Thinking about my life after being an au pair.

Dear readers,

I am thinking back to when I first became an au pair in Connecticut. This has been about 1.5 years ago now! The time goes so fast (especially when I am having fun) and it is time for me to think about my life after being an au pair. It is exciting, stressful and sad to think about that. I really want to have a nice job in fashion management, but on the other hand I really enjoy my life in California as an au pair. I take care of such beautiful small girls and I have a great host family. I will miss everyone so much when I have to leave in January :( Besides that, it is hard to think about leaving, because I am in a relationship with someone from LA. I am sure we will all figure out how to plan our future, but this still makes the process hard. Besides that, I will for sure miss my international friends I made here. I am figuring out how I can come back to America after I leave in January, but it seems to be really hard. The whole situation makes me sad sometimes, but I am trying not to think about it too much. In my last months as an au pair I have to enjoy every second and want to do a lot of fun stuff with my boyfriend and friends from here. I know that I will come back to the States no matter what, but it may takes some time.... :( 

It feels weird to leave my life behind and go back to Netherlands (I bet I am going to have a culture shock again hahahah....!) but on the other hand it will also be nice to see my friends, family and dogs again! Also, I can be proud of myself that I went to the United States alone and stayed here for such a long time. I developed myself a lot and I think I will come back to Brabant (my region, the most fun one in Netherland too LOL...!) as a different person ;).

I forgot to tell you about this, but I started an English Second Language Class about one month ago. This class is for advanced English speakers, but is still pretty easy for me. My speaking is somewhat perfect now, but it is nice to learn some more about English grammar. The funny thing was when I first came to the class, a classmate asked me: 'Sophie, what are you doing in this class? Your English is perfect!' I have to say I needed to get six credits in my au pair year (this is a requirement of Cultural Care), so that is why I chose this class ;). It is really fun though to be (kind of) part of a college in America and to meet new friends in class. Tonight I also have to go to class (the class is every Monday and Wednesday from 7 till 10 pm) and on Monday we will have a major grammar test. Hopefully I will get a nice score (these past weeks I had a lot of fun in class with friends, I felt like a high school student again!) because I feel I did not really pay a lot of attention to the class these weeks. 

I will tell you some more about my (too cute) host kids, because they are getting more fun every time! These couple weeks, Quinn is talking more and more. She can already make full sentences and says 'Hi!' to literally everyone! She also loves men (she never wants to hug me, but hugged my boyfriend right away last week when he came in my house) and that is so funny! She is a real monkey when we are going to the playgrounds around Laguna Beach. Quinn wants to clime on E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G! Sometimes she makes me so nervous (I feel like a real mom)! Rylan is more mellow and knows what she can do and what she cannot do. Of course she is also older than Quinn. Last week, Rylan had her 5th birthday party! I gave her the most hilarious card (it had a dog on it and the dog sang happy birthday!) and some Lego's. On Saturday morning, she had her party for friends and family at Chuck E Cheese's. This is an indoor arcade (you can get a pass to play unlimited for two hours) with food, drinks and music! All the kids and me had so much fun, but it was also very tiring. After the party, Quinn was acting crazy because she ran around too much! 

Right now I am working and I put Quinn down at 1 pm. She is still not asleep (sadly) and I hear her counting until 10 (so hilarious!). Hopefully she will go to bed soon, otherwise she will be acting crazy around dinner time.... :( I have to pick up Rylan from the bus in half an hour (I bring her to her new amazing school every day and the bus will bring her back after school). She loves to go with the bus and it is good for her to be independent. My host kids are growing so fast!