expecting that he might be provided an opportunity to move to Germany later this summer, for a full year abroad.
Jinsei wa tanoshi!
(Translation: Life is fun!)
