A Day in the Life, Holly the Au Pair - Today, Tuesday, January 31st

She wakes up suddenly.

It is 5:10am. Another nightmare. This is the fourth strange or bad dream in five nights. Dreams that range from almost drowning, to almost being shot in the head, to wanting so badly to be with someone very important to her, and lastly, to having an unresponsive baby. Very vivid dreams. Nights are not going well for this au pair. She tries to sleep again, but it is hard.

The alarm finally startles her awake at 7:00am. The au pair is exhausted. She struggles to wake up and eventually makes it to her computer. A crippling pain shoots through her lower stomach. Ow, ow, she thinks. She sits at her computer a while, talking to someone who makes her feel a little better, and the sitting upright seems to be helping. Around 7:25am or so, she knows she needs to make her bed. She stands, the pain flaring again slightly, but not as bad as it was before. She makes her bed, then gathers her clothes to take a shower. Looking through her clothes, she knows she needs to do laundry.

After her shower, the au pair gathers her empty mug which held tea the night before, as well as some recyclables, and makes her way down the stairs, feeling a little better. She first notices that there is an extra voice in the house. One of the children must have stayed home from school today, she thinks. She walks into the two youngest children's room and begins her daily chores of fluffing the blankets and pillows, and opening the windows. She also looks for extra clothes that the children sometimes leave scattered about. Finds some, and puts them away properly. On to the next room.

She says good morning to her host mother. The au pair and her host parents had a long discussion the night before, making sure she felt comfortable and happy here. It is not always easy for the au pair to explain why she is very quiet at first.

Downstairs to the kitchen. Sigh. The kitchen is always a mess. She begins to clean up the children's breakfast remnants. Hmm. The boy doesn't seem to have had breakfast. He must be the one sick today. The dishwasher gets emptied and dirty dishes are placed inside. The kitchen is cleaned. Time to sweep. She sweeps the kitchen and dining room before moving on to the walkway. She walks to the door and opens it. Brr... it is bitter cold today. She shakes out all the rugs and puts them outside before sweeping. She sweeps the walkway which extends around a wall near the laundry room. Peeks inside. Sure enough, there is laundry to be folded. She finishes her sweeping, then talks to her host mother.

Sure enough, the little boy is sick today with a fever. The mother very pointedly says not to bother dusting, vacuuming and mopping the children's rooms today because she doesn't want to wake him. However, the au pair is more than welcome to do the playroom and third floor area. The au pair asks if that is what the mother wants her to do today. The mother responds, "yes, why not?" Very subtle, the au pair thinks.

So into the laundry room she goes to gather dusting materials. Then up to the third floor to do the dusting of the playroom, as well as her own room. Then she pulls the vacuum cleaner out and very thoroughly vacuums. Then back to the laundry room to gather the soapy water and mop. The whole third floor is mopped, then the stairs all the way down. Back to the laundry room to empty the dirty bucket. On to the laundry.

The laundry is folded, then placed in a basket and up to the second floor she goes to put everything where it belongs. Back downstairs. She finds the host mother to ask what else she would like done for the day besides taking the recycling to the bins (in Germany, plastic, metal, and glass needs to be brought to recycling bins that are placed around the area). The host mother would like her to pick up the youngest child and her friend from school. Okay. That gives the au pair about a twenty minute break to get her winter gear on and prepare herself to go out into the cold.

At about 11:20am, she leaves to go to the school down the street and around the corner. She makes it to the school, then waits for the children. The children are picked up then brought home.

Upon arrival at home, the mother has a question for the au pair. Since the au pair has expressed liking to cook, and since the mother prepares crepe-like pancakes which are similar to a recipe that the au pair has mentioned before, the mother would like to know if the au pair would prepare lunch for the children. The au pair asks when the lunch preparation needs to begin. 12:30pm. A half-hour. Sigh. This gives the au pair just enough time to make her own lunch, eat, find the recipe, then find the ingredients. Lunch for the au pair: salad. Lunch for the children: crepes with a variety of sugar, chocolate spreads, and jams. Lunch for the mother: juice.

