Happy Birthday to ME!!

Today, September 25, is my 21st birthday! I am excited to finally reach this point in my life.

I am now 'Legal' in the USA. :D haha

Extension Process

I made the decision to extend as an Au Pair with a new family (extension-transfer). I had to fill in a new cover sheet and write a new Dear Host Family letter. I also had to send in my education completion certificate and letter, some photos and reference forms.

I was told that it would be a few weeks before I get contacted as not many families are looking for January arrivals just yet. I will update when I hear from some families.

Coin Collection

Not long after I arrived here in the US and after I started getting used to American money I noticed that some of the quarters had different states on them.

I asked my host family about it and my host dad told me that there is one for every state and that there is a book you can collect them in.

During my 8 months here I have collected all the coins except one (Delaware).

Los Angeles Vacation

During the last week of August I went with a friend Anna on vacation. Our destination: Los Angeles, California.

Our vacation started in New York at Penn Station. We travelled via Amtrak and our first stop was Washington, DC.

After lots of walking and almost missing our train we were on our way to Chicago, IL. We slept (sort of) and by morning we were there. After a quick breakfast on the train we left and explored the city.

After a day of exploring we headed back to the train station and boarded the train to Los Angeles. We had a room with seats which at night time would be beds. We had meals on the train and they were so tasty. We spent the first night sleeping soundly until the morning. On the second day on that train we were informed that a bridge had washed out in Arizona and that in Albuquerque we would be transferred to a bus for the remainder of the trip. This meant no bed to sleep in and we were angry. So we enjoyed what was left of the train ride and then we waited.

After a 13 hour horrible bus ride we arrived in Los Angeles, CA. We collected our stuff and caught the Metro to Hollywood. We found our hotel but because we were early we put our bags in the storage room and would come back later. We decided to go to the movies and we saw ‘We’re the Millers’. Such a funny movie. We walked back to the hotel and relaxed.

We decided to go out for dinner at the Hard Rock Café on Hollywood Blvd. The food was great and the service was outstanding.

The next day (Wednesday) we went to the LA farmers market, the Grove (they film the show Extra here with Mario Lopez). We also went to Rodeo Drive and Santa Monica. On Thursday we pretty much did the same as Wednesday but we didn't go to Rodeo Drive again.

Friday we rented a car and drove down to San Diego for the afternoon. We had lunch at the Café on the Pier. We picked up Anna’s friend and went sightseeing.

We watched the sunset at Ocean Beach before driving back up to LAX.