A Train Ride with the Easter Bunny

For Easter with my host family we went on a train ride from a place called Phillipsburg, NJ and it ran along the edge of the Delaware River. On this train there was the Easter Bunny and lots of music. It was fun and they even had an Easter egg hunt (so different from back in New Zealand).

     

     

 

    

 

A Bit of an Addiction.....

When I was packing my suitcases to come to the USA I packed three pairs of shoes. Of the three I have thrown out one pair and still have the other two pairs.

The two pairs I have left from home (NZ)

Since arriving in the USA 2 months ago I have bought seven pairs of new shoes. Some because I needed them and others simply because they were pretty and I wanted them.

The seven pairs I have bought since arriving in the USA

So I now have a grand total of nine pairs of shoes and I have already seen some others that I really want to buy. This is becoming a little bit of a problem because I will have no way of taking them all home...

All of my shoes... Nine Pairs!!

The First Month and a Bit

My first month and a bit has been great, the family is lovely, the kids are nice and I'm happy here.

The first weekend with the family was so much fun, it was all about making me feel at home. We went around and I met my host mom's family and her best friend and we had Lasagne (that I made) and it was great.

My work schedule is pretty straight forward, I work during the week and have weekends off, which is great because that means I don't miss out on fun weekend activities.

So far I have done many fun things: Snow Tubing, Snowball fight, Sledging and Skiing (which I'm not sure I want to do again). There has been plenty of snow and it is finally going away.

I know you'd probably be thinking after just over a month this would be a long post but I've been so busy I've actually forgotten some of the things I've done. However I am going to try and make regular updates.

New York Workshop

As I mentioned in my last post I got to my hotel in New York and the other girls from New Zealand arrived later.

Tuesday morning we all went down to have breakfast, they had so many choices so I made waffles and had a cup of apple juice. After breakfast we went back to our rooms quickly before leaving to go on a tour of NYC. We got the hotel shuttle to the AirTrain which we took to Jamaica Station and then we got tickets to go on the subway. While we were waiting for everyone to regroup my pant that I was wearing decided to break and we had to find a safety pin so that my pants wouldn't fall down.

We all made our way down to the platform and waited for the train to arrive. The ride on the subway took about an hour and when we got off we had to get tickets for a tour of downtown NYC (on a double decker tour bus) then a couple of up got a drink from Starbucks and then we walked a couple of blocks to Times Square. We waited for a half open top bus and then the tour began. We went past several interesting places (sorry I actually forgot what we saw) and we went to Central Park where we saw Squirrels and ducks, we saw the Statue of Liberty then went to the Staten Island Ferry Terminal for lunch.

After Lunch we went into the city again and we got to do some shopping before meeting on the Red Steps so that we could go to Applebee's for dinner. During the shopping time I only bought something from two stores..... M&M World and the Hershey store. Dinner at Applebee's was yum. We got back to the hotel quit late and we had showers and went to bed.

On Wednesday morning we had breakfast together again and then we had our First Aid and CPR training and then some other basic knowledge stuff before going to one of the malls in NY to shop and have dinner. I bought a pair of Levi's jeans and a pair of boots and spent less than $60.

The next morning (Thursday) we had the Au Pair Sis (Janine) come and do some fun stuff with us before we had to get ready to head off to our host families.Most of the other Au Pairs were flying or on the train to get to their host families but I was one of the few who were being picked up.

My host family arrived just before I got out of the lift and they were so nice. The host Mom, Dad and daughter were there to pick me up as their son was at school. We had a fun drive home and they let me get settled in.

Hello New York!

On Sunday January 13th I had to say goodbye to my friends and family as I prepared to leave for my big adventure in America. I made sure I was all packed then went out to lunch with my mum, we went to one of the local cafés and I had French toast with maple syrup. We talked about the year ahead and it was nice to be able to just talk.

Afterwards I went home and watched TV until I was able to Skype with my sister. When we did get to Skype it was really sad and it made me sad to see her cry. My dad arrived to take me to the airport while I was still talking to my mum and sister.

After I said goodbye to them I went with my dad and we went into Wellington and went for dinner. I had a really yummy Chicken Korma. We headed off to the airport to check in. As I was checking in my uncle, aunt and cousin showed up and we waited for some friends to show up.

