So here is an interesting part of being an au pair: knowing what role you are supposed to play in social situations. For example, the other day a friend of Victoria's came over with her son Louie and her au pair Sharron. The kids were going to have a play date together. Sharron and I played with the kids for a while and Victoria and Vanessa (her friend) talked, then we all sat down to lunch together. Us adults (I only consider myself an adult when compared to children) were having a nice conversation while the kids were eating, but then the kids got up because they were bored with eating and wanted to play. Here was the dilemma: do Sharron and I continue our adult conversation, or were we supposed to get up too and play with the kids? Sharron and I are both new to our families, so we really weren't sure, despite the fact that we both work for really cool, laid back mom's who probably wouldn't have given it a second thought no matter what we chose. Sharron and I talked about it later when we went out for drinks ('we' meaning just me and her; even in France they don't take kids out for nightcaps) and agreed that it is a uniquely odd situation.
I'm in a similar situation this very moment, and I'm stalling by writing about it. Victoria's parents are downstairs playing with the kids. Ben is home too, but Victoria is not. Am I supposed to go down and be sociable? Am I supposed to let them have their family time? I don't even want to go talk to them, but I'm hungry and I want a snack and they are all in the kitchen. Is it rude if I just go get food and come upstairs again? None of these would be questions if I was just an employee or just a house guest, but I'm both. Again, Ben is as laid back as his wife, so they probably really don't care what I do, especially since I have weekends off. But I'm feeling odd about it...will hunger or my anti-socialness (is that a word?) prevail? Decision time...
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Friday, May 30, 2008
The Never Ending Cold
So, I've decided to write in my blog every chance I get, even when I have nothing interesting to say. Here goes.
I have a cold that won't quit--it started as stuffy sinuses from the plane ride, but has progressed into a runny nose and a very sore throat from all of the coughing. Victoria is into homeopathic remedies, so I've taken a lot of mysterious looking herbs in little white pill form. It hasn't helped much, but it seems impolite to mention that to her. The boys (by this I will always mean Henry and Alesio, the kids I take care of) both had colds yesterday too (I hope not from me). Victoria gives them homeopathic remedies too, but often in suppository form...I assume that right now you're making the wide-eyed, slightly freaked out face that I made when she said this. She assures me that it's much better for them, and easy to do...I remain freaked out at the idea that I will eventually have to administer one.
Victoria and I went into Geneva yesterday--about a 40 minute drive from the house--and signed me up for French lessons to begin at the end of June. Geneva has a nice feel to it. There is an old town in the center with all of the buildings standing from the 16th century--mostly occupied by museums and bars--and outside of that everything is very modern and metropolitan. It still has a small-town feel to it, though, and a lot of character. I really like it. The Jet D'eau (water jet in the middle of Lake Geneva) is bigger in reality than it looks in pictures.
Last night I also went into Geneva with Sharon, the au pair for one of Victoria's best friends, who I met when they all came over for a play-date between their kids. Saying that makes me feel incredibly domestic and boring. Sharron has been here for a year, but has not bothered to learn french, so we went to an Irish pub where the staff speaks english. She's very nice, and outgoing, and she already has friends, to I think she's a good person to know as I try to build a social life here. I drove my car into town for the outing (I'm thinking of naming him Thunder), and it went well; it's actually easier to drive than Jenny the Jetta was...
Last random thing: Victoria told me that in 2 weeks we are going to a house in the South of France, on the coast, near St. Tropez...life is rough.
I have a cold that won't quit--it started as stuffy sinuses from the plane ride, but has progressed into a runny nose and a very sore throat from all of the coughing. Victoria is into homeopathic remedies, so I've taken a lot of mysterious looking herbs in little white pill form. It hasn't helped much, but it seems impolite to mention that to her. The boys (by this I will always mean Henry and Alesio, the kids I take care of) both had colds yesterday too (I hope not from me). Victoria gives them homeopathic remedies too, but often in suppository form...I assume that right now you're making the wide-eyed, slightly freaked out face that I made when she said this. She assures me that it's much better for them, and easy to do...I remain freaked out at the idea that I will eventually have to administer one.