The au pair cleans up after lunch. She asks if she can do her laundry later. Yes, that is fine. The children liked the crepes, and the mother has them thank her. They are welcome. The mother tells the au pair she is free to go out to Munich to buy more yarn for more teddy bears, as the previous yarn was not suitable. However, the au pair needs to take the recycling as well as pick up two containers of milk, one of 1.5% fat and the other of 3.5% fat, as those are the percentages here.

Before the au pair leaves, the oldest girl wants her to be a horse. The girl jumps on the au pair's back and bounce and leans and twists in many ways which tests the au pair's balance. But she has fun. Then the au pair gets dressed again to go out into the cold. She is very tired. To the recycling bins first, then to the Solln train station. The S7 train picks her up then drops her off at Karlsplatz. The store she needs to go into happens to be right in that station, so in she goes. The yarn section is found. She looks up. There are so many choices. What do I pick that will be perfect for the bear, she thinks. After about twenty minutes or so, she has made her decision. Nine euros later, she is out of the store and back on a train to Solln.

When she arrives at the station, she knows she must go to the Halong Bay restaurant to pick up what she would like for dinner: sushi. After she makes her selection, she goes across the street to the Reformhaus organic store for a roll and the newest version of the "natürlich" magazine (Natuerlich Magazin). Ooo, recipes inside, the magazine cover says. I love recipes, she thinks.

Now to pick up the milk. She walks down the street, past the recycling station, and into Tengelmann. Milk is located and purchased. Into the ubiquitous "Nothing on Me is Plastic" bag it goes, which she carries with her always to prevent unwanted and eco-unfriendly plastic bags from accumulating.

She walks home. Into the house she goes and asks the mother if she would like the milk placed directly into the fridge. Yes. The au pair also puts her sushi away, but brings everything else, including the roll, upstairs with her. Pre-dinner snack.

Teddy bear time. Let's see if this yarn works, unlike the last two different kinds. It does, and looks nice, in fact. About 45 minutes later she goes downstairs to see if anything help is needed. No. Laundry is able to be started, but the family's laundry needs to be moved around first.

About an hour later, the au pair returns downstairs to see if anything's needed. The table can be set. The au pair sets the table, then returns to her crocheting. A half hour later, she returns downstairs and asks for an estimated time of dinner. The mother states that because the father is running late, and the kids really need to eat, that it would be served for the children momentarily and she is welcome to eat with them if she chooses. She chooses.

The two girls eat lasagna for dinner, the boy picks at his chicken and rice soup, and the au pair enjoys her sushi, although it isn't the best she has ever had. The father arrives home just as the children finish eating, and the au pair cleans up. She also makes her evening cup of tea, which she decides would be a cocoa based tea tonight, and heads to her room.

At about 21:00 or 9:00pm, the laundry is checked. Hmm, the dryer is open. Looks like everything is dry. The au pair flattens the laundry on the table then moved her own laundry to the dryer. There are some damp sheets on the laundry room table which the au pair figures can be moved after her laundry is dry, as she doesn't have enough clothing for the morning.

The au pair does her German homework. Later, she check on the laundry. To her dismay, the mother had moved her wet laundry from the dryer, put it in a basket on the floor, and put the damp sheets inside. Irritated, the au pair takes the now dry sheets out of the dryer, puts her wet clothing inside, and folds the sheets. It is about 10:30pm. By the time her laundry is done now it will be very late. The au pair isn't sleeping very well as it is.

About midnight, the au pair finally gathers her laundry, folds it, then puts it away. Time to finish up the blog post. A few pictures and it's good to go. School tomorrow. She must get some rest.

Crepes for lunch.

Recycling from left: metal, plastic, brown glass, green glass, and white/clear glass.

This month's magazine. I am trying to learn how to read it.

My non-plastic bag for carrying virtually anything.

My lilies bloomed. They are lovely.

Squishable Talk

Julius: I am so MAD!

Peanut Butter: Julius, I think you're overreacting.

J: I am not. We'll have been here three weeks tomorrow and we haven't left the house once. Then this new guy comes along-

Yulysta: I'm a girl.

