Greetings from Muenchen!!
So it's nearing the end of day three here at number 1 Ernst-von-Romberg-Strasse. I have yet to start my real work however, as I had yesterday off for settling in and unpacking. And today I had the lovely task of getting my german visa at the "german administration" as Lilo and Robert call it... thankfully though Lilo came along, without which I would have been beyond lost (By the way Lilo is the mom of the Bruckmeier family that I am living with and working for, and Robert is the dad, while the kids' names are Irene (5) and Martin (3). ) But in the end, all went surprisingly smoothly, and I am now legal to stay in Deutschland for a year. Woohoo!!
So first on my list of things to do...LEARN GERMAN!!! Let me just tell you, if you have never been in a similar situation, it is beyond frustrating to have such a limited knowledge of a language you are surrounded by...not being able to neither understand nor communicate, not to mention looking like a complete idiot the whole time cuz you have no idea what's going on, EVER!! However if all goes to plan, that will change very soon. After getting my visa today, Lilo and I also went to register for my first two months of german class. It is scheduled to start the 2nd of March and continue 'til the 30th of April. So I really can't wait!! I just hope to learn fast enough so I can stop looking like an uneducated ass who comes to a country with no knowledge of the language. I mean who does that??!! that's so not my style :-) To make matters worse, I have a 5 year -old that is conversational in english and who along with her 3 year-old brother understands almost everything I say...talk about making me look even worse!! ;-) So yeah, in short, I REEEAAALLLY need to get on it!!
But besides the language, I'll give you the low-down on my new job. That's right guys do not forget that, contrary to popular belief, I am actually going to be working here. In fact tomorrow marks my first official day as Irene's and Martin's au pair. And as such I have been slowly introduced to all my responsibilities, i.e. picking the kids up from school (which is within walking distance), entertaining / supervising/teaching them english until Lilo gets home, which is around 4 or 5 in the afternoon, helping to keep the place tidy, and then baby-sitting two or three nights a week on average. And in return for my expertise and guidance for the children, I receive not only a stipend but free room and board, a monthly public transport pass, and health insurance. Not too bad if you ask me. And the official german au pair contract protects against me working more than 30 hours a week and ensures I get at least 1.5 consecutive days off a week...but as you can tell above I have all mornings and most nights of the week free. Lilo and Robert thoroughly encourage me to get out and see the city, make friends and when possible travel. All things I plan on actively pursuing!
Speaking of which, im currently trying to plan a short weekend trip with my friend Andrea (who is from italy, but i met in DC, and is living in belgium for the year) in the spring probably to either Copenhagen or Amsterdam . Of course this is all dependent on finances. Otherwise I think I will be going to Berlin the last weekend of May to meet up with my friend Rose and her friends from London, AND it turns out I will be going back to Italy in June. Out of sheer luck, Lilo and Robert were invited down by some friends to meet up in Tuscany for a week, so I will drive down with them and catch a short train ride to Perugia!!! These are my rough travel plans for now. However for the most part I will try best to cut back and spend my time getting to know Munich and hopefully meeting some new people here, preferably some germans.
Besides travel, I am sure you are all wondering what I have been doing for fun and want to hear about my crazy adventures thus far. Well unfortunately there isn't much to tell. In fact, this is another one of the frustrating aspects of my time here so far. Granted I've only been here for less than three days, BUT that's no excuse! I am truely ashamed of myself and my lack of an adventuresome spirit :-) I really need to get out there and explore, which as anyone who knows me at all knows is one of my FAAAVORITE passtimes. So I plan to begin my exploration tomorrow morning before picking up the kids at 2 from school. Not sure where I'll begin, perhaps the very center of the city working my way further and further outwards. But we shall see!! The good thing is I will be here for a year this time, which probably means no need to rush.
And besides tomorrow, I have plans for friday night to meet up with a friend of mine, Isabella, who I met in my italian class the summer of 2007 in Perugia. She is a born and raised muenchner, so I am sure she will be able to show me some great places. Yep this should suffice for now, and my goal is to know the city so well by the end of the year that I could write a guide about it. (speaking of which, for all those to whom I've mentioned it, my DC guide is slow going but will hopefully be ready in the next few months...and believe me it's definitely worth the wait!!)
Oh I did forget to mention that I did have one significant excursion thus far. Yesterday, Lilo and the kids and I went to Schloss Nyphemburg / Nymphemburg Castle to walk on the canal...which by the way is frozen over and is currently being used officially for ice skating and ice curling, and unofficially for snowball fights (which is what Irene and I used it for) and random sliding around. *pictures to be posted
So it's nearing the end of day three here at number 1 Ernst-von-Romberg-Strasse. I have yet to start my real work however, as I had yesterday off for settling in and unpacking. And today I had the lovely task of getting my german visa at the "german administration" as Lilo and Robert call it... thankfully though Lilo came along, without which I would have been beyond lost (By the way Lilo is the mom of the Bruckmeier family that I am living with and working for, and Robert is the dad, while the kids' names are Irene (5) and Martin (3). ) But in the end, all went surprisingly smoothly, and I am now legal to stay in Deutschland for a year. Woohoo!!
