NationStates Jolt Archive

The bullet train shot through the surrounding hillside, rocketing towards the nearest port city like, well, a bullet train. Inside sat the ten students who had been selected for the student exchange program and their caretaker, the Fatus Maxian Minister of Education, Chub Stomachson. Currently, he was snoring rather loudly, occasionally emitting a high-pitched yip as he slept. The kids watched him with a sort of dreaded fascination. The train ride had already taken six hours, and they still had a bit to travel. The books or CD players they had brought with them lost their appeal three hours into the trip. They chatted amongst themselves, getting to know one another- they'd never met each other before they'd won the essay contest that qualified them for this trip.

They fidgeted nervously, their eyes glazing over more with every passing minute. Finally, Shamus McChubster stood up. "Ach, I can't take ih' no more! Let's have a look around thee front of thee train, eh?" The other students gratefully nodded their assent and stood up as well. One of them, Sherri, expressed hesitation. "I dunno, guys, we're almost there... I don't think we should be wandering around without Mr. Stomachson." Shamus snorted. "Oh, an' I suppose you tink it's better to hang about here gettin' bored out of our minds?"

"No, but-"

"That's what I thought." With that, he turned and headed to the next cart, the other students following behind. Sherri sighed, then ran to catch up.

Shamus was a natural leader. His uncle was the creater of the McChubster's Burger Joint chain of restaurants, but the money hadn't effected his family that much. Sure, now he rode to school in a limo, but he still cussed and acted rude and ignored table manners, same as always. His essay submission consisted of a single sentance, "If ye don send me on thee trip, I'll knock ye skulls in."

They wandered about the carts, boys in front with the girls lingering behind, gossiping and giggling. They reached the cart where the food cart was, and helped themselves to some snacks- in Fatus Maximus, public transportation comes with free food- before heading to the next cart. As they entered, the intercom chimed to life, and the conductor said, "Ladies and gentlemen, we'll be reaching our destination in half an hour. We'll be stopping at 3rd Street Station in downtown Mmmopolis. Thank you for choosing Big Belly Transportation, and enjoy the rest of the trip."

"We'd better get back," said Sherri. The other students nodded in agreement, and Shamus sighed. "Alright then, but let's get a few more snacks from the car first." On the way back, they ran into Minister Stomachson. "There you are! I looked all over for you kids!"

"Sorry, Mr. Stomachson," they chorused as one. "Well, it doesn't matter now, we're almost there," he replied. "Hey, is that the food cart?

Once they arrived back in their cart, Gorger Widewaist asked, "So where do we go once we get to Mmmopolis??" Mr. Stomachson replied, "Well, from what I understand, we'll board a boat to The Resurgent Dream, and once we arrive at their capita city, we'll be taken to a meeting with their minister of education, then have a night on the town before tomorrow morning, when you're all sent to the families you'll be living with for the next three months." The students nodded, taking this in. "Think they have triple chocolate cake in The Resurgent Dream?" Ton Sumoson asked.

The train rocketed on.

Onboard the FMS Guppy, the students sailed towards The Resurgent Dream. Minister Stomachson thought his brain would explode- it was hard enough dealing with one kid who asked "Are we there yet" every five minutes, let alone ten of them. It was early in the morning now. They'd left Mmmopolis yesterday afternoon, and they travelled overnight. The captain assured him they'd arrive in The Resurgent Dream's capital city in an hour or two.

Gorger Widewaist stood at the rail starring off into the sea. He'd been like that all morning. His eyes watched the horizon. Carrie Sumoson approached him. "I love the ocean!" she said. Gorger grinned. "Yeah, it's pretty cool," he replied. "This is all so exciting. I've never been to another country before!" Which was true. Until recently, almost no one from Fatus Maximus had left the country. It was only in the past couple of years that they'd withdrawn from their isolationism and begun to interact with the outside world.

