ein neues Fahrad!

Meet my new friend in Germany!












He goes with me almost everywhere.












He is from the 1980s...just like me.









He needs a little TLC, which I am more than happy to bestow. But soon we'll be cruising all over Baden-Württemberg together, well, not ALL over, but as far as I can manage to go. :-) And he needs a good name. A good, german, '80s name, preferably. Any ideas?

What I've learned so far...

1. There is no limit to the number of things that can spill, break, or get lost on your first day of taking care of two children under the age of five.

2. In Germany, the way you make an elephant noise is to pinch your nose and then say "tier-err" in a nasally, trumpet voice. If you, the "mama" elephant can stick your other arm through the crook of the nose-holding arm to make a trunk at the same time, you really impress the "baby" and "sister" elephants.

3. What makes a biergarten in the "suburbs" different from one in the city? It has a playground in it so that the parents can have a beer together while the children go play.

4. Eating a lot of ice cream is a part of the German culture that I gladly welcome. :-)











It isn't capogiro but it sure was fun to see the Italian lady's face light up when I pronounced "stracciatella" correctly.

And just a few more pics of my family:

Destination: Germany

Well friends, in 4 days I will embark on another journey. Getting onto a plane and taking off on this adventure, I will soon be on the other side of the ocean from most of you. The purpose: learn German, be immersed in the culture, but most of all, serve and love this family who I will be living with and working for. That is the great thing about the idea behind being an au pair - it is a partnership, joining with the family, not being removed from daily life, but being involved in what matters to them. I will be taking care of two girls, ages 4 and 2 1/12 years old, for around 30 hours a week, taking German classes at the local community school, and exploring both near and far in my free time.

My commitment in Germany is for a year. I do hope that I will be able to use this time wisely, in order to see places that I really want to see, and meet up with friends/family who are in or near that region. During this year, I want to keep you up to date on both the day-to-day life, and the occasional adventures that I have. While I am in Germany, I am hoping to learn some good cooking and baking skills, to broaden my experience in those areas. So, you might also find some recipes up here (though they may be in metric...sorry, depends on if I am able to translate them or not...it really is better anyway).

For now, I have many things to do in order to prepare for this move. Bags must be packed, furniture must be moved, and the room must be cleaned. I suppose the adventure has already begun. Thank you for reading and following my story! Wilkommen und viel spaß!