My friends arrived and I had to proceed to the departure gate. I hugged everyone goodbye and went through security. As I boarded my plane I began to feel sad but I knew I couldn't back out after coming this far. With my friends and family watching my plane took off and I was once again on my way to Auckland.

When I landed in Auckland I collected my bag and got the shuttle to the hotel and checked in for the night, went to my room and went to bed. I woke up at around 4:30am, got up and dressed and checked out of the hotel and walked to the International Terminal at Auckland Airport. I checked in for my first flight at 5am and went through security.

My first flight was at 7:35am NZDT (Monday January 14th) was to Sydney, Australia and took about three and a half hours to get there. I had nothing to do on this flight because you have to pay for everything (including the food and water) so I had a little nap. My plane landed in Sydney at 9:10am AEDT (Monday January 14th). I had a stop over there for a few hour and I boarded my next flight which left Sydney at 12:10pm AEDT.

This part of the flight to New York took almost 13hours and we had to stop in Los Angeles so that we could go through immigration and customs. The flight itself felt much longer than it was. I watched Iron Man 2, Captain America: The First Avenger and part of Moulin Rouge. We had two meals on the flight and they were both quite good as well as snacks and refreshments along the way. I managed to get about an hour of sleep. We landed at LAX around 6:30am PST (Monday January 14th) and I had to recheck my bags.

After going through security once again I made my way to the departure gate. We boarded the same plane that we had arrived on then left at 8:45am for New York landing at JFK airport. When I arrived in New York it was 4:45pm EST and about 6°C. I collected my bags and made my way to the AirTrain which would take me to where the hotel shuttles were. I called for the shuttle and then waited for about half an hour for it to arrive.

I was soon at the hotel and in my room. It felt so nice after over 27 hours to have a nice hot shower. I was the first of the New Zealand girls to arrive so I watched TV and went to bed. At about 11:50pm the other kiwi girls arrived and we chatted then went to bed.

I will write about the workshop/orientation in my next post.

Visa..........APPROVED!

Ok, so yesterday I had my appointment for my Visa. I flew up to Auckland from Wellington on Wednesday night and stayed at a hotel so that I would be able to be up early to get the bus from Auckland Airport to the City Centre.

I got up at 6am yesterday morning and re-packed my bag. Checked Out and boarded the free bus to the Domestic Terminal. I then found the AirBus Express bus stop and waited for the bus. While I was on the bus I realised that I wasn't supposed to bring my luggage with me and that I would have to find somewhere to store it.

When I got off the bus at the Ferry Terminal I found that Britomart (the train station in Auckland) had lockers and so I rented one for an hour as I thought that was as long as it would take. I walked to the US Consulate General and went through security and went in.

I had to wait in line behind about 20 other people. It felt like forever before I was seen. All I had to do was hand over my passport and some paperwork and I was told to sit down and wait for my name to be called.

When my name was called I was asked a few questions.
Q: Where are you going? A:Westwood, New Jersey.
Q: How many kids are you caring for? A: 2
Q: How old are they? A: 11 and 4
Q: Are the parents still together? A: Yes
Q: Do you know where you are going to study yet? A: Not yet.

"Ok, this is for you (handing me a booklet) your visa has been Approved."


After all of this I went back and got my bag from the locker after having to pay an overtime fee for being late to collect my bag. I then proceeded to catch a bus to Parnell to see Michal at the Au Pair Link office.

Visa Appointment

Over the past few weeks we have been trying to make sure that everything goes according to plan.

With Go Au Pair all Au Pairs are required to do 32 hours of training before you are able to get the forms for the visa. Well we had a few issues getting the training stuff to me because we had to wait for the manual to arrive in Auckland, then the courier lost (delivered to the wrong house) the package and I had to wait even longer for it. When it did arrive I spent the next two days constantly doing the training.

Now that I have completed the training and received most of the stuff for my visa and I have booked my appointment. I am supposed to receive my DS-2019 around December 27th so I made took the first available appointment that ensured I would have the form. I will fly from Wellington to Auckland the evening before and spend the day of the interview in Auckland then I will fly back down to Wellington that evening.

I will write an update before and after my interview.

Until then, have a Very Merry Christmas and a Wonderful New Year.