beinganaupair.blogg.se

2013-07-31
11:10:44

Bathroom emergency
Today something extraordinary happened!
I was out with Tilly hanging up the washing that had been washed in the morning, when I suddenly realised that I hadn't seen the almost-two-year-old for a couple of minutes... I asked Tilly if she could check up on Tyne, where he was and what he was doing. She went inside and came out again, telling me that he was inside. Okay, I thought.

When I went inside myself about five minutes later I found out that Tyne had locked himself in the bathroom... He couldn't get out and I couldn't get in...
I called both parents to get some advice about what to do about it. We ended up with Tilly crawling through a closet, her opening the door and then finally me cleaning up the flooding that had occured. Apparently Tyne had managed to put the plug in the sink and to turn on the hot water tap. Hot water and steam everywhere! I felt very sorry for the carpet that covered the floor, but now I think it was pretty funny.

I will never complain about kids being totally predictable at least!

2013-07-28
09:38:06

Day in and day out
I realised that i have not been writing anything in a while. It's because there isn't much extraordinary that is happening during the week. The duties i have are the same of course and I find it hard to believe that it would be intresting to read about how I vacuumed every week. That's why only special occasions are mentioned. I missed out on telling you about the Abel Tasman Park though... 
 
Me and Maja went to the famous Abel Tasman Nationalpark last Sunday. And I have to say it's really lovely!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
We also met up this to let the kids play together. Tilly and Tyne have each other to play with, but the younger girl that Maja takes care doesn't have any siblings her own age sadly. We thought that it would be good for them to meet some new people too, it's good training for the future. 
This gives me and Maja some time together too, and I have to say that it's nice to have an grown-up to talk to during day. If I can call myself and Maja grown-ups that means. We will try to let the kids get to know each other better in the next couple of weeks and see if they can become good friends.
 
 
I biked in to Motueka twice this weekend. It's amazing how much more you see of the landscape when you go by bike instead of by car. It has been nice weather too, so it's really nice! Even though I got a sore butt of the saddle...
 
This was the second week of holidays. All the different activities start again tomorrow. Dancing, swimming, playcentre. Just as I got used to planning our week by myself...
Well, well, there will be other holidays!

2013-07-16
08:31:17

Everyday life
I've started my third week down here now and I'm still sure how i will manage a whole year!
Everything is wonderful and I really like working here, but it feels so strange to not have the people you usually meet around you at all. 
 
Except fro that... Everything is awesome! We (Clare, me, Kyle, Tilly and Tyne) went swimming today in Richmond. The school holidays started this Monday and even though neither Tilly or Tyne go to school you notice that the holidays are. Every activity that the children have (dancing, playcenter) are havinng a break. Therefore I'm left with my poor imagination to try to find something that we could do in the 2 weeks that the holidays are.
 
Anyway, last Friday I met up with another au pair that i here in Motueka. She is called Maja and is also from Sweden. I think we'll get along just fine and to make things even better we've planned to go to the "Abel Tasman National Park" this week-end. I've heard that this is supposed to be one of the most beautiful places in whole New Zealand, so my expectations are pretty high. I really hope that we'll get there, at least sometime soon. 

2013-07-07
08:49:51

Survived the first week
I have spent about 1 week and two days at my host family's home and I just have to say... IT'S AWESOME!
The family has really welcomed me and I never thought that I would feel at home so quickly. I'm really happy that I landed here and I think everythng will work just fine.
 
Being an au pair is though pretty different from what I had imagined... For example are there a lot routines that I have to get used to. I knew that there were, but I didn't think about the real basic ones... For example sleeping in the middle of the day. It's not hard to get used to putting kids to bed during the day, but that together with all the ohter new stuff that I have to get used to makes it harder than it should be... 
 
The worst part though has been driving on the left side of the road. Almost everything is backwards... Except for the famous "högerregeln" (when the traffic coming from the right side goes first and you have to let them pass). I was convinced that it would be the other way around, since everything else is. But apparently not...
Well, as the famous song goes: "I will survive". And now I actually think I'm starting to get used to it.
 
I was in Nelson today to visit a handicraft market. It wasn't very big but the things they sold there were really nice.
I also visited the beach inn Motueka. They apparently have a ship wreck just outside the town, so I went to visit it. It was really nice weather and the ship wreck was cool, but when I tried to get to it I noticed that the ground was a little to wet. My shoes sank in the mud, so I couldn't get close... I will have to try it again sometime.
I also saw a swimming pool that was outside. It looked pretty nice and my host mother told me that they used to go there during the summer. 
 
 
 
I'm already excited for the next week here! There is so many things to see!
 
 
 
Ps: I couldn't resist it! Ds

2013-06-26
00:55:50

Panic in Sydney
I left this Monday and I have been on my way ever since. I'm tired and I have been extremely nervous all the way. What if I don't catch the next flight? What if I get lost?

Well... I could say that unbelievebly awesome and didn't have any problems at all. But that's is not even close to the truth!
The first panic attack I had was when my first flight (Copenhagen - London) was delayed. I actually had about 2:15 hours between my flights, but since we were delayed and had to go through a security check I had about 20 minutes left. Everything ended up well.
The next flight was between London and Sydney, with a small stop in Dubai. Everyone (even those who continued with the same flight afterwards) had to leave the plane and go through a security check, again!

Here is were the real problem started. I had only been nervous for no reason before. We arrived about an hour late in Sydney due to the wind... And I missed my flight... Now I'm waiting in Sydney.
Lucky as I am, the agency rebooked the flight directly to a later one (3 hours later). I'll be late for the introduction course, but I will arrive sometime...

However, the worst scenario that I could think of during my trip was getting lost on the other side of the earth and/or miss my flight somewhere.
Which is exactly what I did. Both of them!


Maybe I'll never reach New Zealand... I'm sure I could manage to get kidnapped by kangaroos or something stupid like that on my way to the plane.
Well... Wish me good luck!

2013-06-20
20:20:27

Leaving on Monday
Next Monday is the day! I can't believe that it is finally happening! New Zealand is on the other side of the earth and I have the opportunity to visit.
 
At 18:20 my flight will lift from Copenhagen's airport to go to Lodon. After that I'll be sitting on the same flight for about 23 hours before I finally arrive in Sydney. Sadly enough I won't be able to spend more than a couple of hours there before I have to leave with the last flight, that will land in New Zealand. After finally arriving in the mysterious country, I'll be attending an introduction course in a city called Auckland. 
The course ends on Friday 28th of June and that is also the date when I will meet my host parents on the airport. We will travel together down to the South Island and our destination is a town called Nelson, situated in the north of the south island. 
The very last part of my trip will be a tour with a car to a smaller city called Motueka, where I'm going to spend my next year working as an au pair. 
 
I have talked with my host parents and they seem to be very nice and open. I want to finally meet them in person and I want to start this project that I have started.
 
A whole year seems awfully long now, but I think I will make it!
Even though I cried like a fool when I  said goodbye to my friends today...
 
I'm sad.
I'm happy.
But most of all I'm crazy excited!!