J: -this new girl comes along and gets to go out on a field trip the day she arrives. It's so unfair.

Y: Holly and I only went down the street to pick up the youngest girl from school. We were gone only for a half hour or so.

J: Still. The little girl got to carry you the whole way home and we had to stay here. On the dresser. Alone.

PB: Julius we have had plenty of play time with the children since we've gotten here. All three of the kids like playing with us, and even liked looking at our website to see which of our friends they'd like to have for themselves.

J: Okay but what about going out and seeing the city? Holly has gotten to go all over Munich, looking at German tea stores, finding organic food, going sledding with the girls, and getting to see cool architecture. She even went to a new area called "Pasing" to look for a hobby store which she enjoyed very much.

Y: Uhm, I only went down the street, and I'll have you know I was stuck in a plastic bag, inside of a box, for over a week. Luckily, I am able to hold my breath indefinitely.

J: All of us can. And what kind of name is "Yulysta" anyway?

PB: Be nice, will you? She's one of us now, and Holly loves us all equally.

Y: "Yulysta" happens to be a lovely name that is a combination of Holly's grandma's kitty's names. I was a gift to Holly, and the name has special meaning.

J: I'd fold my arms and pout, but my arms are too small.

PB: Okay so now that you've gotten that out of your system, can we talk about life here at home?

J: Whatever.

PB: Holly has been doing a lot of cleaning lately. Dishes, mopping, laundry, dusting, vacuuming, making beds, and wiping down the bathrooms. But she has also had some time to be doing some fun things with the children like craft time with clay, and looking up fun experiments, and buying more yarn for more teddy bears.

Y: I like the clay lily she made. It matches the orange real lilies she has now.

PB: Holly has also found a bit of soil and will begin her planing within the next day or so.

Y: She has collected a total of five containers now, and has eight kinds of seeds.

J: Papaya, pumpkin, apple, pear, clementine, mango, avocado, and red pepper.

PB: Holly has also had to do some German homework for her class. Her German is getting better, but it's still hard sometimes.

J: Also this weekend we have two guests: the mother's friend and her daughter. This lessens the work load slightly because there isn't any babysitting to be done really with her friend here.

Y: She did get to the bio-welt store today. I'm noticing Holly really likes sesame seeds. She loves Halva, especially the kind here in Germany (Wiki Halva or Allos Halva), and she tried something new total called Laddu, which also had sesame in it but is very rich and it isn't something you eat all at once (Wiki Laddu or Sesam Laddu), and she bought some sesame topped crispbread/crackers (Linea Natura Sesam Vollkorn Knäcke). 

PB: She bought some other things too, like juice and yogurt for breakfast, gummy bears to snack on for the kids, mints for her tummy, tea (also for the stomach), rolls, and falafel.

J: What is falafel? It sounds like a name she'd come up with for a Squishable.

PB: It is traditionally an Egyptian fried ball made from chickpeas or fava beans (Wiki Falafel).

Y: It's very healthy for you. Holly is trying to not only stay organic, but healthy as well. Lots of fruits, vegetables, yogurt, seeds/nuts, and whole grains.

J: Boring. So can we talk about how she went sledding with the girls? She accidentally went down the hill with the sled facing the wrong way and the ends of the bottom of the sled dug into the ground and sprayed her with so much snow the oldest girl who was sitting behind her laughed so hard she practically fell off the sled after it stopped!

PB: That was funny. She was pretty cold. The oldest girl loved it, but the youngest didn't like it so much.

J: Let's see what else... you know? Not much has happened this week. We have a new Squishable friend-

Y: Thank you.

J: -and Holly did a lot of cleaning. She did some crafts and things too, for example she finally finished that 1500 piece puzzle. Well, it was really only 1493 pieces. It was missing seven. Oh! And Holly did those melty-bead-things that you make into a picture and then iron them together, with the kids. What are those things called?

Y: Perler Beads.

PB: For the rest of the weekend, Holly will be working on a special teddy bear as well as working on her German homework, going to the church tomorrow at 4:00pm, and maybe doing some more craft things.

J: Hopefully we'll have actually traveled a little by the next time we post.

