Change is hard: Things I'm adjusting to and what's going on in my life right now

While I do have a weekend-recap post to write at some point this week [I think], I've been really caught up lately thinking about just how much things have changed for me in the last six months. Because really, if I want to remember everything, I have to write about things other than weekend trips to London, right? Really, if you don't want to, you don't have to read all this.

The most obvious, based on this blog, is the fact that I'm living in a foreign country. Moving to a country where you only know about 3 people that you've met face-to-face [that aren't even the people you're going to live with] is tough, no joke. The only people I "knew" coming here were a few co-workers of my dad's. I was flying across an ocean to live with people I had never met...It was terrifying! Luckily, everything is going EXTREMELY well, I'm loving it here, the family is incredibly nice [hi guys! :)], I've met a load of other au pairs who are awesome, an old friend from home recently moved to London as well, and I've met some random people along the way also. Having the chance to learn about another culture and travel at this age is amazing, I'm so excited to be here. But with all good things come some bad...

The biggest change for me, though, is that my parents are in the process of getting a divorce after over 20 years of marriage. Learning about that was, quite frankly, the biggest shock of my life. They flew me home about a week after I found out about this job, and told me, since they wanted me to know before I made my final decision about coming here. That was one of the worst weekends of my life. I had just broken up with the boy I'd been dating for almost a year because of the fact that I wanted to come to England, and now my parents were telling me that they were getting divorced. Oh, and my mom wanted me to come home for part of the summer...to the house they were both still living in...At that point, ANYTHING sounded better than that. Especially running away to a country about 5,000 miles away from all that. Sounded good to me! I may be gone for now, but they both know I'm coming back...eventually. My current favorite phrase is "it is what it is" because there's nothing I can do but accept that it's happening. I'm not thrilled, but I'm less angry than I was when I first found out. I know I can't run from it forever, so going home and facing that again is going to be another major adjustment. I'll deal with that when I have to though.

Being done with school for good is a hard transition. When you've been in school at least 9 months out of the year for the last 16 or so years, every time you realize you're not going back again, it's a weird feeling. I never HAVE to read a book again. I never HAVE to shoot a photo assignment again. I never HAVE to write anything again. I never HAVE to be in the lab again. I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss it. School was fun, and I do miss it, but not enough to want to go back and do it all again, or any more.

Two weeks ago, I was the most homesick I've been the whole time I've been here [just over two months this week!]. I spent a good hour on Skype with my mom one night crying because I just was so upset. I didn't want to go home, but I was feeling very, very alone. Being around all new people is HARD. It's hard to tell someone your entire background story of your life in a few weeks, so I was feeling very much like I didn't have a lot of people around here that I could talk to candidly about a lot of things going on in my life..stuff with my parents and other random things from home. Don't get me wrong, the friends I'm making here are great, but you have to admit that nothing compares to the people that you know and that know you without having to dive in to a ton of background story for everything. Combine that with feeling like people from home were getting to the point of "out of sight, out of mind" with me, and I was really sad. I'm not mad at anyone, not at all. I know I've done it before, it's easy and I get that. I just was feeling very alone and missing a lot of people. Not to mention, I had been trying to nail down Christmas plans, and I wasn't feeling like I was getting a ton of response from my parents, which was hard for me to handle. It's all sorted now, but at the time, I was having a tough, tough week.

Time differences are so hard to get used to...especially 8 hours. Yeah, that's the time difference from here to California. All through college I called my mom almost every day at some point or another [and some days multiple times] just to talk and say hi. It was easy, because generally speaking, if I was up, so was she, because it was the same time where she was and where I was. But that doesn't work anymore, for a few obvious reasons. I'm 8 hours ahead of home, so the best time for me to talk to people from home is in the evening here, which is around noon there. Usually I talk to my dad a few days a week around lunch time, and my mom too. Right now my mom is traveling, visiting my brother and her brother, and my dad leaves on Monday for a big huge work trip, which unfortunately doesn't take him to England this year.

And those are just the "big" differences that are coming to mind right away. There are also a ton of little things that are different. Speaking the same language as everyone but still missing so much through accents and slight language differences. Right now I'd have to say the biggest one for me is the word "pants," which to me means anything that's not a skirt or shorts that I wear on my legs, but here means underwear. Yup, that's not embarrassing to say wrong. Not at all. Or the fact that I don't think I'll ever quite get used to the steering wheel being on the other side of the car, or that cars are driving on the other side of the road from what I'm used to. But, dealing with these things is nothing compared to the good times I'm having and the things I'm learning...like not to say pants. ;]

I have met a lot of really nice people here, especially the family I live with. I'm so, so glad I decided to do this, because I just know that if I hadn't, I would have spent the rest of my life thinking "what if?". Which would suck. I would have never had this opportunity again...to be able to experience so many new things at once is a once-in-a-lifetime thing.

Oh, and to all my family members reading, we'll be in Ohio for Christmas this year. My mom and I will be there December 14-January 5, but I'm not sure when my dad and Nathan will be there. California people...I'm sorry to say I won't be "home" [unless things change] until summer time.

I think that's enough rambling for now. Hopefully I didn't lose EVERYONE...but thanks for making it to the end, you didn't really have to read that all. =]

London Weekend + I Grew A Monkey

Hello there blogworld! Thanks for being here today!

