Rainbows and Butterflies

the girls (or tigers) after the christmas bazaar

Good Morning, its Monday and im making myself write this blog while I watch The OC, because if I dont do it now I know it wont get done. This weekend was actually better than I thought it would be considering the fact that I had to be awake by 7am both Saturday and Sunday. So the girls and I went to the Christmas Bazaar on Saturday and they had fun. First we went to visit Santa who is creepy here hahaha I know its a mean judgement but they put Santa and a room covered with black sheets and he sits in a corner and your not allowed sitting on his lap, and our santa even had his mustashe and beard around his neck :( seeing that it scared me you can just see how scared the girls were but they were good and brave and there were no tears. Then we went on the teacups and once Bell came off she couldnt walk straight haha it was hilarious!
Once we were done at the Bazaar I met up with Rita in Oxford Circus, for the Traffic Free Shopping Day... it was INSANE there were so many people but it as also a success and we both found nice new DRESSES, so now i just need to decide which one im going to wear to the wedding and see whict one gets New Years! Once we finished shopping we headed back to The Maple Left for some nice Canadian food and man did it make me desire pub food from home (note friends we will have to go to Mortys for wings and fries when I get home!). Its funny because we were dressed all classy for the ballet and then we ate pub food but we loved it! The ballet we went to was called Ondine and it was kinda like The Little Mermaid but this prince had a woman on land and in the sea and he was playing them both back and forth and ended up dying in the end so it was actually like Little Mermaid meets Romeo and Juliet. The Royal Opera house was amazing and the ballet experience was interesting haha it was beautiful but not really our cup of tea, i like things with words, but it does make you have different interpritation which was cool. The play had three acts and two intermissions that were each a half an hour so that was a little excessive but it was a nice classy night out!

Sunday morning I woke up with the girls (well Livy got them breakfast) and I listened from my bed to make sure everything was ok. Funny side story: Isabella was giving Livy a hard time so Livy mimiced what I say and said "Isabella Jack thats Enough" but she left a pause between Isabella and Jack and then Bell responded twice with "MY NAMES NOT JACK" hahaha it was so cute I was laughing quitely in my bed. Anyways we all watched a festive Christmas movie together and then we acted out Livys school play (she has the leading role with 22 lines, and her characters name is Jenny!) and we sang Christmas Carols. Aww us three are a really cute family haha. Jay came down at about 10 and then I met up with Rita, Silv and Marius for the day. We went shopping and then skating and Marius lady friend joined us for that. The skating was in Canary Wharf the business place in London on a block called Canada Square (i guess the canadian government sponsers it). So of course because its Canada Square the ice rink was located there (and they even had a bar called The Moose Bar!). But unlike at home skating it was sooo expensive here... it was 12 pound (thats 24$) for an hour skate with rentals. But they dont have a zambonie so by the time we went (5:30) the ice was shit and the skates were shit but the experience was a blast!

Here are a few pics... the first is Rita and I being our cute lovely selves, and the second is an action shot!

we love a good boop

<3 ice skating in canada square <3

Now its Monday... and I have just come back to writing this (i had to leave mid way to go be a midday) hahaha which is actually going awesome. I now have my own class of year ones I take care of and there the cutest. I do have my favs. on the play ground even though thats not suppose to happen haha you can stop it from happening, but they are all so cute in their uniforms and accents. The other day actually a two little girls were so amused by my accent and then proceeded to ask me if I knew Gabriella... and I said "No where is she from?" thinking that she was a student in their class from North America and their response was "High School Musical" hahaha LOVE IT!

Anyways back to it being Monday... I've already gotten very stressed out by David and I'm sure there is more to come but mommy says I just need to let it go because it wont change. Which is a super shitty way of living because its really just dealing with stuff instead of having it changed but what can I do... I'm just hired help right!

One more week with a great weekend planned then I'm HOME!
<3

(note if these blog are sounding more bitting my apoligies haha but even life in England cant always be rainbows and butterflies)

Sorry Im Slacking :)

outside of the main Grasshopper

me and my new fav. painting

the heineken brewery pictures

Hey Everyone (sorry its been long ive been lazy and moody this week thus no post after my trip)

But here it is... brace yourselves it may be long!
Right now its Saturday morning at 8:45 and because its Sara and Davids anniversary they have gone away for the weekend leaving Jay (saras mom) and I to be on children duty. SO we have arranged that I wake up with the girls both day and then she takes over after 12! But lately Livy has been being so awesome and we have been having so much fun together so this morning she got herself and Bell up, dressed, unloaded the dishwasher and fed them breakfast even before I had gotten out of bed! So even thought i've been having a few difficulties here im glad to report none of due to her! It figures that once I work things out with Livy that I am started to have difficulties with her parents... now its nothing I want to get into but lets just say its clear that im hired help to them and its not okay, but I will deal with that when I come back after Christmas!

Now onto Amsterdam...
Rita and I really needed a holiday and what a holiday it was... we (note bell is beside me grabbing my hand saying "I help you?" so this is taking me longer than ever, lol I love her) didnt arrive to our hostel till 1am on Friday and everything suprisingly closes early so we didnt do much we settled in and hung out with a few guys from the hostel then headed off to bed. One of the best parts about our hostel was its free breakfast that they offered till 10, so that was a good insentive to get out of bed. Saturday we first headed to Albert Cuyp Market (the biggest market in Amsterdam) and it was nice... it had everything from clothes to fresh fish (with there eyes still on)! From there we headed to the Red Light District... and ended up in The Grasshopper a popular spot there but then we realized Rita had forgot her ID at the hostel so we headed back and went to the Heiniken Brewery from there and for someone who doesn't even like beer it was sooo cool! We LOVED it (Rita and LITTLE more than me!) there was two bars in it and a ride... and we were able to make our own personalized bottles which is a great keepsake. Then we once again headed to the Red Light District in search of women "working". Its crazy its totally not what I thought... there are tons of women in the windows and within their window they have a room with a bed and bathroom and if a man come in they just pull shut the curtains! The best was when we saw a man leaving a ladies "office" and said "Good time, Thanks!" BAHAHA it was so dirty, and it honestly makes you think about it so much like the logistics of their lifestyles... i.e. the fact that they would get one week holiday every month haha
Then we started our pubcrawl (well it kinda started at the brewery) we started at a great Italian resturarnt and it was sooo good... Rita was drinking beer and i had moved on to wine for the night. Then we went to 2 pubs in the Red Light District, the first being only populated by guys and the second was a pub called the Old Sailor and it was packed and it was so fun. Then we headed to The Grasshopper for a little and then off to the club district and we went to this pub that was SO CHRISTMAS! I loved it... we ended our night at about 3 when everything was closed. On Sunday we had saved all the musuem things... so we started at the Van Gogh museum and it was my favourite, his work is actually amazing and I found a new favourite painting called "Almond Blossom" its gorgious but I was sad when they didnt have it in a print size :( then we did some shopping and of course I bought a sweet shirt, and we ended at Anne Franks house with was eye opening to say the least. They still have where her family measured their height with pencil on the way! All and all it was a great vacation, a different style from Barcelona but both great fun in their own.