PB: Holly will keep everyone updated as new and exciting things come around. And she'll post at least once a week, if not more, just to keep everyone up to speed.

Y: We hope you like the pictures and comments that Holly has posted below.

PB, J, & Y: Grüss gott!

The children's school. This is the right side...

... and this is the left side.

Our sled.

We found an area that had lots of ice. We collected some.

Whee!

Climbing back up the hill... not so easy.

This cute dog was having so much fun in the snow. Rolling around, running like a madman up and down and around. Even came up to me to be scratched. Liked me so much that the oldest girl commented that he's not my dog...

My Perler bead creation. The kids liked it. The littlest girl said he was cranky.

My very first 1500 piece puzzle ever. Can you spot all missing seven pieces?

My lilies. They make the room smell amazing. The one at the bottom is the one I made. The card came with my Squishable. I was so excited to get my first package.

Pasing. My very first time there. I was looking for the hobby shop, which I found, and subsequently found two bio stores and a flower shop, which is where I bought my lilies.

Interesting point: There are two city halls, the original and the new one. This is the new one. The organic cafe I found was in Marienplatz, which is where this picture and the one below it was taken. The other Rathaus picture is in an earlier blog post.

Another interesting point: Germany has 16 states. Bavaria, where Munich is located, is one of the states. Bavaria is considered to be very different from the other 15, mostly because at one point it was its own kingdom. In fact, there are still palaces in the area. I plan on visiting those palaces soon.

I hope to be doing some more exciting things and some sight-seeing. I will keep everyone updated!

P.S.: Check out the new mascot picture if you haven't already!

Introducing Ben the Bear

So... what has happened since Wednesday?


Thursday - Went to the art museum with the littlest girl and her class (equivalent to our 1st grade). It was very interesting and not that hard to follow for someone who is learning German. I got to see some works of art from artists around Europe, and interestingly, a painter from New York City, whose name I cannot remember. I also went to the immigration office with that letter from my school, and I was a-okay to be given my temporary work visa and am now officially legal with my very first visa.

This is just outside of the S-Bahn station where the class and chaperones walked to get to the museum.

Also on Thursday I went exploring a little. I had to be back by 5:00pm, which meant at the time I only had three hours or so to explore, so I found myself completely lost at the Hauptbahnhof Central Station, then unable to find the craft store I was looking for. It turns out that the oldest really likes to crochet. She told me she really wanted to make a teddy bear, I thought this was a good idea, and I wanted to buy her some yarn (Garn in German). But I could not locate the store, and was very tired and cold by this time so I turned around, bought some organic food, and went home only to find out I had been standing right in front of the mall it's located in.

Okay so this is the U-Bahn and S-Bahn map. This is what I have to follow when I try to get somewhere. My "home" station is Solln, my school's station is Pullach, the church is at Goetheplatz, and Marienplatz is where most of the sights and fun things are.

My "home" station. Notice a few interesting things here: first is the "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" movie ad in the background. In Europe, they have a delay in getting American movies because they are often dubbed in the native language to that country first. Another interesting thing is the PacMan graffiti near the tracks. American influence is everywhere.

A big black crow at the Pullach station as I was returning home from school today.

