That year one of the teachers at our high school took in the daughter of one of her best friends....not as a hosted foreign exchange student but same basic thing. Vivian is her name. Vivian and my daughter became the best of friends and since the teacher who 'hosted' Vivian lived far from our high school, an hour drive both ways, Vivian moved in with us.

Vivian is Norwegian. Came the Olympics... we bought a Norwegian flag... so the USA flag and the Norwegian Flag were flying high in the JamesJM household that year. There most definitely exists pride in country in the Olympics.... for all nations... but on equal footing is pride in people, athletes, regardless of country.

Since 1994 Vivian will email info to me when the Winter Olympics are coming up regarding 'who', exactly, will be Norway's best athletes....and I break out my Norwegian flag.

After 1994 we hosted two foreign exchange students... one from Japan and the other from Switzerland. I have a Japanese Flag and a Swiss Flag as well.