I have been doing so much extra work with the girls its crazy, I'm basically a mother at 22, and that has a big deal to do with why im upset with Sara and David but because of that I have needed to get out of the house whenever I can. So on thursday night Matilda, Kylie and I went down to The George and got way to drunk for a thursday night, and in true drunken Jenn fashion everything had to come back out of me! Needless to say Friday morning with the girls wasnt fun. But then against my better judgement Matilda and I were invited to the guys house that lives down the street so we headed over there for a bit and huge out with Sam and Ben our new British friends. Its now 9:10 and soon we will be going to The Christmas Bazaar that is at Livys school.... and I am taking the girls to see Santa (who they have never visited before which I think is kinda sad but no worries that will be changed today!)

I will try to be less slack and write you Sunday or Monday again about my weekend... tonight Rita and I are going to the Ballet then Sunday after babysitting were hanging out with Silv which im excited for!

12 Days till Im Home!!!

Abbey Road

baking the best cookies ever... they were like reverse chocholate chip yum yum

outside of abbey road studio just after we signed the wall

recreating the abbey road album cover, the best we could

Even thought I've been here for over 3 months today was the first day I've managed to suceeded at a life goal of mine: which was going to abbey road. Rita and I have a list of things to do here and even thought we do something new EVERY weekend it was only this weekend I got to live the dream of going and recreating the picture and I had a blast taking it all in. Its funny when you think about it really its just a street and a building (that your not allowed in) but it encompasses so much meaning. It was the definiate highlight of the weekend!!!

Friday night wasn't so much fun tho... it was a hard day in the Jack family household for me. Olivia bent the necklace that dan bought me before I left and thus I was in a horrible mood. So it was the first time since I've been here that I cried infront of Sara. It all kind of got to me and I had a break down but then I also found out that South Woodford isn't a nice spot during the Christmas holidays... because its a more swanky side of town the people from the poorer areas come shopping in town. On monday the house across the street from us was broken into and then when David went to pick up Sara from the station on Friday they interupted a car jacking! So Friday was kind of event overload, but don't feel bad/scared for me... i'll watch my back and my neck <3

Saturday, Rita was so nice and joined me in babysitting. We decided to bake reverse chocholate chip cookies with the girls and they were honestly the best damn cookies I've ever made! Then once the girls were in bed we made a very romantic dinner including chicken parmasan and pesto pasta and yummy cookies for dessert, and we spent the night in watching CHRISTMAS movies.

David has been on holidays all last week, then the week before that his mom was home and the week before that he was on holidays again and today was his LAST day of holidays and althought he was sad I am honestly joyful! I am so excited to be alone with the girls at night again. Its really weird having him or anyone else around when your responsible for thier kids, for two reasons: one being the fact that they are there parents and thus the girls dont listen to me at all, and two because I dont know what im incharge of or what they are. This especially comes into play because they dont punish the girls... its more like the girls run the house but with me they get punished but its really awkward punishing someone elses kids infront of them! So it will be nice to get back to it just being the 3 of us.

DECEMBER IS IN ONE WEEK!!! have a good last week of november.

Roxanne

Above are the promised pictures from my road trip last Sunday... my internet is now working properly and lets hope it stays that way!

Rita and I took initiative and we booked our trip to AMSTERDAM!!!

We leave next Friday the 28th and are staying till the Sunday... and I can't wait. We have decided we need to boost up our party lifestyle before we go because we have been told we aren't "wild" enough... and I can't decide if thats a good thing or a bad thing haha

I can't wait and I also realised that as soon as I get back its DECEMBER and that means I get to start my advent calendar... and its CADBURY (sp) woot woot haha once again its the little things in life that you get the most enjoyment out of!

Have a good Weekend!

Its a low key weekend... having to save money for the big WILD trip haha and I'm babysitting on Saturday night and Rita is nice enough to join me. We are going to bake christmas cookie with the girls and then show them some christmas movies!

Enjoy the Snow... its Sunny here (at least for now the weather changes constantly)!

Chillin at Castles, Hangin with the Queen

HEY HEY HEY...

Before I start out explaining my weekend like I do at the beginning of every new week, I first must let you all in on my new news of the day... are you ready...

I start working monday - friday as a midday assistant!
I know i explained this job a while back but they kinda shuffled me around a little and I was only their go to girl but now they want me full time, so I get to start on monday! This is awesome because a little extra money would go a long way over here, and it will let me live the swanky life i dream about haha and keep me out of debt from my parents. And needless to say it will look pretty sweet on my resume to say I was employed by the London School Board!

Anyway back to the grind.
This weekend was fun but nothing to exciting but my definate hightlight was on Sunday.
Saturday Rita and I got our hair done and we had a romantic dinner with Silvio her roommate and we spent our night watching movies. I slept over at her house because Silvio had the day off and so he decided to take us on a ROAD TRIP! First we started off with a driving tour of Central London which when in a car is really nice but quick to see... it really put its into perspective how close everything is. Then we headed on our way to Windor... Windor Castle is one of Silvs favourite spots and he was nice enough to take us there! The Queen was actually there too, but contrary to what my tagline suggests in no way did I hang out with or even see her, the castle was actually closed, and Silvs said hes gone 4 times and has never actually been aloud in. However it was still an awesome day. Windor is a really cute typical London country town... (like any of the ones of TV). We spent the day shopping althought none of us bought anything and eatting fabulous Tapas and Sangria.

OMG I almost forgot this part of the day and I am now only adding it in before I finish this post... WE FOUND A TIM HORTONS!!!
We were headed home and BAM there it was Tim Hortons... now this may not be exciting to any of you who pass by at least 10 a day but for us it was heaven on earth. We went in and they had all the advertisment and cups and everything but when it came down to it their Tim Hortons was just a coffee machine that you self serve. It actually sucked and Silv called it Petro but none the less it was a nice sight to see the cups hahaha... I know it sounds sad but we are going as far as saving the cups we got, and then breaking Tims back with us at Christmas and re-using the cups for a little taste of home. I know minorly pathetic but its the little things that help us get by.

Rita and I decided that we are going to do a trip at the end of the month so in two weeks but it hasn't been planned yet... I think we are doing that tonight actually. Our goal desitination is Amsterdam!

Life is going good, I can't believe its a MONTH until im home!

Some exciting news that I dont know if you all know is that Kyle and Tricia have asked me to a reading at their wedding, and Tricia actually sent it to me last Friday and i'm so excited for that. Got to get practicing =)

Other updates... I found a perfect dress for new years but they didnt have my size so now I'm looking into getting it online. Everyone here orders their stuff online... everything too even grocerys! Sara says it because space is limited and its cheaper... I think its just being lazy but you all know me and I'm totally okay with that!

Pictures from Windor Castle will be posted soon but my internet is actually done so right now I'm at the library which is actually a nice way to get out of the house.

More update to come...
LOVE LOVE LOVE

Happy Anniversary Baby

I Heart E.S.L.

Hej Everyone! (thats Hey in Swedish... im becoming so cultured haha)

Hope you all had a nice weekend, I did despite the fact that its been typical England weather for the last week... which includes random changes from sunny to rainy to windy to all around shitty, but I learnt early on that here you just have to get on with your day because if you wait for the weather to be nice you won't be doing anything EVER.