Friday - Did my normal chores on Friday plus mopped the whole dining room and living room. The mother informed me that she would not really be needing me so I was free to do as I wish after my chores, but I also needed to open up a bank account now that I had my visa. I opened up a bank account and then, determined, I went back to Hauptbahnhof and walked inside the mall. I was a little confused as to how the mall was set up, as it wasn't a very large mall, but I found the store (idee. Creativmarkt) and purchased: two balls of yarn (one ivory colored for me, one blue for the oldest), a crochet hook for the girl, some fluffy stuffing, four teddy bear eyes, and a piece of black felt. As I was leaving the store, I noticed another store (GALERIA Kaufhof), which is like a really upscale, very, very, very, nice Walmart. As I was perusing, I noticed a whole section devoted to knitting and crocheting. I was very excited but did not want to buy additional things without knowing what the teddy bear was going to need, and besides, I couldn't just purchase a gift for the oldest child, I needed to buy something for the other two as well. So I wandered around all seven or eight floors of this ridiculous store, and eventually came across a children's game section. I bought the youngest a puzzle (because I knew how much she liked them), and the boy a little physics experiment kit (complete with balloon rocket). I also purchased for myself a pair of "house shoes" (just a brief interlude here: for those of you who do not know what "house shoes" are, they are basically slippers with a rubber sole. That being said, I nearly killed myself the third or fourth day I was here slipping down the curved, high-gloss, wood, bottom part of the stairs. The mother suggested that I pick up some slippers. Me being stubborn the way I am thought: I'll just be more careful around that part of the stairs. So then I slipped on Friday. At the top part of the stairs. Nearly dying again [tad bit of an exaggeration]. So I begrudgingly purchased a safe pair of slippers.) and gloves (and for those of you who know me, those were difficult for me to purchase).

My house shoes. Note: This picture was not supposed to be on its side. Another Blogger error.

After leaving, I found a very nice organic store at which I was able to purchase many of my "special diet" items there. Just as a note: the mother and I came to a consensus. I would prepare all of my own meals and she will pay for half of my food purchases. This works really well for both of us, and as I get more comfortable with the family (only been here two weeks yesterday) I will probably cook more elaborate dinners. For now, though, I have been eating salads and sandwiches for lunch and dinner, mostly because I'm much too tired to prepare anything else.

Saturday - Woke up around 7:00am to bustling about the house. The family, minus me, was going on a weekend ski trip, leaving me to myself. I cannot tell you how badly I needed this break. It was short lived, however, when I went downstairs at about 8:30am to the mess they left behind. I spent a while cleaning, then got myself dressed to go to the store again for more crochet supplies, and an easier puzzle for the youngest (when I opened the previous puzzle, I knew immediately it was going to be much too hard because the pieces were so tiny). Then I looked outside... and the world was white. I hadn't seen so much snow since last winter, and it was the first time I'd seen so much snow here in Munich. But back to Hauptbahnhof I went and picked up: two more balls of yarn (one more of ivory, and another grey pretty one), some more stuffing, yarn needles, special glue, and a new puzzle. Then I came back to the house and made my very first ever crocheted teddy bear. I am very proud of it, although I'm not a fan of the arms (I followed a pattern: Basic Teddy Bear) and will adjust them slightly for my next bear. But I love this bear very much and I named him after the number one baby boy name given in 2011 in Germany: Ben. I also started building a 1000 piece puzzle and basically enjoyed the time I had off.

The playground behind the house after the snowfall.

This is an Italian restaurant I pass on my way to the Solln station.

My crocheted and stuffed teddy bear pieces before attachment.

Ben the Bear. Very proud. I will be thinking of something to put around his neck. Maybe I'll make a necktie.

Sunday - Another short lived relaxation day. Took a long shower, worked on my puzzle, then went to an English speaking church for a 4:00pm sermon. When I came home around 6:15pm or so, the family was home from skiing and that was the end of my little vacation. I spent some time with the children, I built the new puzzle with the littlest one, and I also finished my own puzzle.

My completed puzzle.

Monday - Another school day. Did regular chores, then up to my room I went. I spent some time with the middle child (the boy) and we looked up fun science experiments to do at home. We had done an exploding cup experiment earlier today as well as the balloon rocket experiment and he had fun. I plan on making homemade ice cream in a bag, homemade slime, and a bunch of other fun things. Also, I have collected a bunch of seeds from foods (organic and non-organic) and I plan on collecting maybe one or two more lassi containers (note: lassi is a delicious Indian yogurt drink, traditionally sweet or salty and made either plain or mango), maybe a few more kinds of seeds, and then getting some soil and doing some preliminary planting. Maybe we'll even get some fruit/veggies before I leave!

Balloon rocket.

