Okay, so since nobody is online to talk to yet, because it is only 9 am there, and the kids are outside playing still, I will go ahead and write about today. Today was the first day of real au pair work and actually had to take care of the children alone. Started out this morning waking up a little late, but it was no big deal. I helped Ralf get Jonathan ready to go to his first day back at Kindergarten and then take him there. Then I got myself ready for the day and tidied the children's rooms and toys. Then I did my laundry (I made the machine work on the first try!) and then I did the dishes (also, made the machine work on the first try!!). Woohoo! Going pretty well so far.
Then I went grocery shopping for lunch and was back earlier than when Ann-Katrin came home from school. I made a lovely fruit salad to go with lunch. Then I waited for Ann-Katrin to come home. When she got here, I made pasta with fresh parmesan and she liked it. I've haven't seen either Jonathan or Ann-Katrin eat any cheese up until now so I was really hoping that would go over okay. And it did! She cleaned her plate! Hooray! Then, she did her homework while I put the dishes away and hung my laundry to dry on the backporch. I also vaccuumed the kid's rooms and everything else that Anette asked me to do.
Then it was time for Ann-Katrin's first day of guitar lessons. I was a little bit worried about that because neither us of had ever met the teacher, but she spoke English. So it was just fine and I took a walk through a beautiful park that is connected with the University of Hohenheim (I believe) that is right here. (Btw, the park was gorgous and there is this huge hill with a kind of sculpture, relic, stone column thing. It's not old, it's actually rather new, but it's still pretty and I have pictures of it to come.) Then we came home from lessons and she went right outside to play with the other kids on the block. Jonathan got home soon after that and did the same thing. And they have been outside ever since!
I was really suprised....everything went off without a hitch! What a perfect first day
....and I was worried.....bah! (:
Monday, September 8, 2008
Weindorf Festival
Example of one of the restaurants...
And the whole row of them...
And Ann-Katrin and me!
The Weekend...
So, the morning was rather successful on saturday. I actually played a board game with Oma and the kids and pretty much understood all that was going on! The game was almost just like Sorry!, so understanding the game wasn't too hard, all I had to do was watch and listen carefully. It was nice to be able to do something with them and not just sit and watch.
Then it was time for our shopping trip to Stuttgart to get Ann-Katrin's new guitar. Because it was the saturday market, we had to park far away from the main shopping area in a Parkhaus (parking gargage) and go under the street to get to that side. What's really interesting is that on one side of the street is the beginning of a department store called Breuninger and you go under the street in a candy store-hallway and then into another part of the store. Apparently, there are four seperate buildings that are all connected with hallways and all the same store. Weird, eh?
So, back to the candy hallway....yes, it's a candy hallway. Not a store, but a hallway. Technically it's a candy store, but it's the hallway that leads from one of the buildings to another. It's very bright and they carry a ton of very out-there candies. Both Ann-Katrin and Jonathan got a bag of candy, but I will have to go back and explore that more when I have time to look at everything and take pictures! Breuninger has many different labels and expensive designers, like a usual department store, but they also have designer dirndls (the traditional dress from Southern Germany and Austria). They have ones made to look like peacock feathers and on and on. So cool....and expensive! If you go to their website (http://www.breuninger.com/) and click on the heart-shaped cookies on the right-hand side, you can kinda get the idea.
It was also the Weindorf festival in Stuttgart. They set up little restaurant after restaurant, in booths all decorated in wine harvest decor, all over the old walking-squares and they serve all different kinds of wine from around the Stuttgart area. Oh, and lots of food too. We ate lunch there and had Zwiebelkuchen (literally like a onion quiche). Then we went to the music shop and got the guitar and a pretty bright blue case for it. Then to the bookstore to get my German book. I tried to look at it ahead of time so that I could have an idea of what we are doing when class starts and, yeah, there's no English in the whole darn book. Hopefully the teachers speak English to begin with, otherwise, I'm pretty sure I'm in the wrong level! (: I have no clue where to even start!
Anette knows that I am in Interior Design school and have an interest for all sorts of those things, so she is always showing me things in their home and in books that are from famous Scandanavian designers. (Like her whole set of Arne Jacobsen #7 chairs in the dining room and so on.) She took me to an Interior Design shop in a big, fancy mall in Stuttgart called ikarus. They had some really neat, very modern design items from lighting to furniture to accessories. You can look, if you like, at their website www.ikarus.de (it's in German, but you can navigate by the pictures on the tabs, that's what I did!) In the "Suche" box, type bookworm. It's the coolest bookshelf that actually has clips to hold the books so that they go around in circles with the bookshelf. Okay, enough design talk. Other than eating dinner and being around at home here, that was pretty much it for saturday.
As for sunday, sunday's are boring! Haha. It's just that everything is closed on sunday. I guess that a few tourist things are open, but most things are not. It's actually controlled by the government here as a day of rest for everyone, so no one is allowed to work. Anette said that you aren't even allowed to remodel or work on your yard because it might make a bunch of noise and disturb your neighbors on their day of rest. So, we stayed home all day. But, I got unpacked the rest of the way and then Anette and I took a walk so that she could show me more of the area. So, I guess it was ok. Then waffles for dinner and a call home!
