Teenagers these days, what a controversial topic! I had my fair share of teen aged boys and their inappropriate gestures and comments when I taught in a school for 9 months. Having only just left high school when I did this, I was very understanding and laughed it off taking it all one day at a time.
Now American teen aged boy oh boys. . . My very first set in stone memory of these boys was driving them all to their high school carnival. These boys are all very happy hormonal 14 - 15 year olds. About 11 boys piled into my car and insisted on me driving with one's foot over my shoulder, anther's bum my rear view mirror and a few other interesting bromance positions going on. Don't be alarmed I'm not stupid enough to go with this so I decide to be nice and offer to do two trips. So this very rambunctious young lad decides to battle my actual host kid for the front seat. After many inappropriate comments and questions he somehow veered onto the topic of his boxers and what were on them, so to show me he randomly decided to whip off his shirt, much to my disgust of course. Now that the annoying typical teenaged "make sure my boxers stick out over my pants" was in full view he was even more instant on me looking at them. After my yelling at him and telling him that I had no interest he decided to take off his pants at a red traffic light. . . oh no, it gets worse. He decided to jump out of the car and do a little dance with his pants around his ankles. Please keep in mind that I am in a soccer mom mini van with 5 other boys in the back cheering him on and loving the colour of crimson my face has adopted.
After he jumps back in the car with a great sense of pride and accomplishment on his face, he decides to put his arm around me and tell me he loves me. He also had this WEIRD obsession with smelling me and my hair. At the next red light I decided it was time to have some fun. As I predicted, he jumped out the car and did his little dance, but much to his dismay the robot turned green while he was still doing his dance, so my host kid who I developed a lot more sisterly love for that night, closed the door, locked it and yelled "DRIVE, DRIVE, DRIVE" and so I did, but the sporting lad caught hold of the door handle and trotted next to the car with his pants still around his ankles until we crossed the intersection and I decided to let him back into the car. Now you are probably all thinking "what a terrible Au pair" but he learnt his lesson, do you think he did it again? . . . Yes he did!
The amount of things these boys do to make me scream are endless, the amount of Chinese Fire Drills these boys have put me through are beyond counting, but I will share one other story. After picking up my host kid and 2 of his friends, I over hear them saying "top first, yes, yes", my immediate reaction was "NO YOU WILL NOT CLIMB OVER THE ROOF OF THIS CAR" but they assured me that they would do no such thing. We reach our first red robot and suddenly all their shirts come off! It was way worse than I expected. Next red light off with their pants and thank goodness we got the next couple robots green, but then we got to another red robot and thank goodness they decided Chinese fire drill instead of taking off their boxers. My host kid, over the roof, the next kid around the front and the other all the way around. A few days later it turns out one of my friends actually witnessed said action.
As much as these boys drive me insane, up the wall and sometimes make me want to rip my hair out, out of pure stress and freaking out that someone calls the cops on us one night or worse, my host mom drives passed, they really do make my year worth it. Each time I chauffeur them around it is an adventure and I think I should add that each one of these boys has slowly but surely creeped into my heart and I have found a soft spot for each of them (in a very non pedophile kinda way).
Thursday, December 20, 2012
Thursday, March 8, 2012
SNOW SNOW SNOW . . . . . .
IS ANNOYING!!!!!!!! One of the first of the many questions people asked me when they found out I would be overseas over Christmas was "Oh so you're going to have a white Christmas?" "Have you ever seen snow before?". No I had never seen snow until now and guess what? I really couldn't give a rats ass if I never see it again! It is cold, wet and it's only white for a few hours, afterwards it turns grey and gross.
The first dusting of snow that I saw was a little exciting, but once you have worn all those layers, (which you have to pay for and winter clothes are not cheap) and tried to pull your hair out from under your scarf with gloves on, so thick that you can hardly make a fist and trying to balance and melted and refrozen snow and walk at the same time, the stuff gets friggen irritating. The worst part about the snow has to be driving in it. when you break the car just slides, so when you are a good distance away from a stop sign you just take your foot off the accelerator and wait until you slowly stop moving and only break if necessary. Well in heavy snow. It isn't that bad once you get used to it, but it still really isn't a lot of fun.
I was sharing my views on the snow with my host kid one day and he actually made a very good point. I didn't really get to experience the fun and joy that snow brings, like sledding or building snow men or skiing, but to be very honest it's just cold and wet, I don't think I would really be into it anyway. You never know until you try, so I guess I'll never know.
Coming from South Africa anything in single digits in degree Celsius is considered freezing, so when it reached -10 here on one day I honestly thought that I was going to die and perfectly preserved. Only to find that it normally gets as low as single digits in Fahrenheit. Please keep in mind that 32 F is 0 C. So as far as my selfish, cheap skate, warm blooded self goes, I am perfectly happy with the "mild" winter that I experienced. As for my environmentally friendly and concerned self, I am extremely worried and I'm hoping that this was just Mother Nature's way of saying "let's give the nature lover a break".
So overall this is a pretty negative blog, but I can't complain too much, I did take advantage of the fact that I got to see snow for the first and will probably be the last time. I got some good photos and that's all I need. The memories and painfully cold fingers from cleaning snow off my car, and having to heat it up 10 minutes before I went anywhere can stay a thing of my passed.
<------yes that is some pretty deep snow
Don't do this in non-water proof pants, I had a wet (frozen) ass for the rest of the day!
And I have to admit that snow on the beach is pretty cool!
The first dusting of snow that I saw was a little exciting, but once you have worn all those layers, (which you have to pay for and winter clothes are not cheap) and tried to pull your hair out from under your scarf with gloves on, so thick that you can hardly make a fist and trying to balance and melted and refrozen snow and walk at the same time, the stuff gets friggen irritating. The worst part about the snow has to be driving in it. when you break the car just slides, so when you are a good distance away from a stop sign you just take your foot off the accelerator and wait until you slowly stop moving and only break if necessary. Well in heavy snow. It isn't that bad once you get used to it, but it still really isn't a lot of fun.