I was out all weekend which was nice, I left Friday at 7:00 and didn't return home till Sunday at 5:00. Friday night I headed to Ritas so we could go out the Matildas birthday together and of course even heading to her house was an adventure, we never get a break here, but I can't really blame this one on bad luck. Rita and I (mainly me) have decided that we are no longer tourists and we are now locals, and with this decision I give myself a sense of confidence in getting myself from point A to B without assistance from a map and it got me in trouble on Friday. I was suppose to catch the D7 bus to Ritas house but 277 came around and I thought I could take it and needless to say I way wrong... so I got very lost and Ritas lovely roommate Silvio had to come and resuce me. Once the three of us got to their crib we had a few drinks and then headed out to WalkAbout in Covent Gardens for Matildas brithday, we told Dan (the America from before who came down this weekend) to meet us there by 11. When we got there no one was to be found, and we were a little nervous that this was the bar Matilda picked because there was no dance floor and it was more of a pub thats a club. Come 12 we got a call from Matilda saying she had arrived and she was asking where we were, at that very moment the lights turned on and WalkAbout was closing... Now Covent Gardens and Leicester Square are about 10 mins apart and we went to the wrong WalkAbout. So after all that we headed to Leicester Square WalkAbout which was much BIGGER and NICER and we found Matilda and everyone and got our dance on. WalkAbout was a great bar, it played all the classic oldie hits that one would find at a trailer dance: Cotton Eyed Joe, ABBA, Jackson Five and all the greatest hits... LOVED IT! However since we were over an hour later than we told Dan to be there we couldn't find him and we felt so bad, but luck was on our side and come 1:30 Dan came back to the bar and we danced the night away.

Now Saturday Morning was the Lord Mayor Show Parade that they have for Bon Fire Night which was Wednesday and it started at 11, but since we didnt get home till 4 we opted out and slept the day away. Saturday we spent the day with Ritas roomies Silvio and Marius who are both from Romania and are hilarious. The four of us send our time just laughing at the other culture slangs or language difficulties. Now I think these stories are hilarious and thus I'm going to tell you but Im warning you ahead of time that Dan didn't think is was as funny so I hope that it wasn't a "you had to be there sort of thing".

E.S.L. Lesson:
1. Silvio was trying to describe an infant and didnt know the word and he called it a "Fresh Baby" hahaha
2. We were talking about how in Sweden the word for Chef is Cock and he said is Cock what you call a "Husband of a Hen" hahaha LOVE IT

Canadian Slang they Love:
1. I told them I owned a video and they loved it so now we always say "Own It"
2. and they make fun of our positivity and now they make fun of us for saying "Best Ever" because to them nothing can ever be the Best and Ever in the same sentence.

(let me know if you find it as hilarious as I do)

So the four of us decided we'd go to the fireworks and have a BBQ afterwards. We all headed to the Blackheath fireworks that were on at 8 and they invited a few other Romania friends. The fireworks were amazing it was the longest fireworks show ive ever seen, and they played music to them (something I think columbia lake should think about). Surprisingly they had some firework I have never seen before. After the show it was cute because Silvio thanked Rita and I for taking them because on his own they would have never went and he hasn't seen fireworks in over 5 years. CRAZY

Then we went back to their house and we had a BBQ and drinks. Now I tired to remember what the drink was called because its the best drink I have ever tasted and Silv makes it for Rita and I every time I come but I've forgotten :(, but its Vodka, fresh lime and strawberry or kiwi, brown sugar and crushed ice. GLORIOUS. We spent the night playing Wii and I decovered I am pretty much the best Wii player EVER.

Sunday Rita and I went to Covert Garden to the market and walked around Trafalger Square and Westminster for some photo opts seeing that when either of us have gone we were alone and didn't have a picture partner. But seeing that my cameras flash isn't working (if anyone knows how to fix that help a sister out) all the pics are on Ritas camera and shes having computer difficulties so they can't be uploaded, so your poop out of luck.

And so ya thats pretty much my weekend in a nut shell... a big one, and I'll keep you posted on other life adventures.

Hope you had a good weekend <3
Staying Happy (keeping away from my old friend emo)

Anaylsis This

Some of you know that this week has been pretty bland in my life and so I've been thinking a lot of what I have gotten myself into; this mean making observations, and diving into some personal growth and understanding (you can just start calling D.Phil if you wish). None the less I have come to some conclusions about families.

Its quite interesting to watch from the sidelines of how a family functions... kind of like being a fly on the wall. I think that when your in a family you don't necessarily see how it functions, your so caught up within it that you get a false perception. With me playing the role of the fly it really make me think about what it would be like if someone was dropped into my family and all the little opinions they would create.

Its crazy when I think about it, I got up and left a life that had just gotten to a place that felt confortable, a place of love, happiness and familiarity. Nothing was wrong with what I had but yet I felt the need to spice it up and see the world. Now if I'm giving the the impression that I'm second guessing my decision that is not he case, I am just anaylsising it. With being thrown into this new world I haven't had much time to take a step back and look at what I have done and what I'm doing, I was in a survival state and now that this is becoming 'comfortable' I am able to looked at the good and bad. I am still boggled how one day I was sitting in my room on the computer playing around on aupairworld.com progressed into a conversation with mom in the living room about moving to England has now progessed full round into me being in London, England. I still have to stop and tell myself on a daily basis when I get emo as to what I'm doing I say it over and over in my head London, England. I have this one spot that I see on the way home from Isabellas nursary that makes me think... this is why I came here. The walk to her nursary is on a hill downwards towards our house and walking home from nursary your on the top of the hill looking down and you see a beautiful landscape with houses on both sides. It seems so simple but Im so grateful for it being there because it give me that little reminder on a daily basis that even in the harder times it is all worth it. And that the things that I'm missing back home will always be there for me and that i'm doing this for a reason.

I think that I need to step back and take the flys perspective on my own life, because right now althought on paper I am living my dream of travelling Europe, living in England and gaining independance I still am jealous of the basic K-Dub life you all call boring because you have the simple things we take for granted like dirrty Phils, the P.T., and each other. So take this emo blog message and appricate and love you life there :)

Even thought I'm sounding emo right now tomorrow is Friday and my weekend is coming and that is what I live for... and I know like all other weekends this one won't let me down and I will have a least one moment where I stop and think "wow this is exactly why i'm doing this" and it will hold me over until the next weekend.

But I should actually stop bitching because today when I was having a bad day, strangely enough Livy was the one who turned it around, so i'm done my rant... dont get worried about me from I think I wrote it just to makes all of us appriacate what we have instead of always desiring what others have.

Thanks to everyone who I've talk to this week <3
Love.

Living a Fairy Tale

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

So our week off has ended and im happy to say that, althought Livy and I had a great time together doing stuff all day it is nice to have a break from them. Friday we had a full out Halloween day which they have NEVER done. Nobody in this house had ever carved a pumpkin before... not even Sara and David which I thought was crazy, so Friday morning we all (minus David) carved their first pumpkin, and we even kept the seeds and roasted them in true Halloween fashion. Then we spend our day preparing for the party by making crafts and decorating cupcakes.

Sara, Jay (saras mom) and the three mice went to the halloween party which was nice for the girls but a lot to handle with tons of little people in one place. Livy cant handle social setting like that very well, but I was glad I got to observe her in it so see how she handles it. Another observation I made was the fact they everyone buys their costume... BORING.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Then after celebrating Halloween we hung up our costumes and got out of Christmas spirit and Rita and I woke up at 6:30 on our day off to attend the Harrods Christmas Parade. Now this parade isnt the town parade they hold this parade to bring Santa into Harrods. It was only about a half an hour long and it didnt have floats it just had bands and dancers and clowns etc. but they gave away tons of free stuff and it was a Cinderella Fairy Tale theme. At the end they had real reindeer and Santa got off his sled and walked into Harrod to find his spot on his chair.
After a day in central london we went back to Ritas and decorated her mini tree (which i have now set up in my room as well) and planned to watch a movie BUT we ended up having these fantastic drinks made by her roommates and we had a night of laughs with them instead.