As far as what else is going on, not too much. I plan on building my very first ever 1500 piece puzzle, I also need to start working on things to do with the children individually. The mother told me today that she would like to have me spend one hour a week with each child and do some intensive English speaking. She says she wants it to be fun and I am good at activities so this will be interesting to say the least. The family is going on a one week vacation in February, pre-planned so I can't go. This means I need to start planning a trip to somewhere else around Europe and I can't wait to go exploring. I also plan on experimenting with felting, the process of making felt. I am going to try to make a felted teddy bear with my new grey wool yarn.

And just for fun, I have added the various cigarette ads that I've seen. The funniest ones I think are the Marlboro ads, and there are lots of them.

Pall Mall.

Don't Be A Maybe. Be Marlboro.

Maybe Never Wins. Be Marlboro.

Maybe Goes Nowhere. Be Marlboro.

MayBe. Be Marlboro. I'm not sure if you notice a trend here, but these were all taken at or near a bus stop.

I will keep everyone updated with my new projects and adventures. I have been a little tired lately so I'm not as chipper as I usually am. Hopefully some chemistry experiments will solve that!

Auf Wiedersehen!

A Day in the Life, Holly the Au Pair - Today, Wednesday, January 18, 2012

7:00am - "dadada da da da da da da" Alarm goes off.

7:06am - Roll out of bed. Try to wake up. Grab hoodie. Turn on computer.

7:12am - Say good morning to very important person.

7:20am - Make bed and open window shades.

7:30am - Grudgingly pick out clothes for the day from dresser and wardrobe. Take a nice hot shower.

7:49am - Finish shower and check the time. Need to be downstairs beginning work by 8:00am.

8:00am - Open the children's room windows, pull the blankets down and give them a shake. Fluff the pillows too.

8:03am - Clear off the dining room table from the children's breakfast. Load up the dishwasher and clean up the kitchen.

8:12am - Finish up. Make own breakfast (all organic, of course): schwarz und weiß müsli (mit schocolade und kakao) [black and white müsli, with chocolate and coconut] with kefir on top, and frühstückssaft.

8:20am - Host mother gives the run down for the day. She is expecting three packages and I need to sign for them if she's not home. The two girls (oldest and youngest) will be home around 12:15pm. She may or may not be around which means I need to be back from my German class by 12:00pm.

8:25am - Close up children's windows and make their beds. Need to be out the door by 8:30am at the latest.

Two youngest kid's room.

Oldest kid's room.

8:28am - Host mother asks question about the weekend. Don't really have time to talk.

8:30am - Leave the house to go to the bus station.

No matter what I tried, this picture ended up being sideways. But this is my bus stop from the house.

8:40am - Bus arrives.

8:51am - Bus reaches destination. Walk to classroom building.

School hallway.

Class schedule, I'm the class at the top.

Classroom.

9:00am - Inside classroom. The teacher is not yet here.

9:05am - Teacher arrives.

10:30am - Class is over. Talk with two classmates and I walk out of the door towards the main building.

10:40am - Walk into the reception area. Ask the receptionist if she speaks English. She does. Tell her that I would like to officially sign up to take the course as it is a suitable level for me. Cost is 99€. Pay the fee. Also, I need an official letter from them stating that I am taking course B1. (The reason for this is because in order for me to get my working permit I need to prove I have substantial German. My high school records were not enough to suffice; they need proof from Germany, as in a certificate for class A1. Since, however, that class is very low level beginner and I am further than that, this letter is supposed to inform the immigration office that in order to take B1, I needed to have more German than the A1 and A2 class.)


10:50am - Have my letter and receipt and it's back to the bus stop to go home. Contemplate taking the train back because the bus doesn't come until 11:15am, and the train station is only a five minute walk. Hmm. Since I don't know the train timing, better wait here.

Park that I walked through to get from the main building to my bus stop.

Clothing store near my bus stop.

Sideways returning bus station sign.

Another sideways picture of a really tall tree across my bus stop. I am going to try to fix these pictures.

11:15am - Bus arrives. I walk on to the bus and an official bus guy (yes, that's the technical term - "bus guy") asks me something in German. However, he said it so quickly that I did not hear him and ask if he speaks English. He doesn't. I realize he's trying to make sure my ticket is valid for where I'm stopping at. I inform him. I'm in the clear.


