reflections

So, as I'm sitting here waiting for my last round of laundry to be done so I can finish packing to go home, I can't help but reflect a little on my time here so far.  I've now lived and worked in France for 4 months and 19 days!  How insane is that?!  As much as I've been anxiously anticipating going home for Christmas, it almost seems unreal that it's that time of year already.  I feel like so much has happened in these past four and a half months, but it has also flown by. 

In a mere 4 and a half months, I have seen 6 countries, 17+ cities, traveled by plane, train, bus, and car.  

(We also drove through Luxembourg (which has a Dunkin' Donuts!!) and flew out of an airport in The Netherlands.  But, I don't think those really count.)

Just for my own recollection (seriously, not trying to brag here) I wanted to break down everywhere I've been thus far:

France:

Annecy

Lyon

Paris

Strasbourg

Colmar

Yvoire

(and countless small countryside towns)

Switzerland:

Geneva

Bern (that pit stop for Indian food counts, right girls?)

Germany:

Munich (Going to Oktoberfest is still probably my most favorite memory/weekend so far)

Spain:

Barcelona

Sitges

Ireland:

County Kerry

Dingle/ Dingle Peninsula

Killarney 

Belgium:

Brussels

Leuven

Bruges

I have met so many incredible people, including both au pair friends and family members of my host family that have treated me so kindly. 

But these people ^ in-particular: SO grateful that they have been part of my journey here!  Wouldn't have been the same without you guys!  We also help to keep each other sane and endlessly laughing when we're together; can't ask for much more. 

I have also attempted to really learn a new language, and while my french is still pretty pathetic, it's definitely better than it was when I first arrived. 

So unreal.  Like I've said before, I often take a step back and can hardly fathom that this is my life right now.  Sometimes (okay, a lot of times) being an au pair is hard.  It can be an awkward job that requires a lot of tongue biting and more flexibility than you can imagine.  But these experiences and the places I've seen with the friends I've made make it totally worth it.  Can't wait to see what the next 6 months will bring!

But at the same rate, I CANNOT wait to get home to America tomorrow!  So ready to trade in euros for dollars and crepes for pancakes.  Friends, you can likely find me at Crofton Jazzercise Fitness Center working off my Europe weight or at Dunkin' Donuts/Starbucks indulging in the coffee I've missed these past few months. 

See you soon!

ch ch changes

So, I have some exciting news that I figure it's time to get out there.  I've only shared it with a handful of people back home, in case something happened and plans changed, but it looks like it's pretty official: 

My host family is moving to London!  I repeat, my host family is moving to London.  And I get to go with them.  WHAT!?

How this came to be: My host dad, Andrea, had been pretty upset with his current job for awhile.  He started to job search around late September, him and Sophie both agreeing that their time living in the french countryside might be coming to an end if he could find a new job elsewhere.  They are city people after all, and while they're not quite ready to go back to Brussels (where they're both from), they're ready for a change.  In late October, Andrea got offered a new job in London, and accepted quickly after, with a start date of March 1st.  We didn't know for awhile though what this would mean for Sophie, me, and the kids.  (Andrea has family he can stay with for awhile in London, if need be.)  Sophie is also contracted with her company until the end of April.

What has (tentatively, but most likely) been decided: Andrea will go to London by the first of March, regardless.  He has been actively house hunting (from afar) so we'll see if something comes through by then or not.  Sophie, myself, and the boys will stay back probably until the mid-end of April.  The boys will have (another) two week break for Easter/spring in April, so we will probably go during that time (and hopefully there will be a house by then).

So, things are very much still up in the air, but it looks like I will be finishing out my stay in Europe in London!  And I am REALLY excited about it.  As is the entire family.  My host parents even have thoughts about living in the US at some point, so they figure London will be a good stepping stone to that.  

For me personally, I think by the time April rolls around I will definitely be ready for English speakers and a faster pace of life then the country side offers.  Not so good for my (finally improving) french, but we can still speak french at home.  Plus, there are 8 chipotles and 42 jazzercise locations in the greater London area.  What more could I ask for?!  Bring it on!

Thanksgiving

So, about a week ago, I was feeling pretty homesick.  For a good few days, I couldn't shake this upset mood I was in.  I think it was a culmination of a lot of things, included but not limited to: 

• The thoughts surrounding being away from home for Thanksgiving.
• The stress of thinking about the changes coming to my host family in the next few months (more about that in a future post)
• The general frustration of living in a foreign country for an extended amount of time. (Even going to the grocery store is difficult when you forget what the french word for cinnamon is, or realize that there are no chocolate chips in france for your cookies.)  I feel like at first it was exciting that everything was new and different, and now it's just difficult.