Its really funny to see how other cultures percive Canadians... it makes for a good night of jokes on your behalf.

Side note: David and Sara were telling me last night about Davids deputie who is like his assiant whos name is Catherine but used to be named Paul. About 2 years about he decided to change sex and now in a few weeks will undergo the ENTIRE change. And i found it funny because when David told me about it he was explaining how the company sent around a memo to let everyone at work know and he did in a America asscent because when they think of sex changes they think of north america because everyone here is trying to improve their self and when they think of America they think of people seeing shrinks etc. haha i thought that was hilarious. They were hating the concept of D. Phil haha and Oparh


Sunday we continued on being tourists and went to the biggest market in London but I cant remember the name of it hahaha and then headed to Tower Bridge and London Tower which were both beautiful. (kyle i thought of you when I went because its the place you told me not to miss <3)

A hilarious hightlight of Sunday was a man playing a Kazoo for money on the streets with 5 empty tall boys beside him. It was awesome, some people have guitars or saxaphones but this classy man has a Kazoo LOVED IT!

David is on holidays right now and so last night David, Sara and I got to sit down for dinner which was so nice expecially because David is a great cook and we got to talk about my ideas about Livy. So we have decided to start a token systems so she doesnt get so many chances, because right now she never gets punished and she only gets warnings. So now she has 3 tokens a day that hang underneath her Golden Rules and if she break one of the rules she gets a token taken away... and once the tokens are gone she gets a punishment, three stikes and your out sort of thing. I also gave Sara a few more suggestions that she liked and she is now going to take them to Ms. Goodwin and use them. :)

This Wednesday is Bonfire Night, its a night to remember a guy who tried to blow up Parliment a really long time ago so they have fireworks every Nov. 5th and celebrate that he didnt succeed and remember how close they were to losing the Parliment building. So Saturday I think we will go to the festival and then maybe see Fireworks on Sunday because Saturday is Matildas birthday so we will be busy celebrating with dinner and dancing.

love.

everybody's working for the weekend

Today was the first day of our mid-term holiday and we had a GREAT day!

We started the day with going to the park for a fall photoshoot because for Christmas we are going to frame some nice pictures of livy and bell for their parents... and we had way to much fun (look at them all on facebook). Then we met Matilda and her girls for a teddy bear picnic on a huge roundabout by their house with tons of trees, and to end the day we went to Tumble in the Jungle (a childrens play place smaller than kidzone with Kylie and Matilda and their girls). Oh how i love the nanny network!

Tomorrow we head to Central London for the Museums!

This weekend was fun, Saturday Matilda and I went to the O2 Arena which is like a little village of resturants and little quiet classy bars and went to a free New Orleans Festival. It was really relaxing which was exactly what I needed because I was hungover from Friday. Friday we went to The George a local cheap bar with Matilda, Rita and Kylie and we ended up meeting these 3 guys who live just down the street from our house so after the bar we went over to thier place to chill and they had a trampaline and it was loads of fun. The plan is to hopefully hang out with them more and get some new friends... if it happens those will be my first offical ENGLISH friends because everyone else immigrated over here.

Sunday we (Matilda, Rita, Sonja, Kim and Suzanne) were going to go for a nice walk around London Bridge but it was raining so instead we hit up the Albert and Victoria Museum for a tour and Harrods. Oh My, if you dont know what Harrods is, its a HUGE department store that is way to expensive but such an experience. There are 6 floors all together and it sells all the brand names... we saw a purse for 2000 pounds. My favourite part was looking at the jewlery haha and dream and on the second floor there is a place called Christmas World and its a whole room thats open year round and its all CHRISTMAS... it was perfect. There was a section for pets and there was actually a dog bed with dog sheets, comforter and pillows... it was rediculous. Then we headed back to Ritas house because she found a new place to live and its so nice and Matilda and I were soo jealous. After we relaxed at her house we head to Brick Lane and new place which I loved. It was so chill and market/underground ish.... it reminded me of the Black Market in Toronto kinda, it will definitly be a place I want to explore in the day time because it was a little dauge. We went to a tea/hookah shop and I fell in love with loose tea. So next weekend Rita and I are going to go to Camden and get me a tea egg and loose tea leaves.
Man I live for my Weekends... Rita and I are in the works for Amsterdam plans :)

Observations....
It is kinda freaky, everyday I see tons of people who remind me of people back home, whether they be friends, family, neighbours or randoms... but none the less its a daily occurance. It really makes you wonder if all those stories you hear as a kid could be factual, like the only think that makes people look different are where their ears are placed... or that everyone has someone identical to them somewhere else in the world hahaha
Now I KNOW they are false but I has actually gotten to a point of being a little creepy. Lol and it makes me feel creepy because I just sit on the tube staring at people.

Anyways Bye =)

Transformation into Mice

Livy's Spring Holiday has started and this means that she has all of next week off and I'm working full time.

We have a full week of fun things planned so lets cross our fingers and hope that she doesn't get in too much trouble and thus getting punished and cancelling our fun outings.

Monday - Wednesday we are hitting up the Discovery Centre, Science Museum, Natural History Museum and Tumble in the Jungle! Most of these things we get to do with Matilda, Anna and Mia which is nice for everyone. And then Friday we have a halloween party to go to at Isabellas nursary.... which we are VERY VERY excited for!

For Halloween we are stealing a costume from school last year and are being the three blind mice. Livy and I are going to be black mice and Bella is a brown one. We turned two of my tank tops into dresses for the girls and I sewed white tummies and tails on them and they are both wearing tights, its so cute. (see picture).

Life with Livy is hopefully going to change for the best... Sara and David has a parent teacher interview last night and it didnt go over so well, so shes now has 3 things she must change and they are cracking down.

1. No Talking and Listening in Class
2. Try your Hardest
3. No rudeness/Attitude to Adults

I wont get into the details of the interview but basically she was said to be very rude and her teacher even mentioned how she treats me in the playground, and shes so smart but not trying. So when they came home last night they asked for my opinion and I started giving it a nice version and hopefully we can chat about it again because I have now come up with some positive ideas to hopefully turn things around more. It was just really nice to see that Im not the only one who gets treated this way =D

Finally funny story the last two time I talked to Dan and Cassie and an English accent came out without me even noticing it... isnt that weird!

SPAIN

(me outside the Picasso Museum)

(me a little nervous to eat our dinner, because the shirp still had eyes... but it was the BEST EVER)

(Sunday in the beautiful weather, looking onto the Beach off of La Ramblas)

(Us Saturday night outside of the National Palace for the Fountain Show)

We are home from a great weekend in BARCELONA, and I can say that our first big trip was AMAZING.

Friday we didnt get to our hostel till about 12:00 and we were both so tired and hungry and sooo happy we finally found it. It was a really nice place with clean single bathrooms and we shared a room with two American girls. Once we were settled we decided to go find food and explore La Ramblas (the main street in Barcelona) and we were a 10 minute walk away from it. On the way their were prostitutes all the way along, real ones it was crazy. It was interesting to see men trying to look stealth paying for sex. The 'best' part was when a man walking past flashed 20 EUROS at us in hopes of getting lucky, ewww!

