Wednesday, 5 June 2013
Tarrytown
We go to our host families on Thursday afternoon so on Wednesday evening after orientation we decided to walk into Tarrytown and see what was there. The answer is not much! A few shops and not a lot else. My favourite shop was a 7/11 where I experienced my first officially American Slurpee.
Orientation and New York City Tour
Official day one of orientation. One word? Long! I appreciate that there is a lot of stuff to take in and perhaps it was because I was so excited to go and explore my new surroundings that the day seemed to really quite drag.
However, at the end of day one it was time for the New York City tour. Although it felt a little rushed I absolutely loved it and made some really good friends.
Tuesday, 4 June 2013
Safe Landing
So once I arrived in Newark I had to go thorough immigration. I had been told by APIA that it can take 2+hours to get through, but realistically it took me less than 30 minutes. All they needed was my visa/passport and a document I had received in my placement pack, I walked through to baggage collection and then made my way towards the exit hoping I would meet someone on the other side.
There was a woman, called Jackie, holding up a bright pick 'Au Pair In America' sign in front of a clipboard. She sat me next to a girl, her name was Frida and she was from Sweden and had arrived a little sooner than I had. We were then moved to another terminal to await the arrival of some more girls from Germany. There were about 6 in total, who all arrived speaking German together making Frida and I a little cut off. I was so thankful there was another none German speaking girl there!!
When everyone had arrived we were put on a mini-bus to take us to the hotel where we would be staying in Tarrytown. It was warm and the hotel was gorgeous, I couldn't believe we were in AMERICA! We left our bags in the hotel lobby and went for a brief talk on our stay here. We had to show that our passports had been stamped, were were told how to apply for a social security number, we got our Au Pair t-shirts and our hotel rooms. Although my room was not ready yet Frida's was and so the pair of us went to go and see what the rooms we were staying in looked like. The rooms were set out for 3 Au Pairs who will be living near one another for the year. We entered Frida's room and found two girls sat in her room already, one who was living in Washington DC with Frida and a girl she had recently met and shared a language with (Afrikaans) who would be living in Boston.
Me and Frida wandered the grounds for a little while and kept checking to see if my room was ready yet. I was eager to meet people I would be living with. I got my room and it was still empty, we ate tea and then at about 8pm US time, 3am my time I went to bed.
There was a woman, called Jackie, holding up a bright pick 'Au Pair In America' sign in front of a clipboard. She sat me next to a girl, her name was Frida and she was from Sweden and had arrived a little sooner than I had. We were then moved to another terminal to await the arrival of some more girls from Germany. There were about 6 in total, who all arrived speaking German together making Frida and I a little cut off. I was so thankful there was another none German speaking girl there!!
When everyone had arrived we were put on a mini-bus to take us to the hotel where we would be staying in Tarrytown. It was warm and the hotel was gorgeous, I couldn't believe we were in AMERICA! We left our bags in the hotel lobby and went for a brief talk on our stay here. We had to show that our passports had been stamped, were were told how to apply for a social security number, we got our Au Pair t-shirts and our hotel rooms. Although my room was not ready yet Frida's was and so the pair of us went to go and see what the rooms we were staying in looked like. The rooms were set out for 3 Au Pairs who will be living near one another for the year. We entered Frida's room and found two girls sat in her room already, one who was living in Washington DC with Frida and a girl she had recently met and shared a language with (Afrikaans) who would be living in Boston.
Me and Frida wandered the grounds for a little while and kept checking to see if my room was ready yet. I was eager to meet people I would be living with. I got my room and it was still empty, we ate tea and then at about 8pm US time, 3am my time I went to bed.
Off I go!
So on the morning of Monday 3rd June I woke up at 4:30 am after only about 2 hours sleep. I felt really calm, I had to double check I had everything, got ready, loaded up the car and headed out to the airport. I checked in successfully and said a brief goodbye to my parents. With the ability to Skype so easily (and lets be honest I'm not very good at goodbyes) it doesn't feel like I'm completely leaving everyone at home.
Security was a doddle to get through and I hoped to get breakfast once I was in the departure lounge. I still had several hours until my 9:25 flight so browsed through the shops and looked for some suitable food and a place I could get a couple of magazines so I popped into WHSmiths.
I still had about an hour until I would be able to find out which gate I was boarding from so I sat down with a view of both the runway and an information point so I could watch for my gate. I had only sat down for about a minute when a man who had behind us at the check in desk came and sat next to me. Now please don't get me wrong, I love when people talk to me, I am a chatterbox, but this guy was a little strange and kept staring at me whilst I ate until I replied him. It took me and age to finish my food. Anyway, long story short, I felt obliged to follow him to the gate and stay stood near him until we had boarded.
For some reason I had been upgraded into Economy plus (Thank you Au Pair In America!) and I was able to board a little earlier and had a tonne of extra legroom.
GOOD BYE ENGLAND
AND HELLO AMERICA
Security was a doddle to get through and I hoped to get breakfast once I was in the departure lounge. I still had several hours until my 9:25 flight so browsed through the shops and looked for some suitable food and a place I could get a couple of magazines so I popped into WHSmiths.
I still had about an hour until I would be able to find out which gate I was boarding from so I sat down with a view of both the runway and an information point so I could watch for my gate. I had only sat down for about a minute when a man who had behind us at the check in desk came and sat next to me. Now please don't get me wrong, I love when people talk to me, I am a chatterbox, but this guy was a little strange and kept staring at me whilst I ate until I replied him. It took me and age to finish my food. Anyway, long story short, I felt obliged to follow him to the gate and stay stood near him until we had boarded.
For some reason I had been upgraded into Economy plus (Thank you Au Pair In America!) and I was able to board a little earlier and had a tonne of extra legroom.
AND HELLO AMERICA
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