11:26am - Bus stops at my destination. Walk into Tengelmann (chain grocery store). Do I have time to do some light shopping? Probably shouldn't knowing how long I take in a grocery store and my inability to make quick, or any, choices. Walk out of Tengelmann.

Tengelmann!

11:35am - Arrive home. See there are two packages at the door. I walk inside with the packages and place them on a dresser. Put my coat and school supplies away upstairs. Thirsty. Grab an organic juice box from my dresser. Hmm. Do I have time before the children come home to clean up a bit? Probably. Clean surfaces, mirrors, sort laundry, and sweep.

Full picture of the house where I'm living.

12:00pm - Finish chores. Not sure what to eat for lunch.


12:12pm - Host mother returns.


12:32pm - The two girls arrive home. Still don't know what to eat for lunch.


13:00pm - Host mother gives me a run down of what will happen tomorrow. I am invited to go to a museum with the littlest girl and her class. Would I like to go? Sure. I am also given paperwork for tomorrow when I go to the immigration office.


13:15pm - Ask the mother if there is anything I can do to help with lunch. She says I can peel and cut up the potatoes into semi-thick circles, and chop the carrots into sticks. I don't think I did that too well.  I think I 'll have an organic roll and organic goat cheese coated with herbs. Yum. The middle child (the boy) comes home with a friend.  I set the table for six. Mother makes potato "chips" and sausage for lunch for the kids.


14:20pm - Clean up the table and kitchen after lunch. Run the dishwasher.

14:52pm - Finish clean up. Go up to my room for a small break. Contemplating what to eat for dinner. Looking up how to get to the immigration office from the museum.


15:15pm - Oldest girl comes in and wants to know how I crochet. I begin to show her. She learns pretty quickly.

My crochet things.

15:39pm - Girl is called downstairs to do homework. Back to research on the computer.


16:00pm - Mother comes by my room. I ask if the directions I looked up were accurate. She confirms then asks if I could play with the youngest girl or read her something in English. Finish quickly the crochet square I had started with the oldest, then walked into the playroom. She doesn't seem to want to play with me, would prefer to play with the two boys. Hm. I like puzzles... and there are lots of puzzles in this room... okay. I'll grab a 100 piece puzzle and see what happens. The little girl watches me pick up the puzzle and practically beats me to the floor. Build puzzle in record time. She is surprisingly good at puzzles.

Two puzzles. This picture didn't even need to be rotated. The pictures look fine on my computer, but don't work out on blogspot. Will try to fix tomorrow.

Two Puzzles Later - Oldest comes in. Leaves, then returns with my crochet stuff. She likes it. Says it was fun. I start thinking of looking up yarn stores in the area.


17:00pm - Boy's friend goes home.

17:10pm - Begin to look up yarn stores with the oldest. She says she wants to make a teddy bear. Huh. Good idea. Find some yarn stores.


17:30pm-ish - Oldest is called. She says she has to go somewhere. I ask where and she says she doesn't know. The mother and the three children disappear. Find lots of craft, hobby, yarn, and organic stores. Look up directions.


19:04pm - Still don't know what to have for dinner, or where the family went. Start to put away clean dishes from the dishwasher...


19:06pm - Family returns. Ask the oldest where they went. They said to the ski store. Mother begins putting together leftovers for dinner. I'm thinking about sauteing a zucchini with three mushrooms, a scallion, some olive oil, and a touch of salt and pepper. And to drink: pure blueberry juice. Yum.


20:00pm-ish - Dinner time. Oldest and youngest girls try my blueberry juice. Hilarious. Made very funny faces and said it was much too sour.


20:36pm - Clean up time for dinner. Accidentally dump host mother's white wine down the sink while cleaning. Nervous. Hope she's not mad at me. Boil water for rose tea. Have a little honey and hazelnut butter for dessert (it's delicious).


20:56pm - Make very important phone call.


21:00pm-ish - Beginning typing blog entry.


22:37pm - Look at time. Yuck. Have to be awake at 7:00am again for another busy day.


23:16pm - Finish blog post. Exhausted. Will be going straight to bed.

Gute nacht!