Thankfully, I've been mostly able to shake these thoughts.  A big help in part was due to the fantastic Thanksgiving meal that my friends and I put together Saturday night.  And although we were on the french time table and didn't eat said american dinner until about 9:30 at night, it was an absolutely fantastic meal, and we were all laughing and stuffing our faces the entire evening.  It was definitely a good thing that Val's host parents weren't home, because they probably would have been appalled to see how much food these 7 Americans were consuming.  

Our cute little 8 pound turkey that cost 50 euro. WHAT!?

Brandy, Keturah, Michelene, Me, Chris, Val and Lauren! Happy Americans.

We had just about every Thanksgiving staple you could think of: turkey, stuffing, macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes, green beens, cranberry apple dish, rolls, pumpkin pie, apple pie, rice crispies, and plenty of wine.  It was amazing.

So, despite the fact that I cannot be in South Carolina this week with the rest of my family, I am getting by here in France.  This coming Thursday, on actual Thanksgiving, we are having another dinner hosted by Michelene and her host parents, and then on Friday, we are having a Thanksgiving meal here at my house!  Andrea and I are going to the American food store in Geneva on Friday to get everything which I am SO excited about.  Hopefully they have some real cranberry sauce, which was the only thing I could not find at the french grocery store.  Pumpkin spice and canned pumpkin would be good too so that I can bake a pie!  Let's hope.

On Sunday, the day after we had stuffed ourselves like turkey's, we decided that another indulgence wouldn't hurt.  Val, Chris, Lauren and I went to this adorable little farm where they have a restaurant that serves raclette (like I had last week) and fondue!  It was called La Ferme de la Charbonniere.  So we spent the afternoon dipping bread into melted cheese and pouring melted cheese over meat and potatoes.  Again I say, so good.  

If anyone ever comes to visit me here in France, this is the restaurant I will take you to.  It was the epitome of a real french restaurant; after we had our rounds of raclette and fondue, they even brought us a cheese board.  As if any of us needed or wanted any more cheese.  The meal was also very slow, with a lot of time in between courses and the waitress hardly ever checking up on you.  I've learned that that's just considered nice and polite here, but not something any of us are used to, and by the end, we really just wanted our check.  But wait!  Coffee is included.  Must stay 20 more minutes and have included coffee.  (I'm sorry, did I say coffee?  I meant one ounce of espresso in a tiny tea cup.)

It was really cool though, because some of the cheese was made in house by these cows, who we could see while we ate our meal because they were literally 20 feet away from us:

I know what you're all thinking by this point, but don't worry: I didn't eat dinner last night, and have already worked out this morning.  So much food, but when in France, right?

We wandered around the barn/farm that this restaurant was on after we ate.

Another fantastic weekend in the books!  From what I've been hearing, it's been pretty cold back in the US.  It's been pretty nice here though!  I mean, what you would expect in November.  Yesterday it was so nice though and there were so many people walking around the lake so we decided to as well!

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone back home!  And to my family that I am missing this year, I can almost guarantee that it will never happen again!  If there's one thing in particular that I've learned so far is just how much love and pride I have for my home country.  I guess sometimes it takes a little time away to realize just how much you love your home, and for that realization alone I am grateful. :)

Raclette

This past Saturday, November 15th, I had the pleasure of having dinner with an Au Pair friend, and her boyfriend and host family.  She has been in France since January, so this was her "Au Revoir Dinner" as she is leaving France this coming Friday.  We had Raclette for dinner, which I am so excited to tell you guys about!

Raclette is both a type of cheese, and the name of this traditional swiss meal.  I didn't take any pictures during the meal, which I'm now regretting, but Google Images and I are going to do our best to explain this amazing meal that I had kept hearing about but just now got to experience.  

The closest thing I can compare it to is fondue.  According to Wikipedia, in the olden' days people used to heat the cheese up over a fire, and then scrape the melted cheese onto the rest of their meal.  These days however, you have a fancy little machine, that looks something like this:

(This is from the internet, but is actually quite similar to the meal I had)

(Honestly though, heating up over a real fire sounds like a lot of fun.)

