Week 1

My first week as an aupair has been... interesting, you could say. From miscommunications, to driving on the wrong side of the road, to getting lost. But the plus side is i'm alive and so are the kids (bonus). Monday morning: well lets just say my alarm failed to go off, so I woke up in a panic at 7.45am (I was meant to be up at 6am) and they had already left for school; lets just say thank goodness that there dad takes them and I was only going along to learn the morning routine. Anyway bad start to my first day but it got easier, that was until pick up time. I have a GPS,  which is fantastic, however because of the copious amounts of snow, roads aren't very easily seen from a distance so I kept missing turn offs until i ended up in woop woop, having along the way been given the evils and the finger for holding up traffic. Eventually I made it to the school and it was all smooth sailing from there. Tuesday I did wake up at 6am, got up showered, got ready; only to find out that the boys had a two hour delay due to the snow, which meant they got two extra hours to sleep. Being someone who hates the morning you could say I was a tad annoyed. Anyway got them to school and came home and cleaned up their mess, who knew that boys had more washing than girls. Wednesday was funny, I did the same routine as every other day, but the youngest boy had hockey practice, so I had to take him there and wait. Thank goodness for my beautiful sister who I got to talk on the phone to for the enter hour that hockey practice goes for. Not only was it great to talk to her, but great for my sanity as watching 5 year olds practice hockey is mind numbingly boring. Anyway here's where the fun begins, on the way home from hockey practice I turned one corner at a set of lights and couldn't for the life of me figure out why cars were coming straight towards me, i'm thinking what idiots; then the realization of who the real idiot was came and that idiot was me! Hello they drive on the right in America, I don't even know how I was so stupid as to manage that, thank goodness there was light traffic and that the realization came fast!! Thursday I woke to a lovely note asking me to take my host mums car for a drive to give it an oil change!! Like honestly what the heck, didn't know that was in the job description. But anyway I yet again succeeded in getting lost so what should have been a half and hour trip turned into and hour trip. Friday, the day of dreams some would say! I finally, after taking the boys to school, got to have a relaxing day, I found Netflix (the best thing ever) and settled in for a day of doing very little!! On Friday night my host family took me to a place called the movie tavern, it was a heap of fun, you basically watch a movie whilst they serve your dinner right to you at your seat. Then on Saturday night we all went into Philadelphia, which is a beautiful city that I can't wait to explore. We had some pizza (it was huge) and then went to a hockey game (don't ask me who played). During the breaks they do this thing called 'Mites on Ice' where the youngest players from jockey clubs get to come our and play a mini game for five minutes. My youngest host kid Preston was a part of it. They are so cute and they spend more time falling down then actually playing! But it was so much fun. Saturday and Sunday consisted of driving the boys to hockey games super early in the morning and meeting new people. 

All up I had an interesting first week really. But it was enjoyable and makes you realize that sometimes you just have to laugh at yourself and move on.

NYC

So as a part of my first week in the US of A I had to go to a training school to "prepare" me for my year as an AuPair. The training school taught things that I ultimately knew and were taught at a level for all those that don't understand english; and trust me there were many. As part of that training school though we got to go to New York City for an afternoon, which I was thrilled about! I mean New York, one of the most famous cities in he world, one that I had wanted to see nearly my whole life and boy did it live up to my expectations! From central park, up to the top of the rock and down onto the famous 5th avenue. The city is truly spectacular. The only down side was that it was an extremely cold and snowy day.

New York was an amazing place one that I want to spend many more days in. I can't wait to go back, but for my I am living in snowy Pennsylvania. I drove for the first time today on the other side of the road and the other side of the car and I didn't kill anyone :D

The move: packing

PACKING! Honestly who likes to pack when you have to try and fit your whole life into 1 large and 1 small suitcase for a year. What is necessary to take? What do I leave behind? Can I live without it? All the question going around in my head. Not that it will be the end of the world and I will have the opportunity to shop whilst I'm there!! But still it's not a fun process. 

The agency Cultural Care AuPair that I'm going through suggest that you lay out exactly what you want to pack, halve that amount and then halve that amount again! Ahhhh honestly I'll end up with nothing. But all I know is that it is freezing in America at the moment try up to -15 degrees celsius.  So I guess it's all winter stuff for me. 

Here are a few of my tips for packing for a year:

1: pack only what is absolutely necessary, don't go packing your favourite party dress because you think that you can't live without it for a year! I promise it will be there when you get back.

2: pack appropriately for the weather, as it's snowing and winter in the US I'm not going to pack all my summer clothes, you will have the opportunity to shop.

3: pack for your situation, I'm going over as a nanny, not a fashion model! I need clothes that are comfortable and practical, not high fashion.

4: pack all your underwear, underwear is the thing that you will want to change daily, for the first week I won't have access to a washing machine, so I'm going to need to take as much underwear as possible. Remember things like your jeans can be worn for a week without a wash. 

5: pack sample sizes for your toiletries: pack what you will need for the first two weeks in terms of shampoo and soap, after that you will have an opportunity to head to a supermarket and buy the essentials in full size. 

So there are just a few tips that I have found helpful in trying to pack. 

Hopefully I have packed all that I need, if not I'll be hitting those shops hard!! (What a shame ;p)