There was a mix up with the hostel so we ended up changing hostels for Saturday night and got set up with a man who turned his flat into hostel rooms so Rita and I got to share a double bedroom and our own bathroom which was sweet. It was raining Saturday so we decided to do the Museums and tourist things and hit of the beach Sunday. We started off that the Picasso Museum and made our way around to the Cathedrals. Lucky we went shopping Saturday too because in Europe the stops and stuff aren't open Sunday. My fav. part of the trip was Saturday evening, we started off by going to the National Palace where their is a huge Fountain that does a light and music show on weekends (just think fireworks but with water) it was so unreal. Then Rita and I found a nice place to eat that we got to sit at a table on the sidewalk have yummy food and Sangria :)

Saturday night after that we headed back to get ready and go out. We were going to Razzmatazz, which is a HUGE building with so many rooms we got lost like 5 times. Althought the venue was so cool the music was only house and techo so it wasn't really our thing.

Sunday we spend a relaxing day on La Ramblas and at the beach and going down all the markets. It was beautiful Sunday and like 23 degrees.

The biggest challenge was the language difference. As soon as we got off the plane i felt very ecocentric and North American because I made the stupid assumption that anyone who was white could speak English... so not the case! People would talk to you and i felt so stupid because we needed help or directions and I was getting so frustrated that we couldnt get help.

Its hard to explain a life experiences in words but I hope I explained it well enough for you, but can't wait to discuss it it person!

<3 Love from across the Ocean

The World is our Oyster

(note pictures for this weekend to come... still waiting on Rita *hint hint*)

This weekend was full of beautiful British weather, which suprisingly we have been getting a lot, Sara says its giving me a false perception of Britian! None the less it was hot and sunny getting to a high of 23 Sunday.

Saturday I was babysitting the girls all day, we spend the afternoon in the park with a nice picnic ending with ice cream from the local shop. I was free from babysitting duty at 6:00 and I got together with Rita and some new girls (girls Rita has met that live in Greenwich with her that are teachers as well). We all headed to central london to go to a new bar called SOUND. We went here for dinner and dancing. SOUND was 5 floors and 3 of which were open, the 3rd and 4th floor were house music and the 5th was where the resturant was which then turned into the R&B floor. 5th floor was my favourite for music but it was the smallest and all the guys were way to agressive. It was a really fun bar but all the guys were Polish or Serbian and thought that they were all God's gift to Girls... SO NOT THE CASE. By the end of the night I was no longer polite to the guys and would just flat out push them away. It was here that I really missed having my boyfriend with me <3

To end the night with true drunken fashion we went to McDonald... it was the first time i've been since i've been here and I will not be going back anytime soon. Its crazy that althought its McDonalds it wasn't the same greasy food I was expecting. The only options you had for chicken was the McChicken which is the worst one in Canada but I still ordered it and was even more grossed out by England McChicken that I am by the Canadian one, which is hard to believe. Instead of using the McDonald sause it their sause was like a tartur sause ON CHICKEN ewww it was gross and not what I was hoping for in my drunking munchy state.

Sunday Rita and I had another relaxing Sunday... which I am starting to LOVE. We went to Greenwich park which was beautiful. It is also the location of the Prime Meridian which was kinda cool to stand on. We went to the Queens House which is a art gallery in Greenwich and met Dan (a guy who is going to School in Holland and he is from California) and we started talking to him and ended up inviting him to our thanksgiving dinner we were going to have at the Canadian bar "The Maple Leaf ". We parted our ways with Dan and continued on the the Greenwich market and headed to Covent Gardens. At 7:30 we met up with Dan for dinner and drinks. The Maple Leaf was AWESOME, it was so Canadian, Rita and I got a plater that had poutine, BBQ wings and nachos! It was so weird to see the hockey game on, since I haven't seen hockey once since i've been here I thought that it was a taped game they just played because it was a Canadian Bar but then I used my common sense and realize it was a real game haha. I actually enjoyed watching it, it was the Red Wings game. Althought The Maple Leaf provided us with all Canadian Stereotypes it was still very comforting. It was a good way to spend our Thanksgiving, even though we didnt get turkey :(
From there we went to SOHO to find another bar, and we landed in a Hocka (sp) bar and we sat outside smoking out of a Hocka... (note: i dont really count it as smoking because its not a cigarette and you don't inhale) but none the less it is not a typical 'Jenn' activity, but I enjoyed myself.

The best part is that Dan is in Holland until the middle of January, and hes a half an hour away from Amsterdam and his university has guess dorm rooms that he can book and he said we could come and stay there for FREE. So Rita and I are going to look into go in November seeing that its the only month we could go. HOW EXCITING, i love making friends around the world!

And now its tuesday and Livy has been home sick the last two days... and so have I :(
It isn't the funnest thing because when your sick you want to take care of yourself and you can't really do that when you have a 2 and 6 year old to watch after. However, I'm doing everything I can to get better for Friday because its SPAIN weekend WOOT WOOT!

I'll post my pictures once I get them :)
LOVE YOU ALL

Post Scribe:
SARA GOT HER HOLIDAYS AND I GET TO COME HOME DECEMBER 18TH AND MOST LIKELY STAY AT HOME UNTIL THE WEEKEND AFTER NEW YEARS, SO IM HOME FOR OVER TWO WEEKS!!!
THAT WAS THE BEST NEW EVER TO GET WHEN YOU SICK =)

It's not Different, It's just Special

This Blog has been long over due, and I would now like to take the time on this glorious Friday evening in, to point out the not so suttle differences between the true north strong and free and here (Canada references goes to Kyle).

Special Quality #1: Children here Wee in the Grass
The first time I saw it I thought my mind was playing tricks on me but no no no it was real, a parent was holding a child up while they went pee in the corner of the park. Naturally I asked questions... only to find that this is a common occurance here. Ula taught it to Matilda and then the wisdom was passed on to me, however I just couldnt cope with it, they are children not dogs. So I took a stand and said even if Bell had to go wee when we were at the park I would rush her home rather than go to "the corner". Now not all children do it... I think its only legitamate if your children is 4 and younger, but none the less! Sadly I have to say that my stand was cracked and I'm not proud of myself. It happened on the walk home from the park and Bell said she had to go wee so I looked around made sure the coast was clear and did the lift, it is something I am not proud of and will try my best never to have to do the 'London Wee Lift' again.

Special Quality #2: Mixed Changing
School children here change together until they are in senior school... which doesn't come until year 7 (our grade 6). Every Wednesday we go to football practice and all the children Livy's age get changed out of their uniform and into their football clothes in the middle of the field. Now at first I thought this was strange, not because the children would think anything by it but because they are at the age where you need to start teaching them social normals and changing in public is not socially acceptable, thus I thought it was a little odd. But then to add on I found out that for P.E. they have the boys and girls changing together until year 7... children these days are going through puberty at that age, COME ON!

Special Quality #3: Bar Service
When you don't know how things run you can find yourself feeling pretty stupid in a new place. The first time Rita and I went to a pub for dinner and drinks we sat at our table for a half an hour without having someone come to serve us before we realized you had to place all your orders at a bar. At pubs and sports bars they don't have waitresses just bartenders... and you can't create a tab, you need to pay as you drink. This is a quality of England I'm beginning to enjoy because by the end of the night you don't have to pay for your night, you can just leave when you want without waiting around for the waitress to bring you your bill. But it was still something that I really had to get used too. Its all the little things that make me feel like i'm in a different place.