I was sharing my views on the snow with my host kid one day and he actually made a very good point. I didn't really get to experience the fun and joy that snow brings, like sledding or building snow men or skiing, but to be very honest it's just cold and wet, I don't think I would really be into it anyway. You never know until you try, so I guess I'll never know.
Coming from South Africa anything in single digits in degree Celsius is considered freezing, so when it reached -10 here on one day I honestly thought that I was going to die and perfectly preserved. Only to find that it normally gets as low as single digits in Fahrenheit. Please keep in mind that 32 F is 0 C. So as far as my selfish, cheap skate, warm blooded self goes, I am perfectly happy with the "mild" winter that I experienced. As for my environmentally friendly and concerned self, I am extremely worried and I'm hoping that this was just Mother Nature's way of saying "let's give the nature lover a break".
So overall this is a pretty negative blog, but I can't complain too much, I did take advantage of the fact that I got to see snow for the first and will probably be the last time. I got some good photos and that's all I need. The memories and painfully cold fingers from cleaning snow off my car, and having to heat it up 10 minutes before I went anywhere can stay a thing of my passed.
<------yes that is some pretty deep snowDon't do this in non-water proof pants, I had a wet (frozen) ass for the rest of the day!
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
The Big Apple Part 3 - Sites
I know it has been three months since my last post and I am still ranting about New York City but time has simply flown and I have been to busy to blog, so now I shall try to remember what else I wanted to say about this amazing city.
One of the first things that comes to my mind when I think about New York is obviously The Twin Towers. I would have loved to have had the opportunity to see them standing, but I at least got to see the memorial! What an emotional experience. That coming from me is a really big deal. I always found Americans very over dramatic and still feel like they can over exaggerate almost anything (not that I am saying 9/11 wasn't dramatic it was and still remains a huge deal), but for someone like me, who has never really had much interest in The States, to find the experience emotional makes me wonder how incredibly emotional this site is to the Americans, especially the thousands that were directly effected. When you see the two fountains that have been built, your breath literally catches in your chest as you hear the water rushing down and you imagine something that massive stretching up so high. The you look at the buildings around them and you turn your head up towards the sky and try to imagine those buildings doubled plus a few more stories and you just give up and accept that no imagination is wild enough (not even mine) to picture what those buildings were like.
One of the first things that comes to my mind when I think about New York is obviously The Twin Towers. I would have loved to have had the opportunity to see them standing, but I at least got to see the memorial! What an emotional experience. That coming from me is a really big deal. I always found Americans very over dramatic and still feel like they can over exaggerate almost anything (not that I am saying 9/11 wasn't dramatic it was and still remains a huge deal), but for someone like me, who has never really had much interest in The States, to find the experience emotional makes me wonder how incredibly emotional this site is to the Americans, especially the thousands that were directly effected. When you see the two fountains that have been built, your breath literally catches in your chest as you hear the water rushing down and you imagine something that massive stretching up so high. The you look at the buildings around them and you turn your head up towards the sky and try to imagine those buildings doubled plus a few more stories and you just give up and accept that no imagination is wild enough (not even mine) to picture what those buildings were like.
Some of the other fun and obvious things we did were Times Square which is really 24 hours of constant light, buzzing crowds and really gives you that excited feeling you get from a city that never sleeps and a of cousre a few randoms trying to convince you to see random shows or asking for donations like this cowboy. . . .
Then of course, how can you go to New York City and not see a Broadway Show. . . So we saw Chicago which was an amazing show and I would see it again and again. There were so many choices I wish I had enough money and time to see them all!
I think one of the best parts of the trip for me was just walking around! I saw so much and got to appreciate all the smaller, fun things that a lot of people don't get to see because they rush off to the bigger things, like Times Square, Brooklyn Bridge, Statue of Liberty and all that jazz. As amazing as all those sites are, I really enjoyed the exploring, getting lost on some dodgy street in China Town where scary people were trying to force us to buy fake Gucci handbags and such. The best part about walking around, is all the random stuff you end up doing. Like the Ripley's Believe it or not museum, Madame Tussuad's, pretty coffee shops, going into totally unexpected places, like St. Paul's Cathedral and the Library, enjoying a stroll through Central Park and trying to identify different places you recognise from Sex and the City and other movies or series like Friends. The giant Christmas Tree behind the golden statue at Rockefeller Plaza, Planet Hollywood and loads of other exciting things.
It's impossible to get bored in New York City and it is such an amazing experience. When you are dead tired and aching from walking, running and feel gross from subways and city street smells, you just keep on going because you know, any second that you sit down and waste, is a second that you will regret.
Sunday, January 1, 2012
The Big Apple part 2 - accommodation
When you plan a visit to a place like New York City, it's all about location. Location, Location, Location, and what a better location that a block away from Times Square? The first thing that pops into your head at that moment must be something along the lines of "wow she must have a lot of money", my instant response would be an uproar of laughter and much to your disappointment tell you that I just got lucky. For pretty average accommodation pricing I managed to find a double en suit bedroom. So to give you an idea or picture in your mind, let me just remind you that you get what you pay for a block away from Times Square.
Upon arrival, the manager was incredibly helpful and gave us a few tips as to how to get around and what to see and when to see it. He had someone carry our bags up to the fourth floor, up about 4 or 5 flights of very rickety stairs and let us into our room. The room was uhm as I said, you get what you pay for. The old carpets made it look a little shabby and gave the room a slight dirty feel. The room was spacious enough, but the bathroom was something else. I could swing a cat without extending my arms and it would easily make full contact with all four walls. But it was a shower and a place to freshen up.
