We are here, we are here, we are here, we are here

With apologies to all of my friends who know that the title is actually borrowed from the musical "Seussical", We Are Here!

Arrived at Toronto airport yesterday, and got all checked in without incident .. no line up at all. Walked into the US customs area, and there was not a single person in line, so got through that quickly too.

After explaining a couple of the primary rules of the trip, namely:
a) never walk past a Starbucks without going in (and if Cathy and Ray are not with you, here's what you need to pick up and bring them)
b) get a receipt!

We got some breakfast at Starbucks and headed to the gate to hang out. I had received a text from Stefane (lead delegate for YSC contingent) that they had arrived just as we were heading into customs, so we figured they wouldn't be far behind us.

An hour later, there was still no sign of them. The BASEF gang must have made it through at just the right time, as there was now an almost hour wait in the customs area. They all made it through with about 15 minutes to spare.

Lots of hugs for those who were reconnecting, and introductions for those who were meeting for the first time. We have a total of 20 students and 6 chaperones. We will be meeting an additional 2 students and 1 chaperone who are coming in from Alberta later on.

By the time we get onto the plane, the conversation level has risen considerably. Some of the students choose to chill on the plane, others are continuing to perfect their projects. The flight attendants ask a few of the students about their projects, and, as most people are, appear rather overwhelmed at the complexity of some of them. After a few choruses of "Are we there yet", we arrive in San Francisco.

We get off the plane and collect in an area near the boarding area until we know we have everyone. It took about 20 minutes to sort everything out, use the washrooms, then we head outside.

We're standing by the baggage carousel, when we hear a "Code Orange" come over the loudspeaker. Our luggage is arriving, when one of our students realized she left one of her bags upstairs inside the security area. Ray heads back up with her to see if she can get her bag, while the rest of us head to the bus. I'm sure if you read the last three sentences, you can connect all the dots, so I won't!

There are so many students coming in that the Fair committee is running shuttle buses from both San Jose and San Francisco airports. We need to break into a couple of groups as we didn't all fit on one bus. The issue isn't the people necessarily, it's the amount of luggage that we bring with us as some of the projects are quite large and complex.

We get settled in at the hotel (checking in 26 people takes a little while ....) and then Stef and I head over to register everyone at the fair while the other chaperones, Deidre, Liane, Dustin and Ray, take the kids to find something to eat. Stef and I drop the packages back at the hotel, and head off to join the gang.

As you can well imagine, it's a challenge finding a restaurant on a Saturday night that will take 26 walk in's .. but they've found one, the Grande, a few blocks from the hotel. It's across the street from San Jose State University, which is featuring an outdoor Jazz and Blues festival on the lawn. We sit out on the patio enjoying the music immensely. Food was great, and the portions overwhelming to some of the young ladies. The chaperones (who all know better, and had warned the kids .. who never listen the first time, but do after that) had ordered one appetizer and three entrees to split between the six of us .. and there was still food left! Armed with lots of leftover food, we head back to the hotel, taking the "scenic route" to explore a little of the area.

Back to the hotel, and we take over the 10th floor lobby area for a team meeting. Formal introductions this time, with the students telling us where they are from, what grade they are in, and about their projects. We review the rules of the week, answer a thousand questions, then give everyone a curfew time. One of the most amazing things to watch was the leadership that the students who have been here before showed in answering the questions of the newer students.

Wifi is free in the lobby, but not in our rooms ... so many of the students head downstairs, and there's about 15 of them hanging out in the lobby. Others are playing cards, looking at their projects, or just hanging out.

One of our students wind up being stuck in the elevator, unbeknownst to us. Her roommate comes to say that she had come down to the lobby but not back up. It's almost curfew time, so we discover who's in their rooms (read .... nobody!) when we go looking to see if we can figure out where she is. Whole thing was over in ten minutes, it just seems longer when you're in the middle of it!

We have two students with safety violations, so will deal with those first thing in the morning.

We remind all the students to call their Mom's tomorrow morning (a big shout out to my munchkins, Tyler and Caitie!) and head to bed ourselves.