New job, new home, new beginnings...

So, its now Tuesday and I've been in the states for over a week now (crazy!!) and today is my second day in my new job as an Au Pair! So far I'm loving it, but let me go back to where I left off in my previous post..

Okay, so last time I posted was about my amazing NYC trip which was incredible! words can't even describe how much that evening meant to me! So anyway, last thursday was our last day at orientation, so we went over the last few things and us British girls paid Sandee, our trainer, the deposit for a Disney trip that we're going to go on in December (more about that nearer the time). At 2pm everyone started to leave. Danielle and left first as she had to go by train. Saying goodbye to her was horrible as we had literally been through the whole experience so far together, from flying together through the orientation, so when I had to say goodbye to her, I literally sobbed. It was awful!!! Next was me and Holly as we were leaving from Newark airport - Holly was being picked up there as her host family are in New Jersey where Newark is based - and I was flying from there to Philadelphia. So we had to say goodbye to everyone which was just so emotional. It's crazy how close you can get to people when you spend a lot of time together! It was harder saying goodbye to the Brits rather than the other girls I'd made friends with - although that was really sad too! - as we had all been talking for a month or two via facebook prior leaving England, as well as all being from the same country, we all just clicked right away! So, eventually after saying many tearful goodbye's, Holly and I arrived in Newark airport. I checked in and waited with Holly whilst she was waiting for her host mom to pick her up, and eventually she did, so I had to then say goodbye to her and go to the gate ready to board my flight to Philadelphia, and then on to my connecting flight to Cincinnati. Both flights were good, my one to Philadelphia was better though, as it was a really short flight, and the lady I was sat next to was so nice and we just chatted the whole flight! Anyway, I arrived in Cincy and was met by my host parents, who were so nice! They let me sit in the front of the car on the ride home so that I could see the city - although it was dark as my flight arrived at 11pm! There was one point where you could see the Cincinnati Skyline which was incredible! So I arrived at the house and they gave me a really small tour as I was so tired, so really I just went straight to bed!

The next day my host mom was off work so we spent the day together and the host dad came home at lunch so we went and picked the kids up from their grandparents house (host moms parents). The grandparents are so lovely, and the granddad even offered me tickets to some gig in the city haha! So anyway, I just spent this last weekend getting to know the family, running errands with them, playing with the kids and just generally bonding with them. Yesterday was my first full day with them by myself and my goodness I was exhausted! Because they're not generally allowed to watch a lot of TV, I had to think of so many things to do! So we went to the park for a bit where my little girl did the monkey bars all by herself (she's only 5) and played frisbee with the boys, came home and played legos, hide and seek, built a fort out of blankets and all kind of things! That evening I then went to the Cheesecake Factory with some other au pairs in my area, who were all so lovely! There were mostly Germans, Jacqui, Natalie, Annie and Maria and then a Canadian Saralyn, whose host mom works with mine and then me!

One thing I didn't mention is that Jacqui had to come and pick me up because I'm not insured to drive yet as I don't have the Ohio state driving license yet, and as I'm from the UK where we drive on the other side of the road I have to take both the written AND driving test, which I'm dreading. It's not a legal requirement, but it makes the insurance so much cheaper for my host parents if I have a state license. Most people from other countries - especially Germany - don't have to take the test as their driving rules and things are very similar to here, so I'm so unlucky haha!

Anyway, I think that's pretty much it so far! The kids have been with their grandparents since noon as me and my host parents are going to see Michael Buble (eeeekkkkk) tonight, so they're babysitting, so my morning was good with the kids, we baked some peanut butter cookies (they all LOVE peanut butter) and played some more games, and I've just spent the afternoon watching Frozen and FaceTiming some of my friends and family!

So yeah, that's it! Will probably post again when I come back from my vacation in West Virginia next week!

Much Love,

Jodie 

xo

BRITS IN NYC..

So Day 2 was such a crazy day it was unreal. It was the day that we FINALLY got to go on the New Yrok City tour!! Not only that, but it was the first day of orientation, so a very very busy day!

So first of all we got a wake up call at 6:30am which considering I had barely any sleep was ridiculous! And it was 11am UK time so I was really out of sync haha! But I FaceTimed my mum and brother and then got ready for breakfast for 7:15. Breakfast wasn't that great, just a mix of cereals, toast and fruit with yoghurt. I'm really going to miss full cooked english breakfasts!!

After breakfast we had our first meeting which explained all about Au Pair in America as an organization and about the United States, about the three 'nos' that you can't do (drugs, drinking under 21 years old and abusing the children). Americans are extrermely strict about some of their laws in regards to underage drinking, whereas other countries - particularly European ones - are much more relaxed, so coming from England where the legal drinking age is 18 will be weird to adjust to. We also had a community counsellor talk to us about the roles of the community counsellors in the programme and how they can help us. Although it was a bit tedious and boring, it was really informative and helpful. At 12 we had lunch which was chicken fajitas which was alright, haha!

After lunch we had another meeting about living in America, cultural adaptation, the roles and expectations of both the au pairs and the host families. This was really good because we got more of an idea about what to expect in the next year and how different our culture is to American culture and what to expect in regards to the differences and possible clashes in cultures. 

Finally, at 4:30 we had the NYC tour! I was in a group with my fellow British au pairs Danielle, Isobel, Holly and Nicola as we had all become really good friends so that was so nice! We were all given a small lunch on the bus and made the hour trip from the hotel into the city, so exciting!

Firstly, we went to Rockefeller Centre. We went all the way to the 'Top of the Rock' which was 70 storeys high! The views were so incredible, we could see so much of the city, Central Park, Freedom Tower, the Empire State Building and so much more! It was so breathtaking! These are some of the photos from the Rockefeller Centre!

After we got back on the bus and headed to Times Square. It is so crazy it's unbelievable! So many people! We went to the main part of Times Square, where they have the 'ball drop' on New Year's Eve. Everywhere was so bright, so many lights and so many people! There were loads of characters walking about such as Spiderman, the Statue of Liberty and Mickey Mouse, but we were warned by our tour guide that they would ask for money if we had our photos taken with them, and also as we only had 35 minutes to look around that we just decided to take our own photos instead! And here they are! 

Finally after Times Square we were taken through Manhattan past the Hudson River towards the southern part of Manhattan where we could see the Statue of Liberty from across the water. Whilst we were on the bus, we drove past the site of 9/11 and the new World Trade Center, which is also known as the 'Freedom Tower'. You don't really realise just how big the site was and the two waterfall fountains put where the Twin Towers were are just incredible and it makes you realise just how big of an impact the disaster had on the city. I want to come back soon and visit it properly, it's such a massive deal! So we got to the place where we could see the Statue of Liberty, and we could also see the state of New Jersey as that is just across the Hudson. On of my fellow British au pairs, Holly, is going to be living there, and as it's easy to get to the city from New Jersey, if we visit again we'll probably just end up staying with her, haha! By the time we got there, it was late evening so we saw the start of the sunset and as it was so warm it was just an amazing evening, me and Nicola started getting a little emotional haha! Nicola also does a blog aswell, so if anyone wants to read it, then it is www.lifeissanadventure.wordpress.com :)

These are the rest of the photos from NYC including ones from seeing the Statue of Liberty..

Anyway, that's it for now, will do another post about the third day and also the move to Cincinnati very sooon!

Much Love,

Jodie xo