Florida

So last Thursday I left for Florida with my mom and brother to meet my German host family. My family left from the Indianapolis airport. My brother was nice and decided to stay up all Wednesday night at the hotel we were at in Indy and talk on the phone, which meant no sleep for everyone else. We left for the airport at 4 and arrived at 4:30. Our flight to Sarasota left at 6:30. The flight was really nice and I absolutely love flying! When we got our baggage and rental car I called my host family and told them we arrived. We then set out to find the condos we were staying at (my host family were also at these condos). When we arrived and we met my host family it was really nice and not awkward at all. It felt like we had known them for a long time, which in reality I had been talking to them for 8 months already. I really like my host family, they are super nice and I am very lucky I think!

So on Thursday we went out to eat lunch with my family and then Simon needed a nap so my mom, brother and I set out for the beach. I absolutely LOVE the Gulf, the water is so much bluer and prettier. Later that night we all made dinner and ate together again drinking wine and beer and talking, it was a really nice time. On Friday we all went to the beach in the morning and then set out for Busch Gardens in Tampa, it's a really nice amusement park! I really enjoyed it and there was a lot of shade so none of us got really burnt. Stephan, Svenja, Austin and I rode a raft ride together where we all got wet, it was awesome! ^^ 

On Monday my mom, brother and I went to the beach and around 2 Stephan, Svenja and Simon met up with us and we all drove to a nicer beach in Siesta Key called Turtle Beach. We all went swimming and played in the water, that water was so nice!  I love siwmming:) Later that night we came home and went out to eat with my host family.
On Sundy it was Easter and my host family has family around the Tampa area so they spent Easter with them. My brother, mom and I decided to go to Treasure Island which is a beach near the Tampa area. We had to drive over the Sunshine Skyway Bridge which goes over the Tampa Bay....It was so high and bridges are not a favorite of mine so it kind of freaked me out! We spent the whole day there and saw 2 people get stung by baby stingrays, which then made me not want to swim in the water anymore. When we went back to the condo we just spent the rest of the night relaxing as we had to get up early for our fishing trip on Monday. On Monday we all disembarked on a Fishing trip in the morning out on the Gulf. We had a lot of fun, and we all caught some fish:) We even spotted a dolphin! It was nice to relax and I don't think any of us had sea legs we had a hard time standing still, haha. After fishing we all went back to our condos which were actually almost next to each other and my mom and I went swimming down at the pool while everyone else took naps. Later that night we had a BBQ which was pretty nice and we then sat around enjoying every ones company:)

On Tuesday my family left for home, so we said our goodbyes to my host family, I am so blessed to have met them before Germany, I don't have any worries..I never did have any worries either:)  So now I have 2 more weeks until Germany! I can't wait to see them all again! Simon is so cute!!

Week 4....one more month left.

Hey guys/ girls!

Not much has happened over the past week, just school and work mostly. I have 4 more days of work! How crazy is that! after over 1.5 years of working and I am almost done! Not going to lie though, I am looking forward to being done, I am ready to move onto bigger and better things. Traveling and other cultures is where my heart is at, not in a clothing store. I only have 3 more weeks of school, YAY! I am almost done at this boring a lifeless college and moving onto a University:)

So over the past week I have met more people through Interpals and other friends. It's cool to know other au pairs, because it's like we have our own tight circle of girls that talk and share stories about our days and things we are nervous about. I feel like I have known Cecilia, Cassidy, and Bianca for more than just a few weeks. I love the group we started on Facebook, it can share things with eachother and no one will know about it:D

Cecilia leaves for Hamburg on Wednesday, and that is also the same day I fly to Florida with my mom and brother to meet my host family. I can't believe April 20th is almost here! I have been waiting and waiting! My host family made to Florida yesterday, it's kinda hard to believe we are now in the same time zone and only like 1,000 miles from me and not over 4,000 miles away anymore. I have had some pretty good convos with Cecilia, I really like her, I am so glad she sent me that message on Toytown, It's nice to have another girl in Hamburg with me! Cassidy and Bianca are also awesome girls! I think we all have a good bond that will last a long time!:)  Cass and Bianca are now the Munich Munchers and Cecilia and I are the Hamburg Hamburgers:D

Cute and Catchy huh? :D:D

So last night Bianca gave us another au pair website I will share with you :
meetaupairs.net  ---I have only been on this site a few times now, but I would still join it, because you could join a forum or group for the city that you live in.

I realize now that I need to start cleaning my room and getting everything together, because I have so much stuff to organize, especially for college, and my mom will go psycho if I don't get it done soon.

Well that's all for this week! Goodbye everyone:)

5 weeks to go!

Hey everyone!
I have 5 more weeks to go and they can't come soon enough. I am so ready to be done with school and work. Only one more full week of work and 4 more weeks of school! CRAZY!
 

So much has happened since my post from last week. I am now good friends with 3 other girls that are/will be au pairs this summer to Germany. I cannot wait to meet them! I met Cecilia who is in China as an au pair on Toytown! I advise everyone to join this site if you are going to go to Germany! Cecilia and I will both be in Hamburg, so we can hangout which I can't wait to do! I met Cassidy through Interpals, she's really awesome! We've had some pretty good Skype chats together and many more to come I am sure! :) Cassidy also has a blog you guys should check out, she keeps up on her blog better than I do^^


http://americanapingermany.blogspot.com/                       <------Follow her!! She's awesome!