Top Stereotypes/Remarks made about Canada
1. Do you see Bears?
2. Do you see Mountain Lions?
3. What are the RCMP like?
4. You sound weird!
5. Does all Canadians hire out their basements?
6. Do all Canadians have huge gardens?
7. Can you say _______? Followed by a laugh of enjoyment at my accent.
8. Is it cold?
9. Is the fashion different?
10. Are there pubs in Canada?

Wierd Word Differences (North American = Britian)
1. Math = Maths
2. Vest = Body Warmer
3. Bra = Vest
4. Underwear = Pants
5. Pants = Trousers
6. Diaper = Nappy
7. Pee = Wee
8. Bathroom = Toilet
9. French Fries = Chips
10. Chips = Crisps
11. Sweater = Jumper
12. Jumper = Pinafold
13. Scab = Graze
14. Face Towel = Flannel
15. Seven-Thirty = Half Past Seven
16. Sept 8th, 1986 = 8th Sept, 1986
17. Pharmacy = Chemist
18. Blinker = Indicator

Hope you enjoyed your mini United Kingdom lesson.
Have a great Thanksgiving Weekend, its definitly making me miss HOME!

Only at the Pit

(a beautiful church on our walk to Blackheath )

This weekend Rita and I headed to Camden (the town of Amy Whinehouse) to do some black market shopping. It was quite an experience... we went to two markets the first was 'The Camden Market' which at first we thought it was a lot to handle but after we got to the other market 'The Camden Market' was a walk in the park! There was really no one who could fit it because they sold everything primary gothic, punk, and rave clothes... everything Rita and I have ever wanted! It actually got to a point where we were lost in the twist and turns of this underground market that we couldn't think and needed to get out.

Ever thought the undergound world of Camden was a little to much for a small town girl it was still very cool and i'm glad we got to experiences it... just another day of 'living the dream'.

Camden positives = I got a dress of the wedding and I got a new winter coat!!!

Once we left the underground world Rita and I went back to her house and got ready for a night out in Blackheath, the town Rita lives in. It took us a while but we found Blackheath Village (the place with all the bars), we just wanted to find a nice pub to drink at because we werent ready for clubbing or dressed properly. However ironically in England we couldn't just find a nice pub so we make our way to Cactus Pit (which by the end of the night was granted the nickname 'The Pit'). Our night started there because the first classy bar we found closed at 12 and when we left we were stopped but 3 guys who were trying get into The Pit but because there were already too many boys you needed girl with you to get in. So we said we would go in with them because they offered to buy us a drink and pay our cover! SWEET... but althought we were told The Pit was Blackheaths hot spot so we were a little nervous about our attire when we headed down stairs I was reunited with the England verson of PHILS (with an extra added cougar style). It was hilarous Rita and I spent our night people watching and mocking Britians lack of rythme. Anyways the lowlight of our night was when the drunkest of the 3 guys we met ended up telling us he thought he was going to sleep with us and then flashed his penis to the entire bus stop that we were sitting in (to make a really long story short!).

Oh, only at The Pit.

(us infront of the side view of St.Pauls Cathedral)

After our eventful Saturday we got to sleep in Sunday till 11, the latest I have slept in since I've been here! Our plans of going to Greenwich Park was cancelled by the constant mist London brings so we went on an adventure. We planned on going the the Museum of Albert and Victoria but got lost and found our way to Tate Modern Art Collection, the Millenium Bridge and St. Pauls Cathedral. At Tate we got away from the weather at got to see Picasso and Andy Warhol and we became rebels when we took a quick picture of Warhol.

BEST PART OF THE WEEKEND = Going to a Service Sunday at St. Paul Cathedral.

It was the most beautiful place i've ever been and I can't even explain it to all of you. The building was amazing, it was so hard to focus on the service because I was in awe the entire time with the atmosphere. At the end Rita and I lite a candle at the back of the church as symbol of our prayers and left, it is definitly a place I will try to go to as much as I can!

PS : Rita and I booked a weekend in Ireland in March for St. Patricks Day... WOOT WOOT!

Cookie Monster

Today for Olivia's reward for her positive reinforcement chart we got to bake cookies!

On Sunday we decided we were going to make the swirl cookies in her Kid's Cook Book because she had never made them and we got to bake them today. We made Chocolate and Blue swirls, we had tons of fun doing and it was so nice to have a good afternoon with her. Its days like this that make me appricate our times. No matter how much trouble Livy is at so time when shes being good we have great times. After we ate dinner we all got 2 cookies and she said they were very nice! WOOT WOOT, even though I burnt the first batch. We saved some dough for her and Sara to make some tomorrow and when we were putting her to bed she said she was excited to bake with mommy cause she knows how to cook and she won't burn them like we did... but the point of that story is she said "we" and she didn't blame it on me!

She Likes Me.... She Really Likes Me!


(we put flour on our face to look like we were working hard... we may have went a bit over board)

Matilda and I have been talking about accents a lot lately, because althought she has always noticed the difference between English and North American I am now slowly noticing it. It has made me wonder if now that I noticed the differences will I start thinking that how I saw words sounds inproper as well. To the folk here I sound lazy because I said "d's" instead of "t's"... and now that I notice it, it will be interesting to see if I adapt my accent. At first Matilda used to point it out, then I started noticing it when someone else was talking and then today on the way to nursary with Liv I noticed a word I said that I can't remember now that I used "d" instead of the "t" that was in it, and it sounded wrong as I said it.

Oh man I'm becoming a Brit.

Cherrio.

Just Call me Julia

Hey Everyone,

So Rita and I have just had the busiest weekend ever... and it was the most fun. Sorry that I haven't kept you as updated as usually and also sorry in advance for how long this blog could potentionally be.

Before I explain my great and fabulous romantic getaway weekend with Rita I'll give you a quick overview of life. Things are going well here... i'm now at the point where I am developing minor annoyances with my job and situation but nothing major and I just have to remember to step back and count to ten a great teaching method and then i'm back and level headed again. The hardest part of being an au pair is living with your job, and my solution is get out of the house whenever I'm not working, and this also helps me to keep busy and see things. The weekends are definitly my favourite part of this all, but Olivia and Isabella still are great girls and I have a great time with both of them on an idividual level. I cherish our alone time together when its either me and Liv or me and Bell (thats my fav.).

I went today and got a National Insurance Number so I'm going into Liv's school tomorrow to see whats the deal with that job.

Oh ya and did I mention I'm going to SPAIN!

And now for the weekend of madness...


Saturday Rita and I ventured into Nothing Hill (thus the Julia Roberts connection), and hit up portabello market. It was crazy cool and Nothing Hill so so beautiful and so what you would typically think of when you imagine London. After a few hours at the market we went for a stroll and found Kensington Garden/Palace which was just as amazing. A tour guide was explaining the Palace and we just joined in for a mini lesson. I can't even discribe to you how beautiful this Garden was it was so beautiful you weren't even aloud in it! Since we had wandered away from the tube we got lost in England Suburbia but asked someone for help and got it!


