Month 5

Month 4!

First things first, MY HAIR IS GROWING BACK!

I've always had a full head of thick curly hair, but somehow in the last 12 months between; the changing to a lower salary, changing my working schedule, changing job title, getting more responsibilities, leaving said job, moving house, moving country, things not working out as planned in new country, my hair started to fall out and dramatically thin. I lost the life in my curls and was feeling generally fed up with it. 

However now that the sun is shining and I am in a really good situation I am finding several 4 or 5 cm strands of hair popping up all around my head bringing the volume back into the mane I am used to! Which has prompted me into restoring the rest of my body into a healthy state. Sitting in an office for 12 hours a day, with every other day being an excuse for someone to bring in a massive pile of chocolate cake, sweeties and other delicious goodies, for two years meant that I really started to pile on the pounds. Now the temptation is gone there is really no reason I should still be holding on to this weight, especially when Bad Homburg has two fantastic swimming centres, the one I go to consists of 8 swimming pools, and thats not including the baby pools and whirlpool. I have started going swimming and loving it, especially as when I get bored I just move to one of the other pools and start again. 

I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss home, or when a group of people from Yorkshire sat around me on the U-bahn, I didn't nearly burst with excitement and want to join in with their conversation. However my feelings towards the UK and Germany are inexplicable. I miss the crazy stressful office environment of the call centre, I miss the noisy gym below my flat, I miss seeing the same people everyday that I have seen everyday for my whole life, now if you asked me why I was leaving I would have given you the same list only it would have looked like this. I hate the crazy stressful office environment of the call centre, I hate the noisy gym below my flat, I hate seeing the same people everyday that I have seen everyday for my whole life. I left England with a head full of ideas and a heart full of dreams. I have absolutely no desire to live back in the UK at this moment in time, but I have absolutely no idea what I am going to do in Germany. I originally wanted to go to university and study to be a kindergarten teacher, however I don't think my german language is ever going to be good enough to do that, and especially not after just 1 year.  I always felt very German, like an outsider in England. Now that I am here I realise just how much I didn't know about the country.  I am discovering new things about it everyday and all though I love it here, I am not sure there is a place in German society for someone as scatty minded as me.  But I have until mid April next year to make up my mind, maybe I'll move to Australia after all, at least there I might still stick out like a sore thumb when I speak, I will at least be a grammatically correct sore thumb. Or didn't I hear they have just discovered another earth like planet?  Maybe I will start up there, you never know the aliens might have something for me to do. 

Month 3!

Hello! I was considering doing another video blog, but after two attempts of recording the video with me either completely out of focus, or with my head chopped off I decided the old fashioned route would be easier!
Lots have changed since my last post, for starters I now live here:

A beautiful little city on the outskirts of Frankfurt. I really like it here because it has everything I need within walking distance, it has an amazing pool, night life, shops, u-bahn, s-bahn, bus and train stops.  The cherry on top is of course that my new family are also beyond amazing, I am so lucky to have found them.

After me only being here for two days we went on a mini holiday down south to Hammelburg, while we were there we visited a castle which was built in 1010, it was incredible how big it was. From there you could also see for miles and miles.

I moved out of Bruchsal on the 5th of April and didn't move into my new place (properly) until 21st of April. This meant I was able to spend some time with my aunt, uncle and cousin as I stayed with them in the interim. My aunt and I tried about 10 times to make these stupid string easter decorations, every time we either made the holes too big so the eggs fell out, or used the wrong type of glue so they did not hold their form.  Here are the ones that looked good enough to photo, but nowhere near strong enough to touch! 

and here is what happened the the majority of the others:

Other Easter snaps:

This month also has given me the time to work on my book. Its incredibly frustrating, but also very enjoyable to write freely. I just hope one day I will be able to finish it, I only started it 7 years ago.

So despite the whole - loosing my job - thing, this has actually been a pretty amazing month, which 30 days ago I would have never thought possible. Every cloud really does have it's silver lining, you just need to know where to look!

I hope you all had a lovely easter too, bis Juni, Tschüss! 

Month 2

The most attractive thumbnail ever :) 

1 month.