Then it was time for our shopping trip to Stuttgart to get Ann-Katrin's new guitar. Because it was the saturday market, we had to park far away from the main shopping area in a Parkhaus (parking gargage) and go under the street to get to that side. What's really interesting is that on one side of the street is the beginning of a department store called Breuninger and you go under the street in a candy store-hallway and then into another part of the store. Apparently, there are four seperate buildings that are all connected with hallways and all the same store. Weird, eh?
So, back to the candy hallway....yes, it's a candy hallway. Not a store, but a hallway. Technically it's a candy store, but it's the hallway that leads from one of the buildings to another. It's very bright and they carry a ton of very out-there candies. Both Ann-Katrin and Jonathan got a bag of candy, but I will have to go back and explore that more when I have time to look at everything and take pictures! Breuninger has many different labels and expensive designers, like a usual department store, but they also have designer dirndls (the traditional dress from Southern Germany and Austria). They have ones made to look like peacock feathers and on and on. So cool....and expensive! If you go to their website (http://www.breuninger.com/) and click on the heart-shaped cookies on the right-hand side, you can kinda get the idea.
It was also the Weindorf festival in Stuttgart. They set up little restaurant after restaurant, in booths all decorated in wine harvest decor, all over the old walking-squares and they serve all different kinds of wine from around the Stuttgart area. Oh, and lots of food too. We ate lunch there and had Zwiebelkuchen (literally like a onion quiche). Then we went to the music shop and got the guitar and a pretty bright blue case for it. Then to the bookstore to get my German book. I tried to look at it ahead of time so that I could have an idea of what we are doing when class starts and, yeah, there's no English in the whole darn book. Hopefully the teachers speak English to begin with, otherwise, I'm pretty sure I'm in the wrong level! (: I have no clue where to even start!
Anette knows that I am in Interior Design school and have an interest for all sorts of those things, so she is always showing me things in their home and in books that are from famous Scandanavian designers. (Like her whole set of Arne Jacobsen #7 chairs in the dining room and so on.) She took me to an Interior Design shop in a big, fancy mall in Stuttgart called ikarus. They had some really neat, very modern design items from lighting to furniture to accessories. You can look, if you like, at their website www.ikarus.de (it's in German, but you can navigate by the pictures on the tabs, that's what I did!) In the "Suche" box, type bookworm. It's the coolest bookshelf that actually has clips to hold the books so that they go around in circles with the bookshelf. Okay, enough design talk. Other than eating dinner and being around at home here, that was pretty much it for saturday.
As for sunday, sunday's are boring! Haha. It's just that everything is closed on sunday. I guess that a few tourist things are open, but most things are not. It's actually controlled by the government here as a day of rest for everyone, so no one is allowed to work. Anette said that you aren't even allowed to remodel or work on your yard because it might make a bunch of noise and disturb your neighbors on their day of rest. So, we stayed home all day. But, I got unpacked the rest of the way and then Anette and I took a walk so that she could show me more of the area. So, I guess it was ok. Then waffles for dinner and a call home!
My Little Apartment...
So let's see...things have gotten much better since I last wrote on Friday. I still can't speak German, but whatever! (; I will be starting German classes in a couple weeks and then things will get better. I have some pictures of my room now and I even know how to post them. So, here we go: 
My outlet...(I just put this here because it's weird for people who haven't seen them before...so I thought I would share...)
My porch/entrance and my own little table and chairs...
My mini-kitchen...
My room...
There we go....that was my little apartment! That's it for this post...
Friday, September 5, 2008
Au Pair Family....for those of you who haven't seen...
This is my au pair family: Anette, Jonathan, Ann-Katrin, and Ralf (in order)
That way, you will have a face to go with the name! (:
I'm Here!
I am now in Germany and kinda, sorta settled. The house is great and has a very Danish/Scandanavian/German style because Anette is actually Danish. I have my own little apartment in the basement that looks like a page in the Ikea catalog! It has it's own bathroom and even a little kitchen, although I wont be using it much because I eat upstairs with the whole family. It also has a seperate entrance with a little porch and chairs. Pretty neat for them to have all those things for their au pair. If I can figure out how, I will post pictures up here soon! (;
The kids are rather cute. I feel bad because I don't really know what to say to them though. By the time that I look up a word or two to make a sentence or ask them a question, the opportunity has passed and they are onto something else (that I also don't know how to say in German!) I can understand some of what their German Grandma says; at least enough to say ja or nein in response. She's staying here to look after the kids so that I can get situated and until they start school again next week. I can also understand some of what the children say, but Jonathan, the almost 5 year old boy, slurs alot and uses his pouty voice...which if there was any hope of me understanding him before, it goes completely out the window when he is pouting. He is upset that mostly the children on the block are Ann-Katrin, his 9 year old sister's, age and therefore are not interested in playing with him for very long. He's totally okay with playing with them because he just wants the company, but, of course, they want to do big-kid things without him. Ann-Katrin is sweet and sort of a little-mini teenager. She say's that things are "cool" all the time and it's very cute. Hopefully I will be able to manage them better when they are in school. They have lots of activities during the week and Jonathan is at school almost all day, so that should make it easier. Plus, he'll be happier when he has school friends to play with again. Hooray for kindergarten!