Gorger nodded. "Yeah, it's something else alright. I wonder what it'll be like?" He turned to watch the rest of the kids on the deck of the Guppy, raising hell. "Hey," he said to Carrie. "What's up with that girl over there? She hasn't said a word the entire trip," he told her, motioning to her. She was sitting on one of the deck chairs in a ball, her arms wrapped around her legs. Her otherwise pretty face looked... afraid.

"Oh, that's Terry. She's mute. I heard she hates water." Gorger nodded. "Interesting..." Just then, the ships horn sounded. "We must be getting close," Carrie said. The two of them walked over and joined the others. Gathering around Mr. Stomachson, he told them, "Ok, kids, we'll be there in half an hour. Remember, be on your best behavior for the meeting, okay?" Shamus grinned. "Oh, right, I'll be shuh to not punch out a diplomat." Stomachson rolled his eyes.

"Look!" shouted Merry Porker, the skinniest of the group, weighing only 300 pounds. The other kids gave her a hard time about it, but they told her she'd put on a few pounds as she grew. "Land!" All the kids except Terry rushed to the side of the ship. They all pointed and laughed and talked as they all looked at the sight of a distant island.

At the docks, longshoremen unpacked the luggage of the Fatus Maximans. A lean young woman, 120 pounds tops, smiled at them as she took command of the loading crew. "We'll have all the luggage delivered to your final destinations so you don't have to worry about them in your meeting."

A skinny young man with red hair was waiting by a small fleet of cars. He offered his hand to Stomachson. "Hello. I'm Phillip Chapman. I'll be taking you to your meeting with the Minister." With one hand, he gestured towards the assembled cars.

The students hurried off eagerly to the cars, with Stomachson following closely behind. Talking to Chapman as he walked, he told him, "I just want to let you know what an honor it is to participate in this program. Our children are our future. Yeah, I know it sounds cliche, but Fatus Maximus is just emerging from isolation, and it's things like this that will help us become true participants in the international community." Bending his head, he entered the car, Chapman following. The aid to the Danaan minister gave the driver instructions, and they took off. "But, to business," Stomachson told him. "Once we meet with the minister, they'll be taken to their exchange families, right? I'll remain in the capital for a three month period, until the exchange is over."

The aid smiled. "We're very glad to have you, of course." Then he arched a brow at the next question. "Your country can spare you for that long? I had not expected you to remain here the entire time, to be honest."

Stomachson grinned. "Our government plays a minimal role in our nation. Apart from moderating the occasional teachers' pay dispute and distributing textbooks and education funds, I don't really do anything but sit in an office all day and throw pencils at the ceiling. Watching over the program from here is a bit of a vacation for me." He turned and looked out the window for a moment. As the car approached downtown, he said, "I'll make regular progress reports to the Prime Minister, but I'd much rather oversee things from here, rather than back in Fatopia. If that's alright with you, of course."

Chapman nodded. "Of course. Of course."

The streets of the Danaan High Kingdom were full of all kinds of people, hums, fae, elves, nekos, and a few other races. When they finally arrived at the Ministry, the students were taken in to see Minister Andrew Duke, a slightly plump, balding man who stood and smiled as they entered. "Welcome to our country. What do you think so far?"

Shamus McChubster grinned. "You're all so skinny!" he said, and the other students giggled. "Hush, Shamus!" scolded Stomachson. "Forgive him- most of them have never seen anyone who wasn't from Fatus Maximus before. We thank you for your great hospitality." "Yeah! So, can we eat now? It's almost time for second breakfast!" Shamus pitched in.

Duke laughed a little. "I suppose we must all seem rather skinny to you. The average weight in this country is....maybe 140 pounds for adults."

He furrowed his brow a little. "There actually wasn't a meal planned for this meeting. Are you really in need of one right now or can you wait until between the meeting and when you go to your host families?"

Duke laughed a little. "I suppose we must all seem rather skinny to you. The average weight in this country is....maybe 140 pounds for adults."

He furrowed his brow a little. "There actually wasn't a meal planned for this meeting. Are you really in need of one right now or can you wait until between the meeting and when you go to your host families?"

