Jussi!!!

Growing up, exchange students were a big part of my life.  We had our first when I was less than 2, yet we stayed in close contact with her.  Naoko is Japanese, and she has come to visit as well as us visiting her in Japan.  We then had Toshiko, also from Japan.  When I was 16, I lived in France for a summer with an exchange student my dad had when he was younger.  His family welcomed me as a part of their own.  Upon my return, we hosted Jussi for a year.  He's from Finland and was here in 1995/96.  He is a brother in my mind, truly.  He seamlessly joined our family and after his return home, my younger brother went to live with him for a semester.  We also hosted Nacho (who Brian has visited twice in Argentina, and both Brian and I visited.  He has also come with his wife to stay with us since).  Jussi hadn't been back to Denver (we met him on the East Coast once) since 1996, but we were lucky and he came to visit 2 weeks ago.  We had the best time, and loved having him meet everyone!