Host Family Weekend Part I

Day 1 (30th July 2011)

This weekend, I have an opportunity to be with a host family at their home. Jaime who is my hostess picks Parp and me up at Estabrook at 10AM. Her house is in Laconia, NH which is 30 minutes driving from Brewster. When we arrive there, we meet her husband whose name is Michael, the same as mine, and their daughter Jolie. We unpack our stuff for a brief period and head to a nearby Orthodox church to have lunch at a Greek fair.

Parp and I with Greek Food

Jaime and Michael

This fair is held once a year by Greek community in Laconia. There are a wide range of Greek food and dessert available. A lot of people attend this fair and it takes about half an hour to get our food. I have never tried Greek meal before but the food is very good.

Big Crowd in Greek Fair

After lunch, Michael takes us to his office. He owns a overhead door company in Laconia. Firstly, he takes us to his friend garage to see an antiquated car.

The Antiquated Car

Then he takes us to his office. In his office, he has a room which he calls 'Man Cave.' It is a place he gets rest after work. He puts pictures of Jaime when she was in college there so I learn that she was Miss New Hampshire during college.

Michael in his Office

Michael's Office

Man Cave

Jaime and her Picture

We goes back to the house. Michael and Parp take a long nap. Jaime and I play Horse Shoe which is a game. The goal of this game is to throw horse shoes to a pole. Jaime wins by the score 13-9.

After the game, Jaime shows me her family pictures in special events during a year. When Michael and Parp wakes up, Parp tells the Laurents his family background and shows some pictures. It takes about an hour before we departs for Tilton Outlet (again!) Michael does not attend this trip because he does not like shopping. We all walk separately. Jaime and Jolie go to look for Jolie's college stuff. Parp looks for his parents' souvenirs. I do not like shopping so I go straight to Oops Outlet which sells miscellaneous stuff ranging from books to toys. I grab a book called 'The Inconvenient Truth' by Algor and go to Starbuck immediately. I spend time there until we get back to the car.

Then we go to Lanna Thai which is a Thai restaurant. When we arrive there, there are many police cruises (approx. 12) at a pizza restaurant nearby. We do not know what happen but it seems to be a big trouble.

Police Cruises

The food and service of Lanna Thai is impressive even though it does not serve authentic Thai food. The waitress is a former Thai teacher who comes to live in Laconia with her family. She is very excited to see us since there are not many Thais there.

Lanna Thai Restaurant

Pad Thai and Tom Yum

After the meal, we head back to the house. It is 10PM already so I take a bath and go to bed immediately. I want to save a lot of energy for tomorrow activities.