Stomachson grinned. "They can go without food for a little bit longer. Let's get down to business, shall we?"

Duke nodded. "Very well. Although, to be honest, I'm not sure what I can tell you that you don't already know. There will be a great many cultural differences you'll see. Most people will be much thinner than you're used to. Not all of your host families will be human...Does anyone have questions about that? It's likely the biggest issue."

Sherri hesitantly raised her hand. "Do- do elves live to be like a thousand years old?" And Shamus asked haughtily, "And what's God's creation is a neko?!?"

Duke nodded. "Some Elves are as old as 48,000. As for Nekos..." He reached over and hit the intercomm. "Mrs. Hirushuki, could you come in here for a minute?"

A woman who appeared essentially feline, with cat furr, tail, and ears, walked into the room, smoothing her dress needless. "You called, Minister?"

Duke smiled. "Yes, our foreign friends here were curious about Nekos."

Hirushuki laughed a little, turning to the obese children. "Well, then, what would you like to know?"

10 minds as one thought, Can you read my mind? in a rather suspicious tone of voice- well, tone of thought, actually. When Hirushuki didn't answer, Merry raised her hand. "Can you see in the dark?" This was quickly followed by Shamus, who had inherited his uncle's mind for business, asking "Are there any barbeque rodent restuarants in The Resurgent Dream?"

Hirushuki nodded. "I can see in a darker environment than a human could, but not in total darkness."

She laughed lightly at the next question. "No, not really. There might be one or two places but it's not typical."

Shamus rubbed his chin thoughtfully. The children nodded, smiling. Stomachson cut in. "Well, children, I think we've taken up enough of Mrs. Hirushuki's time." He turned to Duke. "Have you already selected the families the children will be staying with? Or were we supposed to go over that here?"

Hirushuki inclined her head. "I will be in my office, Minister." She turned with feline grace and walked on out.

Duke smiled. "Well, I have a list of available families. Why don't you all tell me what kind of family you'd most like to be with and I'll see what I can do?"

Ten voices began shouting at once. "I want a house with a view of the ocean!" "I want a house near your best restaurant!" "I want to stay with a nice family!" "We all want to stay with a nice family, moron!" "I want to stay here in the capital!" "Yeah, so do I!" "Me too!" "I want a family of elves!" "I want to stay with nekos!" "I want to go live in the big city!" "Me too!" "I thought you said you wanted to stay in the capital city?" "Well, I changed my mind!" "I want to live in the big city!" "You already said that!" "So?" "I want to live in the countryside!" "Uhg, the countryside. Why would you want to live there?" "I like the countryside!" "Yeah, so do I!" "I want to go live where-"

"Children! CHILDREN!" Mr. Stomachson cut in. "Don't talk all at once! We can hardly understand you!" Then children stopped, and looked down at the floor, sheepishly. "Sorry, Mr. Stomachson," they chorused. "That's all right. But please- one at a time. Give your name, where you want to live, and the kind of family you'd like to stay with. Gorger, you go first."

Gorger stepped forward. "My- uh, my name is Gorger Widewaist, I want to live in one of your big cities, and, uh- I just want to stay with a nice human family. Maybe one that lives in a skyscraper. That'd be cool."

When Gorger finished talking, Shamus elbowed his way though. "Ach, I wanna stay in one o'ya country cities- some'ting near the oshun. Aye, and I wanna stay wit' a human family tooo."

Next up was Bigs Widewaist. "Um... I guess I'd like to stay here in the capital city. I wanna stay with a human family, though."

Merry raised her hand. "I'm Merry Porker, and I want to stay here in the capital city also. And- oh, you guys have no sense of adventure. I want to stay with a family of nekos.”

The others looked at her, impressed. Sherri Fatkins took a step forward, emboldened. “I want to stay with a family of elves! And I want to live in the countryside.”

Pudge Bigbone was next. “I wanna stay in the countryside too. I just wanna stay with a human family, though.”

Ton Sumoson raised his hand. “I wanna live in capital city. Can I stay with a family of nekos?”

