What we feared the most is happening. With all the snow piled here and there, the best we could hope for is a slow melt to diminish the effects of flooding.

 But we’re getting something even worse. A fast melt with rain on top.

Wish us luck.

O.k., the old saying is “March comes in like a lion, goes out like a lamb.” Except this year it came in like a lamb. Will it still go out like a lamb?

Someone should smack me upside the head - figuratively speaking of course. I got a call the other day from a gentleman who would like to attend our monthly meetings and asked if I would post them on the web calendar. Duh - should have been doing this all along. What an oversight. As soon as we have one scheduled I will log it.

One of the annoying, but also fun aspects of having a blog is that there is soooooo much spam. I’m always getting postings that say, “The blog is very interesting would you check out our viagra online?” or, “Do you want to hear a funny joke?” Actually some of the jokes are pretty good. Sometimes there are nearly a hundred such spams that have to be deleted.

Anyway there is going to be a bilingual (English/Spanish) Ash Wednesday Mass on Feb. 17 at 6:30 p.m. at Sacred Heart Catholic Church, 409 Third Ave. S.E.

On Sunday Feb. 21 and March 21 is bilingual Way of the Cross beginning at 3 p.m. both days in the Presentation Convent Chapel, 1500 N. Second St.

Hope you can make it to at least one of these groundbreaking events.

Another host mum and I and our spouses were playing a game with several international students a few weeks back - some of them were from China and some were from Korea.

The game consisted of making sounds like different animals - goats, cats, dogs, pigs, etc.

What was so surprising to me is that the animal sounds were different in different languages. Not oink, oink, meow, bow wow, moo, etc., but wah, wha! for a dog - eyoo! for a cat, and so forth.

I guess I always thought animal sounds were universal onomatopoeia - the word is the sound, like bang and slap.

Today dawn with temps above zero. We made it through another winter. Looking out my south-facing window I see about a hundred pheasants. They made it through another winter as well. I wonder where they hide with all this snow. Even the tree claims are filled with the stuff.

I explained to my Chinese students (for whom I was host ‘mum’) that the Ringneck Pheasant originated in their country. They were from the city and had no idea what a Chinese Ringneck looked like. So, in true South Dakota fashion, we shot one and gave them a close-up look.

I recently got an e-mail from one of my International students who is spending a month with seven other students traveling the United States before returning to China.

While in New York her laptop was stolen from the hotel room. Everything was on it - photos, applications to graduate school, the works. When she tried to discuss it with hotel management, she was rebuffed. I feel bad about this, hoping she does not see this horrible treatment as representative of America.

Except in some ways it is. I, too, have had similar experiences. Once, in Fargo, I left my hypoallergenic pillow in the hotel room. I called the hotel two hours after checking out and, nope, they hadn’t seen it. This has happened over the years with other items - a new shirt, a curling iron, a swimsuit left hanging in the shower. So I surveyed friends and not a single person has had a positive response when looking for a missing or left-behind item in a hotel. Not one single time.

This is that time of year when there are not a lot of cultural events and activities going on around the region. Folks are more focused on simply getting through the holidays.

But some exciting things are coming down the pike - Conversational Spanish classes and English classes will begin again at the Diversity Regional Outreach Center - DROC on January 11 - more details on this in the near future.

Also, once again Presentation College is hosting a performance from Mixed Blood Theater out of Minneapolis. This event will honor Black History Month. Again, more details on that in the near future - when I get ‘em, you’ll get ‘em.

Sometimes I like to imagine what newcomers to our country think of our traditions. For instance, someone returning to his home country far away might describe a Christmas tradition thusly - “They roll out a sweet dough and cut it into the shapes of men, or bells or stars or trees. Then they paint the shapes with colored frosting. Then they eat the shapes.”

Or

“They drag a tree into the house and put shiny decorations on it. Then, when it is dried up a prickly, they take all the decorations off and drag the tree back outside again. What quaint customs these people have.”

I was honored to be able to be host Mum to two Chinese students this semester. They are returning to China in January, but I learned so much from them and hope they learned as much from me. One of the things I learned is that the younger generation in China is moving away from eating the traditional foods - stir fried, more veggies than meat, rice with each meal - to fast food. There is an abundance of Mickey Ds, Colonel Sanders and Pizza joints in China. Sad. The next generation will wind up with the same obesity epidemic we’re fighting right here at home.

I will be sad when Wenwen and Tingting leave. They are sweet, respectful, gracious young women. I hope we stay in touch.