The next morning, we woke up quite hungry and we were rather keen to see what the included breakfast had in store for us. We slowly made our way down the uneven stairs to the spare empty hotel room with a few small tables in it to find, bread, bagels, croissants, muffins, corn bread and some other random pastry looking things. For the healthy portion of our breakfast, there was a bowl of bananas, some orange juice, and then of coarse, tea, coffee and hot chocolate. After all that starch in the morning I thought we would be okay until lunch time.
I think one of the most important parts of being open to staying in a "cheap" hotel is that you have to keep your sense of humour very close by. After deciding to save our shower till the next morning, we were really desperate to get the city off us before we tackled another day of it, only to find that there was no hot water. Oh joy! Not only were we gross and in serious need of a shower we also needed to wash our hair. So after much debate to the manager about the fact that the water he called "hot" hardly came close to luke warm, he gladly offered us another room so that we could have a "hot" shower. This time I would call it bordering on luke warm, closer to the colder side than hot I might add.
Overall I was fine with the accommodation, good location, safe enough, hot water if you showered in the evening we later found out, a comfy, clean bed, free wifi for any last minute details we needed to figure out and most importantly, I didn't see a single roach. I was happy enough and I would stay there all over again. . . maybe ;)
Upon arrival, the manager was incredibly helpful and gave us a few tips as to how to get around and what to see and when to see it. He had someone carry our bags up to the fourth floor, up about 4 or 5 flights of very rickety stairs and let us into our room. The room was uhm as I said, you get what you pay for. The old carpets made it look a little shabby and gave the room a slight dirty feel. The room was spacious enough, but the bathroom was something else. I could swing a cat without extending my arms and it would easily make full contact with all four walls. But it was a shower and a place to freshen up.
The next morning, we woke up quite hungry and we were rather keen to see what the included breakfast had in store for us. We slowly made our way down the uneven stairs to the spare empty hotel room with a few small tables in it to find, bread, bagels, croissants, muffins, corn bread and some other random pastry looking things. For the healthy portion of our breakfast, there was a bowl of bananas, some orange juice, and then of coarse, tea, coffee and hot chocolate. After all that starch in the morning I thought we would be okay until lunch time.
I think one of the most important parts of being open to staying in a "cheap" hotel is that you have to keep your sense of humour very close by. After deciding to save our shower till the next morning, we were really desperate to get the city off us before we tackled another day of it, only to find that there was no hot water. Oh joy! Not only were we gross and in serious need of a shower we also needed to wash our hair. So after much debate to the manager about the fact that the water he called "hot" hardly came close to luke warm, he gladly offered us another room so that we could have a "hot" shower. This time I would call it bordering on luke warm, closer to the colder side than hot I might add.
Overall I was fine with the accommodation, good location, safe enough, hot water if you showered in the evening we later found out, a comfy, clean bed, free wifi for any last minute details we needed to figure out and most importantly, I didn't see a single roach. I was happy enough and I would stay there all over again. . . maybe ;)
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
The Big Apple part 1 - Commuting
The next few blogs you read are all related to my experience in the one and only greatest City in the world, the place where dreams come true, New York City. I have decided to break the trip up into different areas of my experience, as I have so much to say and one long blog might be a tad laborious. So here I go. . .
In the last 5 days I have used almost every possible means of transport available to man. My journey to New York City has truly given me enough experience on commuting to last me my lifetime. I have to say that one of the most convenient parts of NYC is definitely the sub way. It took quite a lot of getting used to and a lot of questioning the people around me before I was actually comfortable using the dark and stinky place. I have to say that although it isn't a very pleasantly fragrant way of commuting or comfortable when you are layered in your 5 biggest coats and jackets from the cold air above the ground compared to the stuffy and crowded train, but it gets you from point A to B quickly and away from the traffic and madness of the city streets. Perfect for small town "plaas meisie" me.
I love travelling, I am starting to realise. By travelling I mean getting there and starting the fun, I hate air ports, I hate being stuck on a plane for hours and not being able to sleep and trying to get comfortable and I don't enjoy trying to navigate my way around places that I have never been before. Although I have to brag a little and confess that I think I am pretty freaking awesome at it. I think I managed to get to wherever I needed to be perfectly even when I was holding the map upside down from time to time.
On the way to New York I had my mind racing about how we were going to find the right bus, how were we going to know where to get off? what if we ended up in a dodge area? What happens if you get on the wrong train? I have to say that this experience has taught me that it really isn't the end of the world. Just ask someone and you're bound to find your way to where you need to be.
Taxi's are just maddeningly expensive. I cannot understand why the sweet eff you have to tip the dudes if you're bloody paying them to drive you around! I think it's bull, but that's just me. Needless to say I didn't use a cab once while I was there, only to get from my house to and from the airport, but only because I had no one to fetch me and my travel buddy.
I think the main hiccup of thr trip has to have been when our bus driver told us to get off at the Delta airlines terminal, only to realise that he dropped us off at the wrong one, not the one that flies to Chicago, so after about fourty minutes of waiting for a shuttle to take us to the correct terminal we could finally relax! Luckily for overly prepared me, we left for the airport about hours before our flght.
The stress I went through trying to figure this all out was overwhelming beyond words, even though I had loads of help from sisters and Internet research, taking something you have printed on a piece of paper and putting into practise with bags and coats and full hands can be rather challenging. After it all, I can definitely say that I am officially an experienced traveller commuter person and I am overly proud of myself, and yes I shall toot my own horn and let my head swell at the amount of independence I gained over 5 days. Now if I can just figure out where I put my subway map. . .
In the last 5 days I have used almost every possible means of transport available to man. My journey to New York City has truly given me enough experience on commuting to last me my lifetime. I have to say that one of the most convenient parts of NYC is definitely the sub way. It took quite a lot of getting used to and a lot of questioning the people around me before I was actually comfortable using the dark and stinky place. I have to say that although it isn't a very pleasantly fragrant way of commuting or comfortable when you are layered in your 5 biggest coats and jackets from the cold air above the ground compared to the stuffy and crowded train, but it gets you from point A to B quickly and away from the traffic and madness of the city streets. Perfect for small town "plaas meisie" me.