Pudge Fatman raised his hand after Ton was finished. “I’m Pudge Fatman. Uh, I guess I wanna stay here in the capital city… can I stay with a human family, please?”

Carrie Sumoson followed Pudge. “I’m Carrie, and I’d like to stay here in the capital city. Can I stay with a family of elves?”

Last was Terry. She realized everyone was looking at her, then tugged on Carrie’s sleeve. She pointed out the window, then pointed at the door where Mrs. Hirushuki left. “Um…” Carrie said, “I think she wants to stay in the capital city with a family of nekos.” Terry nodded vigorously.

“Well, that’s everybody,” Stomachson said to Duke. “Can you match them up now?”

Duke arched a brow. "No one wants to stay with a Fae family? Or a mixed family?"

"I'm sorry," Stomachson cut in. "What are the Fae again? It was explained to me before I left Fatus Maximus, but I can't recall what they are exactly." He looked at the children. "Are you sure none of you want to stay with a mixed family?"

"Fae are 41% of the Danaan population." Duke said. "They include several score sub-races including all sorts of beings. Just say what kind of being you would like to live with."

Shamus suddenly raised his hand. "Do ye 'ave any leprechauns?" Stomachson shook his head. This is a disaster, he thought.

Duke laughed a little. "I think we have a Clurichaun family on the list. Is that close enough for you, young man?"

"Clurichaun?" the boy asked, confused. Stomachson added, "Perhaps if you described the different categories of Fae, the children might want to stay with some."

Duke frowned a little, not having known he'd have to spend this long going into things this in depth. Shouldn't they have done this research before coming? "Well, there's over sixty different kinds, actually." Slowly but surely, Duke outlined each type for the Fatus Maximans.

((OOC: You're going to have to read rps, hun. I can't describe them all in a single post.))

Stomachson noticed that most of the children's eyes had glazed over after the first or second category. "Uh... I think they'll stick to the families they've already selected," he said. "Except for me," added Shamus, "I'll stay wit one o' them Clurichaun families."

Duke didn't hide his annoyance well. He felt that the exchange students and even the Minister had come here rather uninformed. If they wanted to see Elves, why were they in a country where the most notable non-human race was fae instead of in Menelmacar or Aelosia. "Very well." he said. "Gorger will be staying with the Mosses. Shamus will be staying with the Dougherties. Bigs will be staying with the Bartlets. Merry will be staying with the Okadas. Sheffi will be staying with the Nildes. Pudge can stay with the Collins. Ton can stay with the Toyotas. Pudge, you can stay with the Cheathams. Carrie, you can stay with the Cirdans."

Duke sighed slightly, checking his computer screen. "I'm sorry, Terry. We don't have a Neko family that speaks sign language. Would it be alright if I put you with the Schwartzes?"

Terry shrugged, than nodded. Stomachson chose to take that as a yes. "Well, it looks like this meeting is over," he said, standing up. The children assembled behind him. He caught Duke's sigh and they annoyance in his eyes. As the group left the office, he took the man aside. "You'll have to go gentle on us. We've been almost completely isolated for over a thousand years. This is a big step- we've never done anything like this before. Before your nation issued the invitation for a cultural exchange, we'd never even heard of student exchange programs. We honestly know nothing of your nation, or it's inhabitants. We're new to all of this- we don't really know what we're doing."

The students were all led to a government cafeteria to get something to eat, on the Ministry, while they waited for their families to arrive. Duke nodded a little to Stomachson. "It's fine. I wouldn't worry about anything if I were you."

There was a miniature stampede to the the cafeteria as the students rushed forward. They began heaping food onto their trays, one after another, in an assembly line of digestive progress. Once they had finished, they returned for seconds, several even going back for thirds. Stomachson wondered how much more the government food servers could take. The scambled around behind the counters, desperately trying to keep up. Finally, the onslaught was over- the students had finished eating. They sat in silence for a minute. Stomachson frowned. "Children! Be polite." There were a few sheepish smiles. "Right," a few of them agreed. There was a brief intake of air. One of the more alert Daanan food servers dove behind a table. Ten Fatus Maxian children belched as one, a sonic orchestra the overwhelmed the senses. The room shook. The hair of everyone in the room blew backwards as if caught in hurricane strength winds. Plaster dust fell from the ceiling. "My compliments to the chef," said Gorge, grinning.

