6 Weeks!

I've officially been here 6 weeks. Yes, I still do things wrong, and it's still a bit lonely sometimes and I have emotional moments, but mostly I'm feeling more settled in. The kids are actually starting to listen to me and I kind of know what's going on amidst the chaos.

Recent happenings -

Philippa and me

• I went bowling with Rachel, her boyfriend Max, and his German friends. It was fun! They were all nice, and hopefully I'll get to meet up with them more. It'll be nice to have some German friends. We have plans for karaoke soon...
• Last Sunday was Erntedankfest, a harvest fest or a kind of thanksgiving, and it was hosted here on the farm for the 4 villages that are nearby. I didn't know anybody, but a couple nice people talked to me. I met a girl who was an au pair in Pennsylvania, and she offered to meet up with me sometime. I hope she does because it'd be nice to have friends nearby! I also met a woman who studied abroad in Seattle. 



Benther Berg

• This week the kids have been behaving a little better. Johanna even told me one day she was going to be nice to me. But then the next day she yelled at me and asked why I was always so mean because I told her to stop hitting her sister. Then yesterday she told me I talked funny. You can't always win.

• Thursday I met with another au pair whose family has kids in the Walldorf school Magnus goes to. She's Hungarian, and there were 2 Brazilian girls there too. It was nice to meet someone during the week, and it's so much easier for me to speak German with other foreigners! They were all very nice and we've already been making travel plans. Maybe Berlin next weekend?
• Friday the housekeeper/most amazing person ever had off, so I had to make lunch while I was watching the twins and Henny, who was home sick from school. Let me tell you, those twins cannot be left alone for 2 seconds. When they were in the kitchen, they somehow found all the knives and opened every drawer and pulled everything out in the length of time it took me to peel a carrot. They finally went to the tv room where Henny was, and I was so glad to have a couple minutes of quiet. But then I went in there and every magazine was torn apart, their moms knitting was unravelled, all the DVD cases were open and on the floor and the blankes and pillows were thrown everywhere. And Henny was still staring at the tv. 

front of the house - I live upstairs on the right but it's all connected

• Last night I was supposed to babysit, but the parents called 5 minutes before I was supposed to start from the birthday party they were at and said they didn't need me after all. Luckily, Rachel sent me a text at the exact same time. I met with her, Max, a friend who was visiting from Australia, a Polish au pair who's new to Hannover, and a girl who's been an au pair in a town near me since Rachel got here and her boyfriend. It was nice to just talk to all of them! We ended up staying way later than we expected and I was one again grateful to do something where Max could drive me home. The whole streetcar bike combination at 4am when it may or may not be raining and freezing cold is not fun. Especially when the streetcars start running every hour or even less. 
• Today I was putting my shoes on to leave, and Philippa just came up to me and sat on my leg even though I was kneeling and there was nowhere to sit. She's a weirdo.