Victoria and I went into Geneva yesterday--about a 40 minute drive from the house--and signed me up for French lessons to begin at the end of June. Geneva has a nice feel to it. There is an old town in the center with all of the buildings standing from the 16th century--mostly occupied by museums and bars--and outside of that everything is very modern and metropolitan. It still has a small-town feel to it, though, and a lot of character. I really like it. The Jet D'eau (water jet in the middle of Lake Geneva) is bigger in reality than it looks in pictures.
Last night I also went into Geneva with Sharon, the au pair for one of Victoria's best friends, who I met when they all came over for a play-date between their kids. Saying that makes me feel incredibly domestic and boring. Sharron has been here for a year, but has not bothered to learn french, so we went to an Irish pub where the staff speaks english. She's very nice, and outgoing, and she already has friends, to I think she's a good person to know as I try to build a social life here. I drove my car into town for the outing (I'm thinking of naming him Thunder), and it went well; it's actually easier to drive than Jenny the Jetta was...
Last random thing: Victoria told me that in 2 weeks we are going to a house in the South of France, on the coast, near St. Tropez...life is rough.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Living Quarters
My sitting area in my bedroom--the view of the lake from those windows is amazing.
A panoramic shot of my bedroom (my cool new camera can do that)
The Kitchen and Dining Room
The Living RoomI only have a few minutes to write because the boys are out for a walk with the housekeeper, but I wanted to finally post some pictures of my new life. Things have been great so far. We have not yet started the regular working schedule--Victoria is taking it easy on me this week so that I can adjust to the time change. The boys have been great. Henry (age 2.5) loves to talk, and his favorite question is "why?", which he asked about everything as he watched me unpack yesterday. Alessio (age 14 months) is beautiful--he has this gorgeous curly blonde hair and big blue eyes. He is very quiet, always sitting and watching what's going on. I haven't taken any pictures of them yet (I thought that might be a bit creepy this early on), but I'll post them when I do. Victoria and Ben are both great. I want to be them when I grow up. They are both really attractive (is that wierd to say?), and laid back, so we talk about various things all the time. Basically, things are going as well as can be expected so far. I haven't driven my car yet--it's actually a pretty nice volkswagon, a lot nicer than lightning (don't tell him I said that), so I'm kind of nervous to do anything to mess it up. I think Victoria is going to make me drive it to sign up for french lessons tomorrow, so I'll let you know how it goes :)
PS: if I type things wrong, it's because the internet isn't hooked up in my room yet, so I'm using the family computer, and the keyboard is slightly different. For example, the Y and the Z are reversed--I never noticed how many commonly used words have Y in them until now...
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Going, Going...
Alright, so it's begun. I'm sitting in the Memphis airport (for the 5th hour) waiting to catch my plane to Amsterdam, and then it's on to Geneva. Everyone keeps asking if I'm nervous or excited or sad or all of them. I guess I am. I was freaked out a week ago; in the last few days I've moved back toward really excited; now I'm both and neither. Really, I've gone into efficiency mode and I'm just focused on getting there. Add to that the fact that I've contracted some weird allergy or disease in the last 24 hours, so my head and stomach aren't feeling great--makes it difficult to have deep, life-altering thoughts about this next step in my life. Right now, I'm focused on getting there, and then on getting over what is sure to be an initially awkward couple of weeks before I get comfortable. Once all of that stuff is over, I'll be able to focus on building some kind of real life there and having super cool experiences. I'll let y'all know what's going on until then, and after. Bye for now.
PS: the pictures are, in order, my happy face, sad face, excited face and sick face...just to give you a visual...and yes, people were looking at me while I took weird pictures of myself
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