Its Official!

so now i have decided to actually document my time over here and this is the official place for it. mmmm what has been happening since my last time on here? well after a rough start to the week, not helped by the fact that i was tired and feeling awfully broke i have now been paid and the week has improved.
on tuesday i confirmed my trip to prague with jai jai by booking my flight with swiis air for $278 so not that cheapy but jenny said its worth it as once you get there everything is really cheap! also last night being wednesday i went out with jenny for dinner after german class to a really nice restaurant at stadlehofen called santa lucia - really good italian food and it is always great hanging out with jenny and getting her view on things.
today was also a really good day. this morning catherine wanted to go shopping at rapperswil which is the last southern suburb in the canton of zurich so i got to take the kids to the kinder zoo - we had the best morning. we went on a train ride around the zoo and the twins went on a pony ride which was the cutest thing ever. once catherine came to pick us up she was impressed that the kids wanted to walk around the zoo with me and not just go to the playground. this was probably helped by the fact that nicholas was near unconcious because he fell and hit his head but she didnt mention that!!!! today i also got to take the massive bus volvo and pick noel up from school this is like a big thing as no one ever drives that car and noel was actually really accepting of me coming to get him. afternoon was just spent at the park chasing after the 3 kids.
now i am babysitting which is ok as i am just upstairs on my computer as oppose to in my room. not sure if i get paid extra or what.....
mmm and then tomorrow night after german class my friend manda is coming to stay over at my house which should be nice!!! i am going to try and go to kussnacht on saturday also with her so i can buy stuff for my scrapbooks.

nite nite
xox

Has it really been 1 month and 1 week???

well the anniversary for me being in switzerland was celebrated in another country called leitchenstein. it is in between switzerland and austria and lucille told me it is only 6 km wide!! that is believable becuase we went to a museum while we were there and they said the whole country only has 30 000 people!
the capital city was vaduz and to be honest i just wanted to get my passport stamped which cost 2chf. we spent the day wandering around, climbed up a hill to go to the princes house (and we saw him!!), had lunch, hung out in a cafe and got all the touristy stuff like post cards for our scrapbooks.. which i am yet to start because i am looking for a book.
the day was nice with svetlanna, lauren, lacey, lucille and myself. i really get along well with lucille and she is great at organising trips. it will be sad to see her go home on december 3rd.
today was also the confirmation that i am going to prague with jai jai. i just need to book a flight now and see whats the cheapest. we are going to go for 4 days and probably stay in a hostel. catherine offered to buy it for me as a christmas present with her frequent flyers but i said i will save that gift for later on when all my money will have run out....
i also got my parcel from mum and diana which i am gradually opening to see what is in it!! it is really exciting so i am taking my time with it - consequently my room looks like there was a small cyclone in it but dont worry mum i keep it really tidy the rest of the time!!!
nothing much else to report except that i really like it over here. my weekends are always busy and even though i am really bad at my german class it is fun to go so i can leave my house early and then my friends and i always go to coffee afterwards which really breaks up the week.
last weekend i also went to a fondu restaurant with jenny and her friends. the restaurant STANK of burnt cheese but it is a really social event as everyone is gathered around a big pot of chesse and stirring it (in a figure 8) and chatting. not only do you dip in bread you also get pickled onions, gerkins, baby corn, mini potatoes or you can have a meat fondu which is where you get raw meat and have to cook it in a pot of stock. they are both really nice but the restaurant was really expensive. i like it when we do it at home. its cheap and you dont have to enhale the lingering cheezy smell!
so all in all life is good. yea i work way too many hours and i feel like there is not enough time in the day - especially when i get paid a massive 200chf a week but catherine complimented me today saying she is really happy with my progress and the kids love me!
i am getting all my sightseeing done in the weekend anyway so i am happy with the arrangement at the moment and look forward to more travelling.
as i have to take holidays from 11-25th of december i also have to start planning that trip. lucy and i spoke on skype on saturday and she confirmed that she is going to come over and we will go to italy together. not sure what dates i am going to meet with the buckinghams but i would love to spend christmas with them if possible but nothing is really organised yet so we will have to wait and see.
well i better stop and start my german homework. tomorrow i have to go to the dentist AGAIN so i can get more stiches in my mouth so i have to do my homework now :-(
ciao for now.

xox megan

3 Weeks Have Flown......

well i have now been here for 3 weeks. the first week i was with jodie the other au pair and she showed me the ropes but now i have been here for 2 weeks on my own.
to be honest in the first week i wasnt sure what i had gotten myself into - everything seemed so hard. the kids were naughty, no one spoke english and i didnt understand my job. i had to go to german class where i knew nothing and i didnt have a friend in the whole country literally.
thankfully though jodie introduced me to here friend jenny who is an absolute gem. she is a nanny and makes really good money. from the uk she had a mad sense of humour and everytime i see her i laugh my head off. also 3 girls from my german class and i have become really good friends. we go out after class and are planning to study together. then my last friend lucille is also really great! we all went to luzern with her yesterday for a day trip which was really nice. all up i took 56 photos!!!
so far in my 3 weeks i have already been on a boat ride to raperswill, been to the holiday house in samedan for 4 days and gone hiking and i have also been shopping, out into zurich night life and had lots of fun with the kids.
granted the kids are spoilt and they always want their mum. its hard to sometimes know whats going on becuase the family speaks french but i am now starting to get along with the kids and they seem to like me. it also seems to me that i am learning more french than german but i guess that will come with time and i just have to study lots...
catherine my boss also said the kids like me and she is really happy with how well i am settling in and doing my job. for the first time today also i got to take the car out. she didnt even give me a lesson just made me follow her to kussnacht which is about 15 minutes. it was really scary at first and i bumped into the gutter becuase i am now on the otherside of the car and the road is opposite to australia. but no one died and the cars really easy to drive so i think catherine will let me take the kids out in that and then i'll get the smart car for weekends when beat isnt using it.
lots to learn and still heaps more to do. still popping on the email every day and night to see who has emailed me and talking to my mum on skype practically everyday because i just can but with time i think i will start to be more independant and be ok to go by a day or so without having to hear whats going on at home.
catherine also said she will buy me a swim pass too so that means i will get to go swimming at the local pool in my breaks which will be nice because i have been eating so much 'cause the food is so good here!!
well thats it for now thought i better start up some sort of blog to capture the memories and to go alongside the 1000's of photos that i will be taking...