Hohomi really wanted to go to Trade Joe's. We got up bright and early to make that happen. Our first stop was Diamond Dust in St. Peter for breakfast. A number of pastries, a breakfast burrito, and a humongous cinnamon roll fresh from the oven were consumed by our group. That stop took longer than expected, which really cut down on shopping time.
As per usual, they fell asleep in the car. They weren't pleased this picture exists. 😂
They had about 20 minutes in the store. Still, they got a feel for it and were able to make their purchases: Trader Joe's coffee for Hohomi's sister, "original" snacks (basically items with the Trader Joe name) such as sesame seed cracker bites/chocolate covered peanut butter cups/fruit leather, and reusable bags.
They were looking for a specific style of bag, one made famous on social media, a white bag with the Trader Joe logo and blue or red straps. It's sold out. It's been sold out since May and won't be restocked until September 18th. Normally these bags are under $4. They sell on Amazon for $14. Google says some of the bags have sold for up to $500. Yikes. Needless to say, the girls settled for alternative styles of bags.
The lunch ceremony was nice. It was on campus and catered. Lots of interesting foods! They had a short slideshow of pictures from families followed by the passing out of completion certificates. They had a Minnesota trivia Kahoot for the students. Yua got 8th place. Hohomi was middle of the pack. Host families were recognized too. We got a nice Minnesota shaped cutting/serving board as a thank you present. It was fun to chat with the other hosts and the program coordinators, sharing experiences.
We concluded the afternoon with a few garage sale stops, a stop at HyVee to buy individually wrapped candy for Yua's coworkers, and a venture into Curiositea for Hohomi to buy tea for her mom. She got a small package of spearmint (G's favorite) and a small package of peppermint (my favorite).
The rest of the afternoon they packed and I prepped food for a take-along breakfast and airplane snacks: waffles, fruit, homemade crackers, chickpea puffs, and gingersnaps.
Supper was Subway, their final request. Subway in Japan doesn't have cheese options. Their sandwiches have meat and veggies. And if there is cheese, it's just one kind. Holy cow is Subway expensive! $11 for a six inch!
The girls wanted to try a footlong churro. The worker said he didn't recommend it. We asked what he did recommend... basically anything else. 😆 He said it's pretty hard and chewy. Still, the girls were adamant so we ordered one. They said they liked it! They did agree that it was very chewy.
We concluded our time together with our bedtime teatime tradition. My brother N happened by right when the water heated, so he stuck around. Our three tea options: blood orange rooibos, chamomile lavender, and throat coat. After a while, the girls pulled out their Japanese snacks for N to try. They loved his facial expressions. He said, "They're not bad, just a different flavor than I'm used to." The girls didn't believe him; they were certain he didn't like the snacks.
Another late night ... Teatime wrapped up at 11. G and I did a few last minute things and finally went to bed after midnight. Short night of sleep too. We needed to drop them off at 6:45am, so another early morning!
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