I love travelling, I am starting to realise. By travelling I mean getting there and starting the fun, I hate air ports, I hate being stuck on a plane for hours and not being able to sleep and trying to get comfortable and I don't enjoy trying to navigate my way around places that I have never been before. Although I have to brag a little and confess that I think I am pretty freaking awesome at it. I think I managed to get to wherever I needed to be perfectly even when I was holding the map upside down from time to time.
On the way to New York I had my mind racing about how we were going to find the right bus, how were we going to know where to get off? what if we ended up in a dodge area? What happens if you get on the wrong train? I have to say that this experience has taught me that it really isn't the end of the world. Just ask someone and you're bound to find your way to where you need to be.
Taxi's are just maddeningly expensive. I cannot understand why the sweet eff you have to tip the dudes if you're bloody paying them to drive you around! I think it's bull, but that's just me. Needless to say I didn't use a cab once while I was there, only to get from my house to and from the airport, but only because I had no one to fetch me and my travel buddy.
I think the main hiccup of thr trip has to have been when our bus driver told us to get off at the Delta airlines terminal, only to realise that he dropped us off at the wrong one, not the one that flies to Chicago, so after about fourty minutes of waiting for a shuttle to take us to the correct terminal we could finally relax! Luckily for overly prepared me, we left for the airport about hours before our flght.
The stress I went through trying to figure this all out was overwhelming beyond words, even though I had loads of help from sisters and Internet research, taking something you have printed on a piece of paper and putting into practise with bags and coats and full hands can be rather challenging. After it all, I can definitely say that I am officially an experienced traveller commuter person and I am overly proud of myself, and yes I shall toot my own horn and let my head swell at the amount of independence I gained over 5 days. Now if I can just figure out where I put my subway map. . .
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Excitement like never before
Da da da dada Da da da dada Da da da dada DA Start spreading the Neeeeews, I'm leaving in two sleeps. . . yeah you got it. I'm gonna be a part of it for 5 days and I plan to soak up every last bit New York.
I have been counting down the days since I booked my trip two months ago and I am rather shocked by the details that I didn't really think about. I am the kind of person that plans things down to the last grain of salt I might have to take with me (not that that is necessary for this trip).
After the count down suddenly changed from 2 months to a couple of days I figured maybe it was time to start organising exactly what both my travel companion and I are going to do. Plans like seeing Ground Zero, Central Park all the other wonderful sights that people dream of seeing had to be pushed aside for a moment while we figured out how the hell we are going to get to Times Square (which is one of the closest locations to our hotel). LaGuardia Airport is not connected to the sub way to start with. After using twitter, google and many other sources I was left confused and overwhelmed by the different buses, subway lines and names of streets that mean nothing to me.
I am happy to say that I think I know vaguely how the hell I am going to get this right. I cannot wait for this experience and the adventures that come with it. Look out New York, Concrete Jungle, make my dreams come true.
I have been counting down the days since I booked my trip two months ago and I am rather shocked by the details that I didn't really think about. I am the kind of person that plans things down to the last grain of salt I might have to take with me (not that that is necessary for this trip).
After the count down suddenly changed from 2 months to a couple of days I figured maybe it was time to start organising exactly what both my travel companion and I are going to do. Plans like seeing Ground Zero, Central Park all the other wonderful sights that people dream of seeing had to be pushed aside for a moment while we figured out how the hell we are going to get to Times Square (which is one of the closest locations to our hotel). LaGuardia Airport is not connected to the sub way to start with. After using twitter, google and many other sources I was left confused and overwhelmed by the different buses, subway lines and names of streets that mean nothing to me.
I am happy to say that I think I know vaguely how the hell I am going to get this right. I cannot wait for this experience and the adventures that come with it. Look out New York, Concrete Jungle, make my dreams come true.
Monday, December 19, 2011
Healthy, wealthy and wise?
You know that you're in an area that isn't home anymore when you realise that you want to take a photo of nearly everything you see, even though you see it nearly everyday. More so, you know that you are in a place that you don't fit in very well when you get that sudden embarrassed urge to take a photo of your neighbours' car, the car that drives passed you every day when you walk your dog, the Ferrari that some dude just casually parks outside Starbucks for most of the day and even more scary, when you imagine yourself driving around and asking for a photo opp whenever you see your host mom's car.
I think the part about this that fascinates me the most, is that the Ferrari dudes car attracted no attention at all. Back home there would be hordes of people grabbing their camera phones and just taking photos of the mags and gasping at it's interior and trying not to leave greasy hand and breath marks all over the car. People simply walked passed it and if they did happen to look in the car's direction they would hardly take a glance at it, as if it were just another Toyota Carola!
Generally I think this place shocks me just because of it's wealthy towns folk, not so much the culture shock. It's only when you look through the car's darkened window and see the person sitting behind the steering wheel, when you realise that that person is exactly the same as you, except that person has a lot more money and that's where the culture shock comes from. M_O_N_E_Y. You wouldn't believe how much of an effect it has on a person.
But how does all this money really make a neighbourhood and its people so very different from every other neighbourhood in the world. I mean this aside from the materialistic things like the cars and houses. How can money make a society so different that it can send someone else into "Culture Shock". I think I have the answer.
People who can afford all sorts of wonderful luxuries like self service cashier points at shops, people that load the car for you, (I mean do all your shopping go fetch the car and they load it up for you and nothing gets stolen!) drive through Starbucks, Drive through ATMs, everything that's makes things "faster" and "more efficient". These are all things that result in a less productive more lazy society. You may think they're efficient simply because you may be halving your time or avoiding lines and lines of people, but really all your doing is giving yourself less reason to just get your butt out of the car and doing something for yourself.