Dyson and Malmesbury seem like a lifetime ago, even though in reality I have only been here for a month. 
I had forgotten how frightening it was driving in a new place. I would never say I am one of those people who enjoys driving, I drive, but only really as a necessity to get from A - B. However back in the UK the thought of driving somewhere new never really scared me, apart from the unknown dent the petrol cost would leave in my wallet. Now I am in Germany part of me really wants to drive around and get to know the area however the thought of exploring makes my hands sweaty and my heart race, mainly because of all the bloody trams! Its always that moment on an intersection when I don't know whether I am about to turn onto the tram line or the road as it is very easy to do either. Then there are the tram traffic lights, they have a red and an amber but no green! So I was sitting on a roundabout already completely lost, not even really realising I am on roundabout, wondering if I can go or not because there was no light! You are also expected know the speed limits by heart, and be able to tell what speed you are supposed to be going just by your surroundings because speed signs are for losers.

Now that I have all that ranting out of the way, this really is a great country, the air is clean and fresh, there is still a very distinct culture full of traditions, which I think is fizzing away very quickly in England because people are either too cool, or too busy to take time to goof around and dress up in silly clothes with their children. Fathers here spend lots of quality time with their children, I have seen at least double the amount of Fathers wondering around with their strollers as I would see anywhere in the UK. People here respect the playgrounds, they are well looked after and are not vandalised. Shop keepers will give small children gifts like a slice of cheese, or a bretzle, even the bank has a rocking horse for children to play on and a stash of gummy bear bags to give out to the little ones. It's only a small gesture but I feel like it helps children feel valued rather than they are just an annoyance to society. 

All the focus spent on letting children be children, making them an important and happy member of the community most likely is why Germany has so many very successful adults. If you are made to feel unimportant, if it is not appreciated that tasks like going shopping can be very boring or stressful for you as a small child because half the time you cant even see what is going on, or understand why you have to wait silently for 10 - 20 minuets whilst your parent does what needs to be done, it can be very frustrating and those frustrations can mould the way you act as an adult. This being said I know this is only a theory, and this is not saying that everyone in Britain has an unhappy childhood, I grew up in the UK and I have very fond memories of being a child and all it entailed. My only point is I wonder if I would have turned out differently if I grew up in a culture which values childhood as highly as it is valued in Germany.


I  leave you with a Fastnacht witch, to scare that nasty winter away!

Au-Pair take two.

Moving home is always a stressful event. When I moved to New York as an Au-Pair the first time round, I remember feeling like there was so much to do, so much to pack and a never-ending to do list. When in reality once I had matched with a family all I had to do was go through my small box room and decide which items would make it into my two large suitcases, only leaving behind minimal amounts of belongings. Imagine my surprise when I thought it would be the same process this time after living on my own nicely sized apartment. I naively thought I would fit everything, I wasn't bringing to Germany, into 4 storage boxes; I have given my poor Mother at least double this to put in her attic for me. 

Selling my car, and giving away my furniture were such stresses I still have nightmares about them now. All of this upheaval was leading me towards moving in with people whom I have never even met, in tiny village which I had not even heard of never mind visited, located in a different country where I do not speak the language. 

Sitting on the Plane and looking out the window watching England disappear under a thick blanket of clouds, I kept thinking to myself "What the hell am I doing?". I had a very comfortable job, working for a good company, a nice home and good friends. Why would any sane person give that up? I couldn't shake this thought until I arrived at the Waldorf's home. 

When looking for my Au-pair placement I was exclusively looking for families in and around Frankfurt, if I saw they lived more than 30 minuets drive from my Aunt I straight away wrote them off. However when I got a message from Cynthia Waldorf, something felt different and I agreed to a telephone interview. About 15 minutes into our conversation my Mother texted me to see how it was going, I text back with "I think I am in love with this woman". The 'interview' lasted another hour and a half, by the end of it I was sold. I didn't care that they were further away than I wanted to be from my Aunt, I needed to work for this family.

I have been with the Waldorf's for almost a week, and I can't believe how quickly they made me feel like this is my home, I cannot imagine my life without them and for I think the first time ever I know with all of my heart I have made the right decision.