I have wanted to give up pretty much all day, everyday. I have no idea what I was thinking in choosing to do this. I feel bad that they are spending so much time, energy, and money on someone who can't even speak to their children! I'm excited to learn German because I think that will be a very helpful skill to have later in life for travel, business, and what have you, but I don't know how I am going to be helpful to them when I can't figure out how to communicate. I am really hoping that it will get better when I am a little bit more adjusted to the time change. Right now though, I am very tired and I am finding it very hard to stay awake for a whole day! I got up a little earlier today but now all I want to do is sleep.....where is my Starbucks when I need it so bad?! Haha. Cross your fingers for me that I can stay awake till dinner!
I had my first little shopping trip today. I walked with Jonathan and Oma to the grocery store right after breakfast, but all I did was look around. I will figure out how to talk to people at the grocery store....at a later date.....I hope. (: After that though, I walked, all by myself I must add, to the little toiletries store in the area. It wasn't too bad, although, I must have stared at what I believe was the aisle of shampoo for 30 minutes before I chose one. Hopefully I did okay! They had pretty much everything I needed (And Daddy, they had several different kinds of Q-Tips, a little expensive, but they had them nonetheless! And, in a cute little container!! (: ) They didn't have any make-up powder, but perhaps I can get that in Stuttgart tomorrow. Tomorrow we are going to get Ann-Katrin's new guitar for her lessens that start on Monday. We are also going to go to this fancy shop that I read about online, Merz und Benzing http://www.merz-benzing.de/ and go to the book store to buy my German book for my German lessens that start the 25th of September. (Oh yeah, did I mention that I tested into the 2nd level of German? I'm not a complete idiot I guess!)
Anyway, that was probably more than any of you ever wanted to know and I am going to have a cappuccino with Oma! I will write more very soon!
Cori
The kids are rather cute. I feel bad because I don't really know what to say to them though. By the time that I look up a word or two to make a sentence or ask them a question, the opportunity has passed and they are onto something else (that I also don't know how to say in German!) I can understand some of what their German Grandma says; at least enough to say ja or nein in response. She's staying here to look after the kids so that I can get situated and until they start school again next week. I can also understand some of what the children say, but Jonathan, the almost 5 year old boy, slurs alot and uses his pouty voice...which if there was any hope of me understanding him before, it goes completely out the window when he is pouting. He is upset that mostly the children on the block are Ann-Katrin, his 9 year old sister's, age and therefore are not interested in playing with him for very long. He's totally okay with playing with them because he just wants the company, but, of course, they want to do big-kid things without him. Ann-Katrin is sweet and sort of a little-mini teenager. She say's that things are "cool" all the time and it's very cute. Hopefully I will be able to manage them better when they are in school. They have lots of activities during the week and Jonathan is at school almost all day, so that should make it easier. Plus, he'll be happier when he has school friends to play with again. Hooray for kindergarten!
I have wanted to give up pretty much all day, everyday. I have no idea what I was thinking in choosing to do this. I feel bad that they are spending so much time, energy, and money on someone who can't even speak to their children! I'm excited to learn German because I think that will be a very helpful skill to have later in life for travel, business, and what have you, but I don't know how I am going to be helpful to them when I can't figure out how to communicate. I am really hoping that it will get better when I am a little bit more adjusted to the time change. Right now though, I am very tired and I am finding it very hard to stay awake for a whole day! I got up a little earlier today but now all I want to do is sleep.....where is my Starbucks when I need it so bad?! Haha. Cross your fingers for me that I can stay awake till dinner!
I had my first little shopping trip today. I walked with Jonathan and Oma to the grocery store right after breakfast, but all I did was look around. I will figure out how to talk to people at the grocery store....at a later date.....I hope. (: After that though, I walked, all by myself I must add, to the little toiletries store in the area. It wasn't too bad, although, I must have stared at what I believe was the aisle of shampoo for 30 minutes before I chose one. Hopefully I did okay! They had pretty much everything I needed (And Daddy, they had several different kinds of Q-Tips, a little expensive, but they had them nonetheless! And, in a cute little container!! (: ) They didn't have any make-up powder, but perhaps I can get that in Stuttgart tomorrow. Tomorrow we are going to get Ann-Katrin's new guitar for her lessens that start on Monday. We are also going to go to this fancy shop that I read about online, Merz und Benzing http://www.merz-benzing.de/ and go to the book store to buy my German book for my German lessens that start the 25th of September. (Oh yeah, did I mention that I tested into the 2nd level of German? I'm not a complete idiot I guess!)
Anyway, that was probably more than any of you ever wanted to know and I am going to have a cappuccino with Oma! I will write more very soon!
Cori
Sunday, July 27, 2008
First Blog!
Here is my first blog!
I just wanted to start this now so that I could get it all set-up for when I move to Germany.
That way, anyone who wants to, can check up on me once-and-a-while.
I will try to keep it updated as much as possible. That's it for now.
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