We tubed back to my house where Rita was sleeping as well Saturday night to get ready for the bar. We had to be in the Zoo Bar before 9:00 to bet the cover and we got there at like 8:30 (PS. who goes the the bar at 8:30!) but it was already packed. The upstairs level was more barish and they had a DJ who played "cheese" music (that is what these English folk call Top 40), we stayed upstairs for about an hour, then ventured down for the club scene. They played good dance music and it was a blast. Since the drinking age is 18 Rita and I felt old but we had to go to a 18 plus and not a 21 plus bar because Matilda is only 18. We danced the night away (and when I mean night I mean until 12:30) then we went to catch the tube... which was closed so we had to take a night bus and due to drunk people and our desirefor food we didnt get home till 3:30. We were ok with leaving at 12:30 seeing that we had been there since 8:30.

It was crazy over and over we just kept looking at eachother and saying "were partying in CENTRAL LONDON!", its pretty much the same. Except all the girl wear dresses, and all the boys are a lot more forward, not in a creepy way because they would back off once you said no thank you lol, but still very forward none the less.


Once getting to bed by 4 we had to be up for 8:30 so we could take an hour train into Brighton. I would compare Brighton to a somewhat England Grandbend. It was a university town with a beach and sweet shopping. Brighton is also known and a gay district, and having a sweet night life, so Rita and I plan on going back to spend a night one Saturday. We just hung out on the beach, sleeping, eating fish and chips and touring around all day. It was a great relaxing Sunday after a very busy Saturday. Surprisingly I was able to tan in September in England so now I have a sweet tanned face :)

I will try to keep up to date so that blog aren't this long!

Have a good week.

BARCELONA BABY

I am going to Barcelona, Spain!!!

Rita and I took our dreams into our own hands and bought plane tickets to Barcalona for the weekend of October 17 to 19th. So pumped... neither of us have ever been so we can't wait. I have to look into what we are going to put into our etinerary (if anyone has suggestions let me know).

Last night Matilda and I hit up a spa, because every last thursday of the month they give all their treatments half off. We went after work and they provided us with free wine and food, and all the staff was very friendly I met a girl there who was waiting to get pampered too and she was very friendly we chatted about the area and places to go etc. Everyone here seems very friendly and if you are ever sitting beside someone alone 99% of them will start a conversation with you. It was a very classy place and I got my toes done and my eye brows threaded. An East Indian woman used a tread she held between her teeth and her hands and twisted out the hair. It was crazy cool and she was really nice, and it was HALF PRICE.

Not much to say about the weeks so I will post again after my excited weekend, just wanted to brag a little about SPAIN!

Love.

Rita Marie Reda is HERE

RITA IS HERE!

Saturday Rita flew in for her year of teaching here. Sara being one of the kindest woman ever offered to pick her up with me on her day off so we didn't have to take the tube around with all of her stuff. It was so nice to see a friendly familiar face :) We met her at the airport around 10:30 after all the traffic and getting lost, and had a huge movie moment where we ran to each other and being very overwhelmed with a new place and experience tears of relief came.

We got everything organized and settled by around 2:00 and we head off on her first LONDON adventure. Lucky us the tube out of her town was down due to engineering so we took a bus instead. I took her to Canary Wharf a nice spot with shopping and dining. We ended up randomly at a place called The Docklands; it is an old huge brick building right off the dock and it is turned into a connected row of different places to eat and drink. So after we read each menu twice we finally decided that we must eat Fish and Chips and choose a good spot. Little did we know that as the night went on the spot we picked turned into a Canary Wharf hot spot and soon the bar was full of girls and guys dressed to impress. It was nice, a few young chaps started conversation with us in a 100% friendly plutonic way, which was reassuring because sadly its a rare occurance. At about 11 we decided to call it a night because we both had to find our ways home in different directions, and we were getting up bright an early the next day.


Sunday we (Rita, Matilda, Matildas friend Ebby and I) ventured to Hyde Park (one of Londons famous parks) to see The Horsemans Sunday. However, we only saw horses go by us for about 2 minutes and never found the festivities. Instead we made our way to Speakers Corner, it is a place where every Sunday the path turns into a center for debate and personal thought. Individuals can stand on ladders or other things and express their thoughts on topics such as religion, politics and war. Some of these thoughts are very contraversal and heated arguments occur. We listened to a few people who had quite 'interesting' veiws on things, but their was one man whos ideas and thoughts were very educated. He explained that he was the man who created the first documentary that the movie "Blood Dimond" was based.

After almost 2 hrs listening to different people talk we headed out to Oxford Street to show Rita some real shopping, and I feel in love (Sorry Daniel) with Primark. For all of those who don't know what Primark is its just the best and cheapest store EVER. I bought so much stuff and it only cost me 25 pounds! LOVE IT!

But now my weekend is over and I dont know where it went, I find that days here go by SO fast its going to be Christmas in no time! Tomorrow Rita is coming over in my off time to see my town and to use the internet!

Hugs and Love
<3

Down in the Dumps

(a picture from our regular bath time fun)

I have caught my first England cold and I blame it all of Bella, it has been going around at nursary and she has now succeeded in passing it on to all the adults in the house. So althought today was one of the few beautiful days we get I spend my extra time curled up in bed with a permanant tissue attached to my nose. I am hoping that it will pass by the weekend seeing that Bell is better and I have plans this weekend.

Friday Matilda has invited me to go out with her Swedish friends (althought I was suppost to meet them at the Thames Fireworks, I didn't get a chance to go to them because I was running late). We are going to go into Central London for dinner and drinks. It shall be low key seeing that its an Early morning Saturday because I'm pick Rita up from the airport! Sunday I am planning on going to Horseman's Sunday in Hyde Park, with Matilda, Rita and maybe Kaily (the new Aussie nanny, who replaced Ula).

Waking up sick was not pleasant especially when this morning Bella gave me such a treat as to poo in her pants! So literally my day started in the DUMPS. I must think of the possitive and at least it was a solid shit and therefore it was minimal mess. Oh the joys of toliet trainning, I can only hope that I will love my child so much that things like shit won't bother me. Since I started my morning off with such excitment it was hard to top.

As everyone probably knows Wednesday night is date night with Daniel on SKYPE so today with being sick, dealing with poo, and missing home more than usually I was in a semi emo state... but... Matilda is great and when Im with her I don't miss home as much and when I do I have someone that can relate to me and listen to me.

We have planned to do a shopping trip in Leeds/York at the end of November for Christmas etc. So I am going to start planning that soon! Us two are closest out of all the Au Pairs, whenever I'm not at the house with the girls the 5 or 6 depending if Bell is in nursary are always together. Its great because Mia and Liv are the same age and Anna is just one year older than Bell so its great, we plan activities and things together.

Tuesday = sweet day (when Matilda and I are aloud dessert with our coffee)
Wednesday = when Mia and Liv play football (note we saw her coach close up and hes not as attractive as we thought, mildly disappointing)
Thursday = if the girls are good we get ice cream
and lucky Matilda doesn't work Fridays :(

Days are flying by, and Weeks are disappearing
Home in exactly (well probably) 3 months today <3

PS. Happy Anniversary
PSS. Happy Early Birthday CASSIE! (sorry I can't be there)

Midday Assistant

(thats an image from Sunday at the Thames Festival, its a view of the London Eye - take note Cassie)

I have EXCITING NEWS... that most of you don't know, I am in the middle of getting a part time job at Olivia's school as a midday assistant!

A midday assistant is someone who basically does lunch duty. I'm incharge of courtyard duty as well as the lunch room duty. I am there with the students from 12:00 - 1:30. Today I did a shadow day with a woman who thought she was queen of the courtyard, slightly ripping all the other parents or community members who do this job. So I get about 12 pounds a day 5 days a week... which is sweet because I wasn't going to get a part time job because I wanted my weekend free so this is the best of both world, and I am employee by the London school board with is great for me C.V.