These few things, as small and "not that big of a deal" as they seem actually make this whole set up that much more difficult to adjust to. The culture shock comes from people that think their own asses don't stink and therefore they seem to think that someone whose ass does, has to automatically do everything for them!
I think that's why they love South African Au pairs, they know we come from a back ground where we have to WORK to get what we want so we aren't afraid to work hard and try new things!
I think the part about this that fascinates me the most, is that the Ferrari dudes car attracted no attention at all. Back home there would be hordes of people grabbing their camera phones and just taking photos of the mags and gasping at it's interior and trying not to leave greasy hand and breath marks all over the car. People simply walked passed it and if they did happen to look in the car's direction they would hardly take a glance at it, as if it were just another Toyota Carola!
Generally I think this place shocks me just because of it's wealthy towns folk, not so much the culture shock. It's only when you look through the car's darkened window and see the person sitting behind the steering wheel, when you realise that that person is exactly the same as you, except that person has a lot more money and that's where the culture shock comes from. M_O_N_E_Y. You wouldn't believe how much of an effect it has on a person.
But how does all this money really make a neighbourhood and its people so very different from every other neighbourhood in the world. I mean this aside from the materialistic things like the cars and houses. How can money make a society so different that it can send someone else into "Culture Shock". I think I have the answer.
People who can afford all sorts of wonderful luxuries like self service cashier points at shops, people that load the car for you, (I mean do all your shopping go fetch the car and they load it up for you and nothing gets stolen!) drive through Starbucks, Drive through ATMs, everything that's makes things "faster" and "more efficient". These are all things that result in a less productive more lazy society. You may think they're efficient simply because you may be halving your time or avoiding lines and lines of people, but really all your doing is giving yourself less reason to just get your butt out of the car and doing something for yourself.
These few things, as small and "not that big of a deal" as they seem actually make this whole set up that much more difficult to adjust to. The culture shock comes from people that think their own asses don't stink and therefore they seem to think that someone whose ass does, has to automatically do everything for them!
I think that's why they love South African Au pairs, they know we come from a back ground where we have to WORK to get what we want so we aren't afraid to work hard and try new things!
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Gospel in Amuuuurica!
7 weeks of being in America and I decided it was time for a bit of the "Oh Happy Day" praise and worship. Okay not really. As part of the Au pair programme we have these monthly cluster meetings and this one happened to be at the Chicago House of Blues. Scattered around America, these various locations offer quality food and entertainment and every Sunday they host a Gospel brunch with so much food your eyes get bigger and bigger than your stomach with every food station you come across. "Create your own omelet station, fresh waffles, entrees and breakfast favourites, bread station, seafood station, carving station and desert station"!
After starving the whole day to ensure we could get our money's worth of the buffet, we walked in a few circles around streets of Chicago until we finally found The House of Blues. We had to wait around until our show started so we decided to have a look at some of the memorabilia. Of course everything was over priced so I don't have much to show for the day other than a few photos and a few very vivid memories and the large choir master jiggling his giant belly and screaming out the praise to the Lord Almighty "HA-LLE-LU-JAH PRAISE JEEEEEESUS" "PRAISE THE LORD" "AAAAMEN"! I must say, generally not my taste but a fun filled day never the less! During the show I did however find it slightly ironic that the choir master main dude in the suspenders and tie and cross around his neck, kept advertising "thayr dee vee dee and cee dee, with our meeeuuusic and sooongs of praaaaise and worship". Very holy and modest aren't we? One of the highlights had to be when the lead was explaining to us that in his church the women all have to hold onto the tops of their heads when they throw their heads back in worship to stop their wigs falling off. Much to the amuzement of the crowd, one of the choir members in all her appreciation lost her wig to the stage.
All in all I don't think my experience would have been complete in the USA if I didn't experience the energy and volume of an American Gospel Choir and being called up to jiggle and move to the beats of the legendary Sister Act, Big Momma, song Oh Happy Day!
HALLEUJAH!
After starving the whole day to ensure we could get our money's worth of the buffet, we walked in a few circles around streets of Chicago until we finally found The House of Blues. We had to wait around until our show started so we decided to have a look at some of the memorabilia. Of course everything was over priced so I don't have much to show for the day other than a few photos and a few very vivid memories and the large choir master jiggling his giant belly and screaming out the praise to the Lord Almighty "HA-LLE-LU-JAH PRAISE JEEEEEESUS" "PRAISE THE LORD" "AAAAMEN"! I must say, generally not my taste but a fun filled day never the less! During the show I did however find it slightly ironic that the choir master main dude in the suspenders and tie and cross around his neck, kept advertising "thayr dee vee dee and cee dee, with our meeeuuusic and sooongs of praaaaise and worship". Very holy and modest aren't we? One of the highlights had to be when the lead was explaining to us that in his church the women all have to hold onto the tops of their heads when they throw their heads back in worship to stop their wigs falling off. Much to the amuzement of the crowd, one of the choir members in all her appreciation lost her wig to the stage.
All in all I don't think my experience would have been complete in the USA if I didn't experience the energy and volume of an American Gospel Choir and being called up to jiggle and move to the beats of the legendary Sister Act, Big Momma, song Oh Happy Day!
HALLEUJAH!
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Monday, October 31, 2011
Pumpkins, dress up and randomness
First time in America, first Halloween experience! Sucks that I'm too old to trick or treat, but you could still smell my feet and we can all have something good to eat! Yes, au pairs get bored!
It turns out I arrived in America in pretty good timing. Missed all the snow storms in Connecticut, just in time for the Festivities and celebrating the "Hallows" which comes with a lot of fun and excitement! So for about a whole month I have been carving pumpkins and talking about dressing up and wearing strange costumes and all the rest! I NEVER want to carve a pumpkin again! Three pumpkins in one experience is good thanks, really don't have to do it again! On the up side, got to roast loads of pumpkin seeds! I carved some pretty cool things and decorated some cool 'crime scenes' and then there was the fun of dressing up like random nothings because I was too cheap skate to spend $50 on a stupid costume that I would never look at again!