There is also a girl named Bianca! I haven't really had the chance to talk to her yet, but she does seem really cool! I can't wait to meet all these girls! The only bad part is Bianca and Cassidy will live in Munich and Cecilia and I will live in Hamburg. Both awesome cities! But both sooooo far apart! So how do we fix this!!! We plan a weekend trip to Cologne! Cologne, Germany is basically the halfway point for us. So hopefully in mid- June we can all meet! YAY!

Last night Cecilia, Cassidy and I had a pretty nice skype conversation. It's cool to know there are other people out there looking for friends before they move to a different country. So if anyone out there feels alone and thinks they are not going to make friends, join a penpal website or something like this! I promise you will make a friend!

I also met a girl named Kathrin who is from Germany! We met on Interpals, and I have already sent her a letter in the mail. She is really nice and hopefully we can meet while I am in Germany:)

Okay I also have a few more websites to share:

isic.org
 This website is for international youth and students. For $25 you can purchase an International Student Identification card or a youth card. I ordered mine last week. On this website it shows places where you can get discounts at museums for example. I even found a discount for a certain airline, but I can't remember which airline it was. But I recommend you guys get one, it's not just for Germany. You can use it in any country.

Another handy website for people who want to learn German is a site called:
deutschewelle.de
This website is sooo handy! You girls have to use this site! Make sure you make an account when you start the  "german interactiv" part. So you're work can be saved and you won't have to start over! I love this site!

So I have almost everything finished up for my University I will be attending in August. I have my classes scheduled and my loans ready... College is soooo expensive ugh!

I also had some time to think about how much I am going to miss my 2 dogs. They are my best friends, my little babies, which in the end caused me to cry. I honestly do not know how I am going to manage without them. I love my dogs so much and 3 months without taking them for walks, car rides, cuddling with them is gonna kill me.

Also for those of you who have an itouch or iphone! I found some pretty awesome app's for Germany! If you want to know what they are just let me know!

Sorry if my posts are boring! I try to be exciting:D  

2 weeks until Florida! I can't wait to meet my wonderful Host family there!!

Ciao!

6 weeks before Germany

It's been a long 5 months waiting for this trip and I still have a month to go before I truly leave for Germany. I would like to share how I first met my awesome host family. I decided to become an au pair in the summer of 2010 and I joined the website called greataupair.com (it's used a lot by other au pairs, I know two other girls who used it also) and I found a family in the Hamburg area which was where I wanted to be. Around the end of September/ beginning of October I got an email from my host family saying they were interested in me. I said yes I would love to be their au pair for the summer and plans have been set! It takes a lot to get to where I am right now though.
1) Trust
2)Passport
3) Flight
4) Save save save!!!

I skype with my host family about twice a week and I enjoy it so much. They are such nice people, and I can't wait to meet them and their adorable little boy. I have been lucky enough to have the chance to meet them BEFORE I go to Germany, as they are going to Florida for vacation in April. My mom, brother, and I are going down to Florida to meet them and get to know them better. I can't wait! 6 days away from Ohio and then 2 weeks after I get back from Florida I leave for Germany. I am honestly really lucky to get to go to Florida to meet them before Germany. I know not many au pairs meet their families in person until they are pretty much picked up at the airport. The host family and au pair really have to put a lot of trust into each other. It takes a lot to spend over $1000 on a plane ticket to live with a family you barely know, and its the same with the host family, they are putting trust into a girl they have never met to watch their child. My host family has nothing to worry about though! We've talked so much in the last few months, we know each other pretty well. I can't wait to meet their little boy and I can't wait to be his nanny this summer!

Once you get your passport and flight it really hits you- OMG! I'm doing this! Honestly it's the best feeling ever! I'm so grateful I had a job to pay for this trip...this trip wouldn't have even been possible without my job. My mother helped me a lot too with buying suitcases (2) and clothes clothes clothes!! I basically just got all new clothes...I know I'm spoiled. But I honestly just want to fit in and not look out of place. I paid for my plane ticket which cost me- $1070 and passport -$120....totally worth it though! By the way I booked through travelocity.com , I got a pretty good deal in my opinion!

Being an au pair isn't something you just decide to do in less than a month, it takes planning and time. You need plenty of time to save money..I mean of course you will be paid while over there. But I would not want to go to Germany without any money on me. I will miss my old job here in the states, but it's time to move onto bigger and better things. Being an au pair is something not everyone gets to do, so I am going to make the best of it!

If you are reading this and is interested in Germany or even being an Au Pair, just send me a message or comment and I will get back with you. I can give tons of advice!

Also join Toytown Germany on the internet and find your area that you may be visiting or living in Germany. It's a very useful website! I get on it a lot! I also joined a site called Interpals.net. It's a great penpal website full of other people wanting to get to know people from other countries. You might possibly find some friends there like I did.

All in all I think this will be a great experience for me! I can't wait for Germany and hopefully I will make a lot of new friends.

Remember if anyone reading this has any questions just let me know and I will try my best to answer them!

Auf Wiedersehen!