So first on my list of things to do...LEARN GERMAN!!! Let me just tell you, if you have never been in a similar situation, it is beyond frustrating to have such a limited knowledge of a language you are surrounded by...not being able to neither understand nor communicate, not to mention looking like a complete idiot the whole time cuz you have no idea what's going on, EVER!! However if all goes to plan, that will change very soon. After getting my visa today, Lilo and I also went to register for my first two months of german class. It is scheduled to start the 2nd of March and continue 'til the 30th of April. So I really can't wait!! I just hope to learn fast enough so I can stop looking like an uneducated ass who comes to a country with no knowledge of the language. I mean who does that??!! that's so not my style :-) To make matters worse, I have a 5 year -old that is conversational in english and who along with her 3 year-old brother understands almost everything I say...talk about making me look even worse!! ;-) So yeah, in short, I REEEAAALLLY need to get on it!!
But besides the language, I'll give you the low-down on my new job. That's right guys do not forget that, contrary to popular belief, I am actually going to be working here. In fact tomorrow marks my first official day as Irene's and Martin's au pair. And as such I have been slowly introduced to all my responsibilities, i.e. picking the kids up from school (which is within walking distance), entertaining / supervising/teaching them english until Lilo gets home, which is around 4 or 5 in the afternoon, helping to keep the place tidy, and then baby-sitting two or three nights a week on average. And in return for my expertise and guidance for the children, I receive not only a stipend but free room and board, a monthly public transport pass, and health insurance. Not too bad if you ask me. And the official german au pair contract protects against me working more than 30 hours a week and ensures I get at least 1.5 consecutive days off a week...but as you can tell above I have all mornings and most nights of the week free. Lilo and Robert thoroughly encourage me to get out and see the city, make friends and when possible travel. All things I plan on actively pursuing!
Speaking of which, im currently trying to plan a short weekend trip with my friend Andrea (who is from italy, but i met in DC, and is living in belgium for the year) in the spring probably to either Copenhagen or Amsterdam . Of course this is all dependent on finances. Otherwise I think I will be going to Berlin the last weekend of May to meet up with my friend Rose and her friends from London, AND it turns out I will be going back to Italy in June. Out of sheer luck, Lilo and Robert were invited down by some friends to meet up in Tuscany for a week, so I will drive down with them and catch a short train ride to Perugia!!! These are my rough travel plans for now. However for the most part I will try best to cut back and spend my time getting to know Munich and hopefully meeting some new people here, preferably some germans.
Besides travel, I am sure you are all wondering what I have been doing for fun and want to hear about my crazy adventures thus far. Well unfortunately there isn't much to tell. In fact, this is another one of the frustrating aspects of my time here so far. Granted I've only been here for less than three days, BUT that's no excuse! I am truely ashamed of myself and my lack of an adventuresome spirit :-) I really need to get out there and explore, which as anyone who knows me at all knows is one of my FAAAVORITE passtimes. So I plan to begin my exploration tomorrow morning before picking up the kids at 2 from school. Not sure where I'll begin, perhaps the very center of the city working my way further and further outwards. But we shall see!! The good thing is I will be here for a year this time, which probably means no need to rush.
And besides tomorrow, I have plans for friday night to meet up with a friend of mine, Isabella, who I met in my italian class the summer of 2007 in Perugia. She is a born and raised muenchner, so I am sure she will be able to show me some great places. Yep this should suffice for now, and my goal is to know the city so well by the end of the year that I could write a guide about it. (speaking of which, for all those to whom I've mentioned it, my DC guide is slow going but will hopefully be ready in the next few months...and believe me it's definitely worth the wait!!)
Oh I did forget to mention that I did have one significant excursion thus far. Yesterday, Lilo and the kids and I went to Schloss Nyphemburg / Nymphemburg Castle to walk on the canal...which by the way is frozen over and is currently being used officially for ice skating and ice curling, and unofficially for snowball fights (which is what Irene and I used it for) and random sliding around. *pictures to be posted
Awesome! Glad for the update, and the experience sounds great so far! I can only imagine the angst you feel at not having explored all of munich yet ;), but no worries!! I'm sure the more people you meet (b/c you will get the hang of German) the more you were learn about the city!!
ReplyDeletesupremely jealous,
Jackie
Brittany,
ReplyDeleteThis was a fantastic first post. Everything i expected it to be! The photos are beautiful, the family looks like so much fun, and it looks like it will be a great fit for you especially where you are in your life right now and how you want to spend your time in Germany. Doesnt look like any unexpected surprises which is great! Dont feel bad about not being adventuresome yet. Its innate, its within you, and it will come out when the time comes. You gotta deal with all the responsible stuff before getting crazy which youre doing. But knowing you, we'll probably be getting a report on your first wine bar soon. haha... I miss you, love you, SO proud of you, and of course TOTALLY living vicariously through you.
- Erika
Those kids are so cute Brit! I'm super jealous of you. Where do I sign up? I'm glad everything is going so well and hope that I will be able to visit you. Keep up the blogging because I'm going to be living through you as I'm stuck in NorCal for the time being. I miss you!
ReplyDelete~Jaime