So after much debate we thought that maybe it would be a little sad if a bunch of girls way over the trick-or-treating age limit dressed up and pretended we were worthy of candy! Much to our delight the realisation of how over rated knocking on people's door and begging for free calories and tooth ache(on a limited medical aid) made us feel a lot better. So just for the show of it we dressed up took photos and did the good old fashioned thing. . . watched horror movies and told lame ghost stories until we fell asleep!
One of those nights that you could really do a scrap book page on.
It turns out I arrived in America in pretty good timing. Missed all the snow storms in Connecticut, just in time for the Festivities and celebrating the "Hallows" which comes with a lot of fun and excitement! So for about a whole month I have been carving pumpkins and talking about dressing up and wearing strange costumes and all the rest! I NEVER want to carve a pumpkin again! Three pumpkins in one experience is good thanks, really don't have to do it again! On the up side, got to roast loads of pumpkin seeds! I carved some pretty cool things and decorated some cool 'crime scenes' and then there was the fun of dressing up like random nothings because I was too cheap skate to spend $50 on a stupid costume that I would never look at again!
So after much debate we thought that maybe it would be a little sad if a bunch of girls way over the trick-or-treating age limit dressed up and pretended we were worthy of candy! Much to our delight the realisation of how over rated knocking on people's door and begging for free calories and tooth ache(on a limited medical aid) made us feel a lot better. So just for the show of it we dressed up took photos and did the good old fashioned thing. . . watched horror movies and told lame ghost stories until we fell asleep!
One of those nights that you could really do a scrap book page on.
The Roller Coaster
5 Weeks in the United States of America! I have only been here just over a month and I cannot believe number of emotions I have been through! At orientation the Loud American lady said that it would be a roller coaster of emotions and they may vary from person to person, but I do not remember her saying anything about the emotions varying from hour to hour!
Every roller coaster has its many ups and downs, twirls, spins, lurches and moments of anticipation! My roller coaster thus far has gone a little like this. . . You know that first moment when you're on the roller coaster? It starts going up really slowly, sometimes it clicks almost counting down the seconds until the first plunge. For now though, you're heart is pounding, your mind is racing, your adrenalin is telling you that you are so excited you just want the thing to start. Then you start to doubt your decision, was this really such a good idea? I have no idea what to expect, how long will it take? Will I make it through this? You feel like it's now or never do I scream and beg to get off or should I just hold on tight and try my best to enjoy the ride? Your climb evens out and you stand still at the top for a moment. You either look down and scream to get off, or you think hey, things are going to be downhill from here. Downhill being ambiguous of coarse. (Either easy and free fall, or crashing and holding onto your last thread before the uphill starts again).
My point is no one ever warns you about the shit parts and the difficult parts that make this all so hard and that you'll experience emotions you've never heard of! Everyone just says, "It's such an experience, you'll come back a changed person with so many stories and you'll have seen so much" uhhhhh. . . It's like you go through phases, like you would in a relationship or just PMS. Honeymoon phase: I love this place, I'm going to learn so much etc. Culture shock: Kids back home, they would never do this, back home this would never happen, who are these people, another species? Then you get Home Sick: Missing home, missing your family, hating yourself for being so stupid to do this of all the things you could have done just a car ride away from home and then you reach denial where you tell yourself things are going to be fine or its just a phase or the other way around. You talk everyone around you, people you aren't even sure if you can trust. Then I guess at some stage you reach Adaptation: where you will realise you were so silly for ever doubting yourself and how stupid you were to have ever been so hard on yourself. Oh wait there's another twist in the roller coaster, and here we go again. . . phase 1!
Bottom line is nothing anyone says makes this any easier and no one actually warns you that it will get rough and that you will spend nights wailing to yourself and get addicted to TV shows and strange things like blogging to help the time fly until the next time you have reason to smile. Oh wait they do warn about this. . . when you're 12827km away from home! Luckily things do get better, it's just about waiting for the next straight or uphill on the Giant like PMS Roller Coaster, except there's nothing menstrual about it!
Every roller coaster has its many ups and downs, twirls, spins, lurches and moments of anticipation! My roller coaster thus far has gone a little like this. . . You know that first moment when you're on the roller coaster? It starts going up really slowly, sometimes it clicks almost counting down the seconds until the first plunge. For now though, you're heart is pounding, your mind is racing, your adrenalin is telling you that you are so excited you just want the thing to start. Then you start to doubt your decision, was this really such a good idea? I have no idea what to expect, how long will it take? Will I make it through this? You feel like it's now or never do I scream and beg to get off or should I just hold on tight and try my best to enjoy the ride? Your climb evens out and you stand still at the top for a moment. You either look down and scream to get off, or you think hey, things are going to be downhill from here. Downhill being ambiguous of coarse. (Either easy and free fall, or crashing and holding onto your last thread before the uphill starts again).
My point is no one ever warns you about the shit parts and the difficult parts that make this all so hard and that you'll experience emotions you've never heard of! Everyone just says, "It's such an experience, you'll come back a changed person with so many stories and you'll have seen so much" uhhhhh. . . It's like you go through phases, like you would in a relationship or just PMS. Honeymoon phase: I love this place, I'm going to learn so much etc. Culture shock: Kids back home, they would never do this, back home this would never happen, who are these people, another species? Then you get Home Sick: Missing home, missing your family, hating yourself for being so stupid to do this of all the things you could have done just a car ride away from home and then you reach denial where you tell yourself things are going to be fine or its just a phase or the other way around. You talk everyone around you, people you aren't even sure if you can trust. Then I guess at some stage you reach Adaptation: where you will realise you were so silly for ever doubting yourself and how stupid you were to have ever been so hard on yourself. Oh wait there's another twist in the roller coaster, and here we go again. . . phase 1!
