Well, I’ve been in London for almost a week now. My, what a week! It’s been full of new things, new people, new places, new challenges, new food, new everything! Well, alright, not everything. Besides the accents, which are harder to understand than I ever noticed, the language is the same. To start, I suppose I should explain just what I am doing in London. Several years ago, my aunt Sue suggested that I look into being an au pair (nanny) and gave me a great website to look at (
http://www.greataupair.com/). I was too young at the time to actually get a job anywhere, so I didn’t take it too seriously until more recently. In December, Farran emailed me and we started to work it out for me to come to London in
May. She has three beautiful girls—Margaret and Charlotte, who are twin seven-year-olds, and Farran, her eight-year-old named after her. I came to London to work for her and her husband, Robert, taking care of the girls. I left Utah on Monday, May 5th. I flew into Chicago and had plenty of time to find my terminal and get my seat changed to a window seat, which I was very glad I did. The flight was about seven or eight hours. I’ve done longer—much longer—but it was so nice to have something to lean my head against. An extra plus—the seat next to me was empty so I got to sprawl out on two seats for the price of one! I got into Heathrow at about ten in the morning. I found the driver Farran sent for me, and we headed towards what will be home for the next two months.
It was somewhat disconcerting to drive on the wrong side of the freeway, and when left turns didn’t cross any traffic, but right turns did, I thought I was going to have a fit. My brain is switching over, though, and I’m getting used to looking the other direction when crossing the road. Today (Sunday), when I saw a car that had the driver on the left side, it looked really strange to me. I live on a small, quiet street in Kensington. There’s a beautiful little cathedral-esque church at the end of the street. The house is beautiful; it’s small, like everything here, and is more vertical than horizontal. I live on the bottom floor and have a window that looks out into the petite but beautiful garden. My room is lovely, and the bed is the most comfortable bed I have ever slept on. At least, it feels that way after the pitiful excuse for a mattress I had at school
this past semester. I mentioned earlier that the accents are harder to understand than I expected. I think it’s the accents combined with the different vocabulary. There were some young guys over working on the gas meter at the house my first day here and the one asked me if I was on holiday here. In response to my blank stare and “pardon?” he laughed and said “are you here on vacation?” I knew what holiday meant, but the accent took me by surprise! I have to listen a lot more carefully when I talk to people. The funny thing is that I have met just as many people from America, Germany, Italy, and other countries as I have English people! I knew London was diverse, but it really, really is diverse. That is something I haven’t really experienced, and I’ve enjoyed it quite a lot. Farran has been fantastic. I feel like I by far have the best part of this deal, because she flew me over here, I’m s
taying in their house, eating their food, and getting paid! I help the girls in the morning with their hair and breakfast, as well as getting them to school (which is about a two minute walk down the street). After school, I help with whatever homework they have, dinner, getting ready for and getting in bed. I read stories, brush hair, tidy things now and then—the usual duties of a nanny. During the day, from about nine o’clock to about four o’clock, (some days its earlier, some days later) I have time to do whatever I would like to do. I am in charge of the girls’ laundry, which is my only real duty while they are at school, but other than that, it’s my time. The girls can be challenging, and usually are, but they are sweet and we have a lot of fun. Basically
, I can’t think of anything that would make this set up any better. I feel bad, actually, because Farran is giving me this fantastic experience, and is constantly making sure that I am okay and having fun and feeling good, and all I do is give her kids my time for a few hours every day. I am hoping I can be good enough at what I do here to help myself feel like I’ve earned it in the least.
Well, I’ve been in London for almost a week now. My, what a week! It’s been full of new things, new people, new places, new challenges, new food, new everything! Well, alright, not everything. Besides the accents, which are harder to understand than I ever noticed, the language is the same. To start, I suppose I should explain just what I am doing in London. Several years ago, my aunt Sue suggested that I look into being an au pair (nanny) and gave me a great website to look at (http://www.greataupair.com/). I was too young at the time to actually get a job anywhere, so I didn’t take it too seriously until more recently. In December, Farran emailed me and we started to work it out for me to come to London in 
May. She has three beautiful girls—Margaret and Charlotte, who are twin seven-year-olds, and Farran, her eight-year-old named after her. I came to London to work for her and her husband, Robert, taking care of the girls. I left Utah on Monday, May 5th. I flew into Chicago and had plenty of time to find my terminal and get my seat changed to a window seat, which I was very glad I did. The flight was about seven or eight hours. I’ve done longer—much longer—but it was so nice to have something to lean my head against. An extra plus—the seat next to me was empty so I got to sprawl out on two seats for the price of one! I got into Heathrow at about ten in the morning. I found the driver Farran sent for me, and we headed towards what will be home for the next two months.
It was somewhat disconcerting to drive on the wrong side of the freeway, and when left turns didn’t cross any traffic, but right turns did, I thought I was going to have a fit. My brain is switching over, though, and I’m getting used to looking the other direction when crossing the road. Today (Sunday), when I saw a car that had the driver on the left side, it looked really strange to me. I live on a small, quiet street in Kensington. There’s a beautiful little cathedral-esque church at the end of the street. The house is beautiful; it’s small, like everything here, and is more vertical than horizontal. I live on the bottom floor and have a window that looks out into the petite but beautiful garden. My room is lovely, and the bed is the most comfortable bed I have ever slept on. At least, it feels that way after the pitiful excuse for a mattress I had at school
this past semester. I mentioned earlier that the accents are harder to understand than I expected. I think it’s the accents combined with the different vocabulary. There were some young guys over working on the gas meter at the house my first day here and the one asked me if I was on holiday here. In response to my blank stare and “pardon?” he laughed and said “are you here on vacation?” I knew what holiday meant, but the accent took me by surprise! I have to listen a lot more carefully when I talk to people. The funny thing is that I have met just as many people from America, Germany, Italy, and other countries as I have English people! I knew London was diverse, but it really, really is diverse. That is something I haven’t really experienced, and I’ve enjoyed it quite a lot. Farran has been fantastic. I feel like I by far have the best part of this deal, because she flew me over here, I’m s
taying in their house, eating their food, and getting paid! I help the girls in the morning with their hair and breakfast, as well as getting them to school (which is about a two minute walk down the street). After school, I help with whatever homework they have, dinner, getting ready for and getting in bed. I read stories, brush hair, tidy things now and then—the usual duties of a nanny. During the day, from about nine o’clock to about four o’clock, (some days its earlier, some days later) I have time to do whatever I would like to do. I am in charge of the girls’ laundry, which is my only real duty while they are at school, but other than that, it’s my time. The girls can be challenging, and usually are, but they are sweet and we have a lot of fun. Basically
, I can’t think of anything that would make this set up any better. I feel bad, actually, because Farran is giving me this fantastic experience, and is constantly making sure that I am okay and having fun and feeling good, and all I do is give her kids my time for a few hours every day. I am hoping I can be good enough at what I do here to help myself feel like I’ve earned it in the least.
1 comment:
WOW! Didn't know you went to london!
You will have to tell me all about it when we hang out!
LOVE YA!
Chelsea
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