So, you start by putting a little slice of cheese onto your personal platter, called a coupelle and then you stick that into the little machine, as shown above.  It heats up, and when it is bubbly and all melted, you take it and pour/scrape the cheese onto your food.  It seems like most commonly you have potatoes, meat, bread, and vegetables.  You can also grill your vegetables on top, or add them to your cheese and melt it all together.  We had different forms of deli meat, ham and salami, but it seems like the options are really endless.  I'm not even a potato lover, and the cheese melted on top of these potatoes were wonderful.   

It was definitely a social meal, everyone going at their own pace, heating up cheese, eating a portion of their meal, heating up more cheese, and so on and so forth.  It's a winter meal, so it makes sense that I am now just having it for the first time.  After I told Sophie and Andrea that I was having raclette for dinner, they informed me that they have a raclette machine as well, so hopefully I will get to have it again soon! 

A meal based off of cheese, with wine freely flowing...someone tell me what could be better?

Back in the swing of things, plus Bruges

(If you're reading this, stop right here and read the post before it, about Ireland.  Then come back and read this post.)

So, now let me recap the last week.  

Saturday, we flew back to Brussels from Ireland, because that is where the car stayed.  So last Saturday, a week ago, I went to Bruges for the day!  It was about an hour train ride from Brussels and it was amazing.  (Also, train ticket was only 6 euro!  Usually 15, but thank you student visa!!  Why isn't there a youth (under 26 years) option in the US!?) 

It's the exact epitome of what you think of when you think of old Europe.  I mean, some of the buildings and architecture really have been around since the 15th century, maybe even before.  I was lucky enough to have a gorgeous 65 degree day, despite it being November 1st.  I walked all around the little city, passing a chocolate shop every other store.  Every single street was made of cobblestone (which is really neat at first, but then really wears on your feet, fyi).  

I first did a canal tour (no wait, first I got a waffle, sorry), so I could learn about the city and have all this incredible old history described to me.  Our guide was amazing, pointing out every important icon and telling us about it first in Dutch, then in French, and finally in English.    

I then made my way to the Market Square where there is this ancient Bell Tower, called the Belfort Tower.  You can pay to walk up to the top of it, but get this: only 70 people are allowed in the tower at once, due to weight restrictions.  And it is exactly 366 (yes, I counted) very narrow steps high.  I would not recommend this to anyone who is claustrophobic or out of shape, but the view was definitely worth it!

(I know this picture is blurry, but you can get the idea of the kind of steps I'm talking about.)

I rewarded myself with fries upon descending the tower.  (And for the record, these Belgian fries are the best things ever.)  Then I found a place to grab a beer, and the Bruges beer museum, where I got three 7 ounce beer samples with my admission!  I'm not normally a beer lover, but I think I really would be if I lived in Belgium.  Leffe Blonde is my new fave!

And finally I got some chocolates for some lucky people back home!  I walked into a lot of different chocolate shops, all selling different versions of basically the same thing.  BUT in some I got a free sample :) It was another great day trip!

This past Sunday we made our way back to France, about a 7 hour drive from Brussels.  Despite traveling in a cramped car with two 3 year olds, it actually wasn't too bad of a trip.  Also helpful was stopping at a rest stop with a DUNKIN' DONUTS!  I tried to explain to my host parents how great it was, but I don't think they were overly impressed.  But it meant everything to have a little taste of home, in the tiny country of Luxembourg no less.

We had a mostly normal week, and I started the intermediate level french lessons, which is so much better than the beginner classes.  I actually feel like I'm learning things now, instead of just reviewing things I've already learned.  And now I feel like I need to study at home, and that I'm finally getting my money's worth.  Uh, ABOUT TIME.  These lessons are too expensive to not be making progress. 

An interesting thing happened Thursday and Friday though.  Thursday morning I took the boys to school just like I always do (except we were running late and I hate running late), and the woman at the front who welcomes everyone looked at the boys and managed to communicate to me that their teacher was sick, so the boys could go home...um, have you people never heard of a "substitute teacher"?!  Confused and annoyed, I take the boys back to the car and call my host parents.  Andrea says to take them back into school, that they can go to another class for the day.  I don't know why that wasn't an option when I first dropped them off, but I take them back in (now we're really late) and leave them with about 6 other kids from their class, the teachers trying to figure out which classes they all can go to.  I guess it worked out fine, because I didn't get a call from the school and I picked them up at 3:30 like normal and they seemed to have had a great day.  I could have taken them home, but then I would have missed my french lesson.  And we already don't have lessons this coming Tuesday, so I really needed to go. 