On that note, I never know how to start a blog. Any tips would be greatly appreciated...here goes!

Last weekend I went to London on Sunday with Marika, the Finnish au pair who drives a Fit aka Jazz. We also went out on Saturday night to Beaconsfield, to meet up with a Canadian au pair named Stephanie that we met. [This is relevant, I swear...] Saturday night we got to the train station to take the train ONE station up, and found out that there were NO TRAINS running this weekend out here. They had planned closures for repairs to the lines, so they were running buses that left once every 20 minutes, which was kind of lame.

Anyway, in the early afternoon on Sunday we trekked back to the station to take a bus out to Hillingdon, where we would be able to get on the tube to take to London.
It had been raining a LOT last week....this is what the road near my house looked like Sunday morning on the way to the station...flooded all the way across both sidewalks and the whole street:

And just for some reference, here's an extended map of the tube station, and I put a big X where GX is, just so everyone can see!

The tube system has SO many lines that go so many different ways and have different ending points/offshoots. It's going to take me a while to get this one down the way I have Muni down...I *think* that if you click on this it will get bigger...or it might just go to the site I got the map from in the first place, where you can make it bigger anyway!


Instead of a 30-45 minute ride on one train, we had a 15-20 minute ride on a bus, then a 30-45 minute train ride. Oh well. While we were on the bus, another passenger caught our attention. While we walked into the train station I told Marika that I thought she was an au pair, because I'd over heard her at the station and on the bus that she was an Australian and she wasn't sure if she was going to move to GX or not, and she wasn't familiar with the area yet. We ended up talking to her at the Hillingdon station and it turns out she was going to be an au pair in GX pretty soon. We exchanged contact information and are now Facebook friends, and I'm excited to have someone else near by who is an au pair!

So, Marika and I had plans to meet up with her friend Caroline, also an au pair, who is from Germany. Caroline wasn't/isn't happy with her house family, so she's actually leaving this weekend to work in France instead. Marika and I both wanted to go to the Tower of London since I haven't been since my People to People trip nine years ago and she's never been. It turns out Caroline had been already, so she didn't want to go, but we decided to go to Harrod's, a huge, fancier-than-Nordstrom's department store, which is a biiiiiiig deal, just to look around. We got there after a number of train changes and waiting, and also ended up eating at McDonald's. It's cheap and fast and the same in every country, what can I say! =]


Marika outside Harrod's


Me and Caroline outside Harrod's. [Hi mom, see, I am here! ;)]


Some of the sweets in Harrod's...SO MUCH CANDY EVERYWHERE!


Santa candy already!


Cupcakes!


Marika resting on a display in the store.


Olympics souvenirs...even though they're almost 2 years away...


I might have to go back and see if they make this shirt in my size...this was the kid's department. =]


What I thought was the best part about Harrod's was at one point while we were on the escalator, all of the sudden I thought the music changed a lot. It turned out there was a LIVE opera singer in one of the balconies singing. It was AMAZING. I'm crossing my fingers that this video uploads before I'm done writing this, because she was really good! [UPDATE: Okay this uploaded but I can't tell if it's working or not...someone let me know! Thanks to everyone who let me know it's working!]

My first video upload success!!!!! [I hope!]


We also went up to Notting Hill to see where the movie was filmed/set, even though I've never seen it. It was nice to see it without all the carnival madness going on! There was supposed to be a tube strike that night, so Marika and I needed to head back to GX before about 5, and we got home just fine, luckily. 


Clouds here were beautiful!


And the houses are so colorful!


Cute wellies I saw on Portobello Road!


Hi again Mom!

This week I had somewhat of an adventure with Bindi on Monday. I went to the wooded area down the street to take her for a walk. It's an enclosed area, and usually we let her off the lead when she's in there and she's pretty good about not going too far away from you...almost like she's afraid you're going to leave her there [which is a good reason to be afraid, I think!]. I was taking her lead off right outside the gate, and usually she walks right through the gate just fine, but this time she didn't, and ran off down the street. I felt like I was chasing Sparky, it was awful. Luckily she didn't go TOO far away, but it was still a nice little run I took!

This weekend both of my parents are in Texas to see Nate for his birthday...the big 2-0 for him this Sunday! My brother is living on his own for the first time this year, and he seems to be...well...he's surviving, but struggling. He hasn't had lights in his bathroom or half his kitchen since he moved in in early August because he had to flip surges and didn't know. That's my brother for you! I do miss him a lot and am excited that my parents are there for his birthday and the beginning of his baseball season. I'm looking forward to reporting highlights for everyone as Nate continues to kick butt on the diamond this season [last season he was the division record holder for doubles!]!!!

While Nate turns 20 on Sunday, I'll be going to London with Selena, who's also Ellie's tennis coach, to see a local band play a show. It turns out Selena and I have pretty similar music taste, so hopefully we find more shows to go to!

I also have dates for going to the States for Christmas. I'll be in Ohio/the east coast from December 11-January 4, and hopefully my mom and I are going to take some kind of little road trip while I'm out there. No California trips though, sorry guys!


Oh, and the "Amanda Grew A Monkey" bit...Ellie likes to hang on me like a monkey some days...see?










Then she falls and can't get up because she's laughing so hard.


And finally, one more picture for mom...Proof I'm here again! [I post ONE picture on Facebook mobile and suddenly she thinks I'm not here!] This one's by Ms. Ellie!