So today I was helping out some students at lunch and we had a yogurt explosion... so I was helping a boy clean of his sweater but we decided to take it off because he had a golf shirt underneath. He left but then returned because we noticed there was some on his trousers, I said well we will have to wash that off because we can't take off your trousers and he was like "No, then they'd see my penis" aww it was so cute, hahaha I LOVE KIDS!

As I was on my duty I was just observing that there are NO FAT KIDS in England... there was the occasional cute chubby child but no fat kids like we have in North America! It was crazy I had never even noticed this until that moment, and it may sound like an odd observation but its kinda shocking once you think about it.

IMPORTANT NOTE TO ALL WHO CARE: I TALKED TO SARA AND SHE HAS NOW SAID THAT I FOR SURE GET TO COME HOME AT CHRISTMAS AT LEAST FOR 10 DAYS AND WE ARE STILL WORKING ON 14 ... AND IF ITS 14 I GET TO MAKE THE WEDDING, CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEARS!!!


WOOT WOOT

I will keep you posted on the job :)
Life here is working out great... minus the whole in my heart for all of you <3

Girls Night Out & Thames Festival

(above is a picture of my nanny network left to right: Ula, Adina, Matilda, Spikey the Farrot and ME!)

Friday Night after work I went out with the other nannies. It was a great time we went to Ula's house and pre partied and then headed to a local pub before we were going to go to a club. However... we never made it to the club because since Matlida and Adina are only 18 and 20 they dont have much experience drinking. Thus the later portion of my night was spent covered in vomit and taking care of a few drunk ladies. Now that is the PG version of the story because the entire story envolves me waking up a few host families for help as well. But looking back on the night I still see it as fun because it was really nice getting out with the girls. I'm sure we will make it to a club at some point but for now we just made it to the parking lot... does that count?

On Saturday because of the reward system I created I had to take Livy skating. We had fun tho we went from 14:00 - 16:00 (just to give you a bit of the struggle I face daily since every clock here is 24hrs!). I have never seen an ice rink like this they had a DJ and lights and a disco ball we only have that for roller rink back home and even those get closed down due to the occasional shooting! Then Saturday Night I stayed in as well because I was babysitting, but I didn't mind, I had hardly any sleep from the night before. Thats one thing I hate... that even on weekends here I dont get to really sleep in because my room is outside of the kitchen so when the family wakes up at 8 or so they are all I can hear =P

(above is a picture of Southwark Cathedral, which I stopped at to have some ice cream)

Today I went to The Thames Festival... it is once a year and runs from Westminster Bridge to the Tower Bridge. It was really cool im so tired from walking but it was nice. There were tons of booths of people selling thier art and crafts. I picked up a few Christmas and Birthday presents and I know its early but the stuff was super cool and I was supporting independant artists! I stopped along the way and tried my first cold cidar. It was nice it was nothing I could drink a lot of. Today the weather is beautiful here and so after walking it was nice to sit down under and tree and have a drink and read. I stopped for a minute to think about the fact that I was drink in public and it was socially acceptable! I countiued my walk and caught the next tube at the London Bridge station. On my way I saw the Tate Modern Art Collection and I will definitly be going back to that!

Tonight Matilda and I are going back to the Festival and catching the fireworks that are on tonight. We are hopefully going to meet up with her Sweden friends which will be nice because she is like my friends back home and so I hope her friends are as well :)

I will hopefully get some pictures and post them on facebook.
Have a good week everyone <3

Nanny Network

I am now on a regular basis hanging out with Matilda (an au pair from Sweden), Adina (the Rumanian au pair), and Ula (a nanny from Poland). Those are the girls I am going out with TOMORROW and wow I can't wait!

SIDE NOTE: an Au Pair is live-in, a Nanny just works for the family

Matilda and I usually end up meeting up everyday at about 1 - 3 because that is her down time and we grab coffee or explore. She is an au pair for 2 little girls as well Mia and Anna. Mia is in Olivias classroom and she and Liv are the only two girls on the football team that happens every Wednesday (PS. they have very attractive coach). Anna is 3 and she plays with Bell everyday in the park. Matilda and I get along very well and her English is amazing so we have no problems there...

On Wednesday we went and watched the girls play football and it was really nice. I found it funny as I sat there because I felt like I was being prepped to become a sweet Soccer MOM! (not that motherhood is on my mind lol).

I forget sometimes how innocent and interesting children are... they are so nieve and curious and have no fear in asking a "silly" question. A cute example I was telling Liv last night about Toby (my parrot) and how he was an African Grey. She was very intreged in the fact that he spoke English and asked why... and I said because at home we speak England and he learns what we say. Then she asked "Does he speak African too?"

Its so nice having friend here and we bond so well because they are all Au Pairs and know what were going through. Every morning Bell, Anna, Matilda and I go to the park after dropping of Liv and Mia. Then every day after school we all go back to the park and Ula and her 2 girls join us. Its nice not only for us Au Pairs but for the girls as well... they have other people to play with there own age etc. We are kinda like a small Nanny Network. Today I had Mia over for tea until 6 and then another day Matilda will take Liv. Although this is Ula's last week with her family because she is starting school, she lives in a town close by with her boyfriend and a new nanny with take her place. She is Austrailian and 21! I really excited to meet her because she will be the only one other than myself whos native language is English!

Finally, the other great thing about nanny networking is everyone is from a different part of the world... thus I have a sweet hook ups all over. Matilda is going home on two different occasions and has already extended a warm welcome!

I will post again Saturday... probably bitter and hungover because I promised Liv I'd take her Skating as her postive reinforement reward, and since she in school during the week, I have to do it on my TIME OFF =P

Cheers

They Say its your Birthday <3

Hello all... and THANKS for all the GREAT birthday WISHES!

Yes, I am 22 years old today and I am pleased to report that the Jack family has made it a good one.

This will be short since I wrote yesterday but I'm sure you all want to know about my birthday here. I woke up to cards from Sara and Liv (a hand made one from Liv) and then Sara rushed off to work so she could come home as quick as possible. We had a great day today going to the park and the library.

SIDE NOTE: At the park I was hanging out with Matilda and a new girl Olya and both these girls are nice and they are both people that I would get along with well and we decided that on friday we are going OUT! Seeing that I haven't been clubbing once yet I'm going into alcohol withdraw and was seriously contemplating drinking wine alone in my room with a nice movie... but now I have girls to go out with!!! WOOT WOOT

Ok, back to my birthday I made a nice dinner or saugage, mash (thats what they call mash potatos) and mini corn cobs and then Sara was home and we had CHOCOLATE CAKE... which was a nice treat because we eat very healthy here and the closes thing I get to a treat is salt and vinger flavoured rice cakes. The Jack Family also bought me another travel guide from the same book company the London one was but and this one is for Britian... and along with that they got me this membership to the Youth Hostel Association of Britian and it gives me discounts of all the hostels and Britian and over 80 in other countries!!! A gift that I will for sure use to its full advantages!

Now my day is over and I am glad that it was all nice... they made me feel very special and thats how it should be on your birthday. Althought of course I miss home cooked meals from mom because birthdays mean you get to pick the menu but the Jacks did a pretty good job of making me feel at home <3

.smile.
ps. thanks again for all your lovely wishes