Plotting and planning

54 days left!

I am as excited as ever.

I already got my international driver's license (which is basically only a translation of the German driver's license) and tomorrow I have an appointment in the American embassy in Berlin. The application for the visa is veeeery complicated. I am so  glad that I got instructions from my organization!

the hoodie

I also got a hoodie for free because I applied during a certain period of time. Yay!

I think I finally realized that I am really going to the US.
On one side, I am so so so happy! My family is perfect and I will live 4 hours away from New York (which is not THAT close but still quite close). So I am really looking forward to going there.
On the other side, I already know that I will miss my family and friends in Germany so much! One year is quite a lot of time.
I think these are struggles that every Au pair has to face. I am in touch with other girls who also fly to the US on August 10th and it's good to talk with them about everything. We are already wavering over what to bring to the US and stuff like that. Packing ain't easy! :p

Apart from all that, I am almost done with my final exams.

Everything's so exciting! A lot of new things are coming, old things go. Times of change.

Christin xo

Surprise!

It's 11.19pm and I am in shock.

I skyped with the interested family from 8pm till 8.45pm.
At first, all of them were there (parents and two children) and I was SO excited, I was shaking. I thought I'll get a heart attack when they call. Well, I almost did. But they were so nice! The baby had to go to bed soon and the girl got bored at some point, so most of the time I spoke with the parents.
They asked me some questions, for example what I would do in a certain situation, why I want to become an Au pair, but also what food I can't eat. We talked about a loooot of things. I was afraid that they don't understand me, but they said that my English is very good. Yay!
I had a very positive feeling during the whole call.
At the end, they said that I am the last Au pair that they wanted to speak to and that they will probably decide quickly who they want to hire and that they will write me.

I thought they mean tomorrow. Or the day after tomorrow.

They wrote half an hour later.

Now it's 11.33pm and I still can't believe it. Holy Guacamole.

The family is perfect! I am so so so excited!

Suddenly everything becomes real. Before, becoming an Au pair was a dream and an option and now I am an Au pair with a wonderful family!

And I will go to the US in eight weeks. We didn't fix a certain date yet, but they said they need me from the beginning of August on. Oh my God. Eight weeks is not much. And there's so much to do!

I can't believe it. But I can't sleep either! So so so excited.

To be honest I didn't even answer them yet because I was so surprised and excited! Oh wow. Does this really happen right now?

(a completely agitated)
Christin xo

Step by Step

~ I've been dreaming of things yet to come ~

I finally have everything that I need for my application.

Although I am quite sick at the moment, I visited an Au pair meeting yesterday where people from the organization explained a lot of things concerning the application and the family finding process. It was totally worth it! I got to know other Au pairs and so called "returnees" who already spent a year in the US and told us about their experiences.

To cut a long story short, everything is quite complicated (concerning the visa and insurances etc), but the meeting yesterday made me really excited for the whole journey. I realized that I really am going to the USA (given that I find a family) to live there for one year what is very very exciting. And also frightening. But our dreams aren't big enough if they don't scare us, huh?

Some of the things I got yesterday

So my application is done and ready to be examined by the organization. 

Tomorrow I have my interview with a woman from the organization who will go with me through my application and maybe improve some things. She will also test my English skills. Then the organization will also look at my application and it will be sent to the USA and then my profile will be unlocked and families can contact me. Yaayy!

I am quite nervous and excited and looking forward to everything that's coming now.

I will keep you updated! xo