Thursday evening, Sophie gets a call saying that their teacher will be out again on Friday.  So, if possible, it would be easiest if the kids could stay home.  This time, they had a full day to figure out a substitute situation, and they still couldn't?!  I'm confused.  What about all the parents and families that have to work and don't have an au pair?  What are they supposed to do?  So, regardless, I ended up staying home with the kids.  Although I usually love and look forward to my Fridays, because I don't have any responsibilities and can catch up on my shows all day, it actually turned out to be a decent day with the boys.  I took them to the National History Museum in Geneva, which isn't the coolest museum for adults, but the kids really loved it.  It was mostly just 4 floors of giant dioramas and fake animals, but some were pretty impressive. 

Any who, that brings us to today.  Finally caught up.  The family is out, I'm relaxing and working out until I babysit tonight.  And hopefully a day out with some friends tomorrow!  I miss everyone back home so much!  Just a few adventures left before I see the great US of A in 6 weeks!

October Holidays Part 2: Ireland

Guys, I was doing so good at keeping up with my promise and writing once every week-ish.  I'm sorry it's been a couple weeks since I've blogged!  

I've been wanting to write all week about things that were happening back in France, but then I remembered that I hadn't blogged about part 2 of our holiday, Ireland, and then I got overwhelmed and decided it would all just have to wait until the weekend. 

I'm laying low this weekend, and it feels good.  I love to get out and do things, don't get me wrong, but after 17 days of being gone and seeing so much, I decided it would be okay to rest, sleep in and relax, at least for today.  

SO! Ireland...was wonderful!  The parents of my host dad (who I stayed most of my time with in Brussels) own a house in the Southwest of Ireland.  The mom is Irish, and a good portion of her family all still live there, many of whom I met during the week.  The house was very cute, similar to a beach house that we might own on the east coast.  It was about a mile or two from the beach as well, the other side of the Atlantic ocean.  Only downfall was no wi-fi.  

You know how in all the pictures you see of Ireland it is so green?  Well, that's because it rains a lot.  According to the locals and family there, the best time of the year to go to Ireland is May or September.  We were there at the latter end of October, not ideal.  It unfortunately rained almost every day, and was extremely windy also.  Proven by this lovely snapshot of me:

The beach may have been beautiful, but damn was it cold.  I can imagine that it would probably be lovely in the summer, though!

Anyways, since there was so much rain, we had to strategically plan our outings around when it wasn't raining.  We didn't get to do as much outdoorsy stuff as we would have liked, either.  I would have really liked to horse back ride!  But we did hike/walk at a couple neat places when it wasn't too foggy or dangerous.  This was my favorite:

It was absolutely breathtaking!  It was called Glanteenassig Forest, and is definitely one of those places that gets overlooked, but would be a huge tourist spot if more people knew about it.  Great for us, since there were only a couple other people walking around and it was only a few miles from our house.  It took us just under an hour to walk around the entire lake.  

We also went to a small fishing town called Dingle, and did a drive (the Slea Head Drive) around what is called the Dingle Peninsula.  The views here were also unreal. 

Sophie and I (my host mom)

And I don't want to toot my own horn here, but I am the first Au Pair from their family that has accompanied them to Ireland.  I'm only assuming that's because I'm probably the best. :) (kidding, sort of...)

We also went to Killarney one day, another cute small city.  I had some free time to roam around downtown, so I went to a pub and had a Guinness among 5 other old Irish men at approximately 1 in the afternoon.  When in Rome, right?

And for my grandparents and family in South Carolina (hi! i miss you!), this town is a sister city with Myrtle Beach!  Cool, huh?

I was again blown away by the generosity of all of my host dads family while I was here.  We met various relatives and neighbors that were just SO nice, funny, and generous.  I have to also admit that it was refreshing to be around an abundance of english speakers for a week (even if they do have the craziest accents.)  Even going to the grocery store was fun.  Ireland also celebrates Halloween much more than the area of France that I live in does, so all the shops and store fronts were decorated and that was super fun for both me and the boys.  

I would love to go back to Ireland again and see the bigger cities, Dublin definitely.  And be able to go to the pubs at night and hear all the live music.  The people in general were so friendly and the country overall just gives off such a good vibe.  St. Patrick's Day 2015 maybe?!