Bottom line is nothing anyone says makes this any easier and no one actually warns you that it will get rough and that you will spend nights wailing to yourself and get addicted to TV shows and strange things like blogging to help the time fly until the next time you have reason to smile. Oh wait they do warn about this. . . when you're 12827km away from home! Luckily things do get better, it's just about waiting for the next straight or uphill on the Giant like PMS Roller Coaster, except there's nothing menstrual about it!
Monday, October 17, 2011
Jess robyn some brain cells together and writing them down
What I am about to write may appear to be another boring blog written by someone that really has nothing better to do other than complain or write about their boring lives. Actually, I think I just summarised the definition of a blog. This Blog is about my experience as an Au Pair in what technically is on the same planet, but really is an entire world of it's own, America.
So I arrived in America 3 weeks ago to this day exactly and I was overwhelmed with emotions, ranging from excitement to anxiety, frustration and the expected Home Sickness. This is the first time I have ever left home, never mind to the other end of the world. Some called it brave, others stupid and others had no idea what they were talking about! So I took off, after an hour delay on SAA and arrived in America, New York, JFK Airport at 07:30 am on a Monday to start a year with a vague idea of what to expect and how things would go. The glamourised idea of living with the perfect American family with an entire bedroom and bathroom to myself, shopping galore, opportunities to travel and the most important part, working with kids that would fall in love with you and never want you to leave. Luckily for me I had 4 days of Au pair orientation to burst that bubble for me before my expectations got too high!
The first day of orientation was awesome as me and two other South African girls had the opportunity to explore the area and streets of Down Town Connecticut, Stamford. Burlington Coat Factory, Target, Starbucks, all things great and wonderful. So we took advantage while we had the chance to absorb it all before we were locked in a conference room to be briefed as to what on earth the year ahead would possibly be like. Please read the fine print, "nothing anyone says is guaranteed"!
Have you ever had the feeling where you wake up and think you're somewhere else? Only to realise that you are a couple of thousand miles away from where you think you would be happiest at that moment and feel like your whole inside gets sucked out of you and you're left with nothing but tears to comfort yourself. First night in America and this was my experience. I thought I had just woken up to the familiar snoring of one of my family members, seen the light coming in from the crack under the door into my room and thought I could get up and find myself in my comfortable bed back home in my little town in South Africa, only to realise it was either my Brazilian or my Slovakian Room mate. The worst feeling in the world. When I woke up the next morning we made our way down to the lobby for our first day of lectures. For the next three days, a very loud American lady would tell us all about America, Americans, American food, American law, American children, American parenting, anything and everything American! I will never forget how she described Americans and their weird and wonderful ways. She did a really good job! A really good job leading me to question my decision to come to America and wonder about what I had really gotten myself into. I thought that I was pretty well prepared mentally, oh but I now believe that I am far more naive than I ever thought I was.
The three days of all things America did have some good in it, other than preparation, reassurance and support. I got to see the Big Apple! New York City! The City that never sleeps, yes that one! I got to see it. We went to the Top of the Rock (30 Rockefeller Plaza) and it was just beautiful. Lights as far as the eye can see, other than one giant black spot which I finally realised was Central Park. I also got to do a quick run through Time Square, trying to grab a quick memento that I didn't feel was ripping me off too badly! You wouldn't believe that it was 21h30! Like being in complete day light! Then we went to Battery Park and got a slight glimpse of Lady Liberty in her might appearing to be the size of Barbie's baby from that distance. Then of coarse one of America's biggest disasters in all the awe and wonder, we got to see the new developments and plans for Ground Zero! Breath taking! One of the guides told us to imagine one of the buildings doubled with a little extra on top of it. Unless you had seen it before 9/11, you can't even begin to imagine the enormity of it! And then there was just the fun of getting to drive through the city and see only a tiny portion of what New York has to offer, I will definitely be going back.
Finally day four arrives and the 80 odd Au pairs involved are pretty exhausted, almost Americanised and quite frankly, we just want to get to our final destinations, our host families, where everyone is expecting welcomes that will blow you away, nerves that your family might not recognise you, fear that you might jump into some stranger's car and excitement to meet their new families for the next year and the idea of settling in and adjusting! So all of us are shoved into a few shuttles and we make our way towards different air ports, train stations, and some of the lucky buggers who were getting picked up at the hotel! My flight was booked for 6:59 pm but we were all at the air port by 3:00 pm. Isn't it just enjoyable to sit around dirty airports with no cell phone, lap top or anything else to keep you occupied. Lucky for me, my new German friend was one the same air line as me and her flight kept getting delayed because the sky just randomly decided it would prefer the ground as a new home! So after deciding that eating would be the best way to pass the time by, we get up to check the flight boards for any changed flight information. Then I see it, all flights to Chicago, American Airlines, CANCELED! The blood leaves my face, my heart falls into my stomach and my stomach falls into my butt. What the stuff am I going to do? No phone, none of the other Au pairs had their flights cancelled, and now I have to stand in a huge line and see if I can get onto another flight. Don't worry though I handled it all very well, I burst into tears! So some American guy and his business partner try to cheer me up and say something along the lines of "hey everything in life is an adventure" or some bull. In the mood I was in and the luck I was having, I was not in to mood for any more American positivity or philosophy. I turned to them and said "I am stuck with no phone, no communication and no way of knowing what to do next"! If I had known all I had to do was talk and someone would fall at my feet over my accent I would have made it bloody obvious that I was distraught! So my puffy eyes, red face and South African accent saved my ass. I had 3 phones thrown at me. Luckily at orientation they tell you that this kind of thing has to happen to someone so I phoned my host mom and she was already a few steps ahead of me and booked me on a flight at noon the next day. Next phone the Au pair emergency line and they'll send a cab to get you back to the hotel (All the way in Connecticut from Laguardia air port). Another night in a hotel pretty much on my own, with free Internet and computers to let my family know what has happened and that the youngest in the family had decided to choose her very first over seas experience to have all the fun!
