2008 exchange student

[Claire]: http://sonicchicken.net/blog/wordpress/2007/08/31/claires-visit/
[Marseille]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marseille%2C_France
[Caroline]: http://carolyn-b.skyrock.com/
[mbaqu]: http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/
[SF advice]: http://sonicchicken.net/blog/wordpress/20070901/sf-tour-ideas/
[Jelly Belly tour]: http://jellybelly.com/Cultures/en-US/NewsEvents/Stores/Jelly+Belly+Visitor+Center+-+Fairfield.htm
[Music Circus]: http://www.sacramentomusiccircus.com/
[world clock]: http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/personal.html?cities=330,1440,217 “Clock showing times in Marseille, Sacramento, and UTC”

We hosted a French foreign exchange student, [Claire][], last summer. It was such a rewarding experience that we signed up again.

Claire was a *Parisien*, but we wanted to become acquainted with people from other parts of France. So this year we’re hosting a *Marseillais* (a person from [Marseille][]) named [Caroline][]. We’ve already had several email exchanges with Caroline and her family. She’s coming to stay with us for three weeks in August, so we’ll have 2.5 weekends for touring. (She arrives on a Friday evening, so that first weekend will be partially blasted by jet lag, I’m sure.) We’ll probably visit:

* [Monterey Bay Aquarium][mbaqu] (and Monterey itself);
* San Francisco, twice (keeping our [SF advice][] in mind);
* and the [Jelly Belly candy factory][Jelly Belly tour].

You may be asking yourself why we included Jelly Belly among such hallowed destinations. The fact is we already had plans to see “My Fair Lady” at the [Music Circus][] this summer, so we needed to find something relatively quick and close to Sacramento for that day. Besides, Barb and the girls thought it was pretty cool the first time they visited the factory, and I’ve never been there.

We spent one day in San Francisco with Claire last year. It was a long day, it felt rushed, and we had to skip all kinds of cool stuff. This year, we’re going to try two trips to SF. And if we can work out all the details, one of those days we’ll bring along our bikes and go riding on Angel Island, through Golden Gate Park, and anywhere else we think to ride.

Finally, I thought I would post a useful web site that I found when Barb and Caitlin went to Sweden a couple of years ago: The [world clock][] page shows the time in both Marseille and Sacramento. (Obviously you can customize this to show whatever cities you wish.) The city names on that page are linked to the current and forecast weather, which I thought was pretty slick. (Looks like it’s cool and raining in Marseille, while we’ve had a couple of 35°C days here in Sacramento.)

We’re all eagerly awaiting Caroline’s arrival in August!