My journey has just begun and week one of my 7 month adventure is coming to an end. This will probably be the most overwhelming week I have during these 7 months. So, as I was trying to kill the 6 hours I had in LA I met a ton of cool people. First, I met an Australian guy who was on holiday (yes, holiday instead of vacation... I have already started using Australian lingo). He was very nice and was telling me everything I needed to do in Melbourne and most importantly teaching me how to say Melbourne correctly.. Not MEL-BORN its more like MEL-BIN and Brisbane isn't BRIS-BANE its BRIS-BIN. Anyways, the second person I met was at the phone charging station at my gate. We sat there for a few minutes in silence then he asked me what I was doing and where I was from. I explained I was from Maine and going to Melbourne to be an Au Pair, I then asked his story because I knew he was definitely American too. He was from Pennsylvania and he was going to Australia for 5 months to do mission work through a group program. It seemed like such a small world to me when I met another person from a State close to Maine who also has an adventurous personality and is leaving on the same day as me to begin the journey. We instantly became friends and promised to keep in touch on Facebook about our travels. I saw him meet other people for the first time that were in the same mission program as him; he had already started to talk to them through a Facebook group before this day. This made me very jealous to see them meet because I remember meeting all the other exchange students in Miami on our way to live in Ecuador, it was so exciting. Shout out to all the exchange students I love you guys and miss you very much :) Anyways, I met many more people along the way who were so friendly and loved hearing my travel plans, but really the details are boring. The bottom line is Australians are very welcoming and I instantly made friends with many Australians beginning in Los Angeles. The flight was a drag. It was long and you just feel disgusting eating food without really moving after, but it was definitely worth it now that I get to enjoy 7 months in this amazing country filled with even more amazing people.
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| I spy Australia for the First Time |
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| First Time in the City |
When I arrived in Melbourne Lucy and Anika were right outside my gate waiting for me. It was so nice to finally meet them after Skyping them both and waiting for this day for a long time. The first thing that happened that really made me realize I wasn't in America anymore was when I tried to get on the drivers side on the way home from the airport. The most exciting part though was finally arriving at my new home. I was so incredibly tired, but I stayed up until 9pm to start my sleep schedule off right. My jetlag was very minor after the day I arrived.The house is amazing, I have my own room and bathroom. A very nice pool and an even nicer car to drive. Most Importantly though I met Alex and Lachlan. They seemed very confused at first why I was there, but they quickly warmed up to me. They are both very cute and although they have their three year old bratty moments I can already tell I will become very attached to them both as well as Lucy and Adrian. They definitely make me feel like part of the family. Sunday, we went out to dinner and I met Lucy's parents, her brother and his partner. Which, by the way I ordered a pizza called the Aussie.. I felt like I needed to begin my cultural eating right away.The family is all very amazing, I really feel like I am at my second home. Going back to my cultural eating though, I ate vegemite...not for the first time, but for the first time actually in Australia. It is very good my one and only tip is put very little its strong. So, basically this week Anika has been showing me everything; how to get places, cool places to bring the boys, and just everything you would need to know to live in Melbourne and be an Au Pair. I am very thankful she is here for my first week. She is also very amazing, it sucks that I can only spend this week with her because she is my first friend that I have made in Melbourne. She is great with the boys and has really taught me a lot of tricks for working with the boys. So far I have only been to the city once because I live in a suburb of Melbourne, but I already really enjoy it. There is plenty of shopping (yayyyyy!) and things to do there. Anika and I ate sushi and she tried to explain how to use the tram. It is so difficult being from Brunswick, Maine where public transportation is very simple and coming here to a tram system. Anyways, its only the first week and I know things will all get easier.
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| My new Pool |
Today, Its halloween and you would not even know it. No one really cares. Trick or treating happens, but not often. Its more about going to a club and partying. Kids are not taught what halloween is or anything like that. Although this is sad to me, the red sox just won the world series! I hate baseball, but I am very happy for Boston because it has been a tough year there. BOSTON STRONG! Last thing I wanted to share this week is how my driving lessons went. The driving on the other side is really not that hard once you try it. You just always have to tell yourself you need to be on the left side of the road, I would say the hardest part is remembering to look the other way for approaching cars. Again though, being from Brunswick, Maine then coming here and driving is hard. It may be a suburb where I live, but there is roundabouts and things I have never experienced in Maine. It will all come with time and practice though. I am looking forward to the next few weeks when I will start to handle the boys on my own and really become familiar with everything. There is a lot of changes from living in Brunswick to living here, but they are all exciting. I am already loving it. I am so excited to live and travel in this country for the next 7 months, it is only just the beginning <3
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| The Boys; Alex in red, Lachlan in blue |
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