The next day I was met in Chicago by my host mother and son in person, for the first time, having only spoken to the host mom twice over Skype. In all honesty I wish it had been my own mom and one of my sisters, but it was too late to turn back now! I went into it head first, celebrating a brand new year ahead and what better time to celebrate than the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah.
So I arrived in America 3 weeks ago to this day exactly and I was overwhelmed with emotions, ranging from excitement to anxiety, frustration and the expected Home Sickness. This is the first time I have ever left home, never mind to the other end of the world. Some called it brave, others stupid and others had no idea what they were talking about! So I took off, after an hour delay on SAA and arrived in America, New York, JFK Airport at 07:30 am on a Monday to start a year with a vague idea of what to expect and how things would go. The glamourised idea of living with the perfect American family with an entire bedroom and bathroom to myself, shopping galore, opportunities to travel and the most important part, working with kids that would fall in love with you and never want you to leave. Luckily for me I had 4 days of Au pair orientation to burst that bubble for me before my expectations got too high!
The first day of orientation was awesome as me and two other South African girls had the opportunity to explore the area and streets of Down Town Connecticut, Stamford. Burlington Coat Factory, Target, Starbucks, all things great and wonderful. So we took advantage while we had the chance to absorb it all before we were locked in a conference room to be briefed as to what on earth the year ahead would possibly be like. Please read the fine print, "nothing anyone says is guaranteed"!
Have you ever had the feeling where you wake up and think you're somewhere else? Only to realise that you are a couple of thousand miles away from where you think you would be happiest at that moment and feel like your whole inside gets sucked out of you and you're left with nothing but tears to comfort yourself. First night in America and this was my experience. I thought I had just woken up to the familiar snoring of one of my family members, seen the light coming in from the crack under the door into my room and thought I could get up and find myself in my comfortable bed back home in my little town in South Africa, only to realise it was either my Brazilian or my Slovakian Room mate. The worst feeling in the world. When I woke up the next morning we made our way down to the lobby for our first day of lectures. For the next three days, a very loud American lady would tell us all about America, Americans, American food, American law, American children, American parenting, anything and everything American! I will never forget how she described Americans and their weird and wonderful ways. She did a really good job! A really good job leading me to question my decision to come to America and wonder about what I had really gotten myself into. I thought that I was pretty well prepared mentally, oh but I now believe that I am far more naive than I ever thought I was.
The three days of all things America did have some good in it, other than preparation, reassurance and support. I got to see the Big Apple! New York City! The City that never sleeps, yes that one! I got to see it. We went to the Top of the Rock (30 Rockefeller Plaza) and it was just beautiful. Lights as far as the eye can see, other than one giant black spot which I finally realised was Central Park. I also got to do a quick run through Time Square, trying to grab a quick memento that I didn't feel was ripping me off too badly! You wouldn't believe that it was 21h30! Like being in complete day light! Then we went to Battery Park and got a slight glimpse of Lady Liberty in her might appearing to be the size of Barbie's baby from that distance. Then of coarse one of America's biggest disasters in all the awe and wonder, we got to see the new developments and plans for Ground Zero! Breath taking! One of the guides told us to imagine one of the buildings doubled with a little extra on top of it. Unless you had seen it before 9/11, you can't even begin to imagine the enormity of it! And then there was just the fun of getting to drive through the city and see only a tiny portion of what New York has to offer, I will definitely be going back.
Finally day four arrives and the 80 odd Au pairs involved are pretty exhausted, almost Americanised and quite frankly, we just want to get to our final destinations, our host families, where everyone is expecting welcomes that will blow you away, nerves that your family might not recognise you, fear that you might jump into some stranger's car and excitement to meet their new families for the next year and the idea of settling in and adjusting! So all of us are shoved into a few shuttles and we make our way towards different air ports, train stations, and some of the lucky buggers who were getting picked up at the hotel! My flight was booked for 6:59 pm but we were all at the air port by 3:00 pm. Isn't it just enjoyable to sit around dirty airports with no cell phone, lap top or anything else to keep you occupied. Lucky for me, my new German friend was one the same air line as me and her flight kept getting delayed because the sky just randomly decided it would prefer the ground as a new home! So after deciding that eating would be the best way to pass the time by, we get up to check the flight boards for any changed flight information. Then I see it, all flights to Chicago, American Airlines, CANCELED! The blood leaves my face, my heart falls into my stomach and my stomach falls into my butt. What the stuff am I going to do? No phone, none of the other Au pairs had their flights cancelled, and now I have to stand in a huge line and see if I can get onto another flight. Don't worry though I handled it all very well, I burst into tears! So some American guy and his business partner try to cheer me up and say something along the lines of "hey everything in life is an adventure" or some bull. In the mood I was in and the luck I was having, I was not in to mood for any more American positivity or philosophy. I turned to them and said "I am stuck with no phone, no communication and no way of knowing what to do next"! If I had known all I had to do was talk and someone would fall at my feet over my accent I would have made it bloody obvious that I was distraught! So my puffy eyes, red face and South African accent saved my ass. I had 3 phones thrown at me. Luckily at orientation they tell you that this kind of thing has to happen to someone so I phoned my host mom and she was already a few steps ahead of me and booked me on a flight at noon the next day. Next phone the Au pair emergency line and they'll send a cab to get you back to the hotel (All the way in Connecticut from Laguardia air port). Another night in a hotel pretty much on my own, with free Internet and computers to let my family know what has happened and that the youngest in the family had decided to choose her very first over seas experience to have all the fun!
The next day I was met in Chicago by my host mother and son in person, for the first time, having only spoken to the host mom twice over Skype. In all honesty I wish it had been my own mom and one of my sisters, but it was too late to turn back now! I went into it head first, celebrating a brand new year ahead and what better time to celebrate than the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah.
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