The servers and the Education Ministry staff dining in the room tried to be polite. They really, really did try to be polite. Nonetheless, in the end, very few of them were able to hide the fact that they considered the whole display to be just plain gross. "Like human redcaps..." muttered one elderly man.

Most of the diners left the room after the collective belch. The servers went and opened all the windows and doors. A forty-something woman walked up to Stomachson. "Pardon me, Minister, but you might want to tell your students...that's really not considered very polite here, not very polite at all." She hold her nose as she spoke.

A plump man walked into the room. "Gorger Widewaist? Mr. and Mrs. Moss are here to pick you up."

Stomachson blushed. "It's considered a compliment where we come from," he said embarrasedly. He brightened up some when the man announced Gorger's exchange family were there to pick him up. "Well, lad, off you go! Don't embarass our country too much." Gorger grinned, said a quick goodbye to everybody, then left with the man.

The man walked Gorger over to a muscular pair who smiled at him. The man looked down at the pudgy boy. "Do you have any bags, Gorger?"

The boy held up a small suitcase he had carried with him off the boat. "Fatus Maxian compression technology let's us compress clothes to the point where we can fit an entire closet into a single suitcase," he said. He left out the part that involves the average Fatus Maxian sitting on their suitcase in order to achieve such compression.

Mrs. Moss smiled. "That sounds quite interesting." They walked Gorger to the car.

Over the next few hours, all the Fatus Maximans were picked up by their host families. They spent variable amounts of time, from a half hour to a half day, driving to their new homes away from home. Their host families stopped at roadside restaurants as often as the visitors needed.

Finally, the last child departed with their new family, and Stomachson was left alone in the government building. Bidding fairwell to Duke and his aides, he mentioned, "I'll be heading to my hotel, now... I need to catch up on my sleep, it's been a tiring couple of days sheperding those young rascals." He wondered if the Daanan hotel's room service could keep up with him.

Each host family asked each child what they wanted to do or see before school started and if there was anything they needed to purchase.

The responses were various, but generally the city kids wanted to tour the town, while the country kids just wanted to have some fun and relax before school started.

The city children were all taken around to tour the vast and diverse towns. The country children were able to just hang out.

((OOC: Try to split it up into specific children. We can't really do the thread talking about all of them collectively when they're all over the country.))

OOC: That's what I was planning on doing from the beginning, but I wondered if you were changing focus with "Each host family asked each child what they wanted to do or see before school started and if there was anything they needed to purchase." :D

IC:

Ton Sumoson had been taken to see two art houses, a prestigious theater, four city landmarks, and one history museum. It was all very interesting, but in the same way one finds the lectures given by a college history professor who speaks only in monotone interesting. His foster family was very nice, but they seemed to have no idea how to entertain a teenage boy. Finally, upon hearing he was going to be taken to see the legislative hub of the capitol, he decided he couldn't take anymore. "Don't you guys have any amusement parks?" he cried.

"Yes." replied his host father. "We can go tomorrow."

Ton was in for a shock. Fatus Maxian amusement parks were mostly carnival like structures with with a few high-speed monorails serving as "rides." The average Fatus Maxian was deeply suspicious of any device intended to lift more than a half dozen 300+ pound people off the ground, so roller coasters, ferris wheels and and swing rides were unknown. Gravitrons were outlawed, as the ensuing warping of the area's mass could quite possibly disrupt the space time continuum. The most excitement a Fatus Maxian amusement park had was a tilt-a-whirl. Ton's jaw dropped as he sighted the park from his foster family's car. He would just have to hope those Daanan engineers knew what they were doing.