Hello!
Welcome to my blog! As you can see the title of my blog is "my cup of London". If you know me personally you might be a little confused since I live in the Netherlands, but this is all going to change!
The last couple of years I have been thinking about taking a gap year as an au-pair. I have always wanted to take a gap year and since many of you know I love being around children, I decided that being an au-pair would be the best way to accomplish my dreams and have fun. Last summer I spent my holiday in France as an au-pair and this made it really clear for me that I want to do this. It is a big step in my life but I decided that:
I am moving to London!
After making the choice to follow through with becoming an au-pair I had to make some difficult choices. One of the choices was which country I wanted to work in. The last couple of years the choice was between the U.K. and the USA. I decided to go to London because it is a little "safer". Not because of the crimes or anything but because I have the opportunity to go right after my exams. If you want to go to the United States as an au-pair, you will have to do a lot of paperwork, get your driver's license and get a J-1-visum. Being an au-pair in the U.K. is much easier. It is also a lot closer to the Netherlands which gives me the opportunity if I must return home, I am able to do so. I also went to London a couple of times and I fell in love with the city (yes, that is possible). Of course I only know the city as a (sometimes lost) tourist, it does assure me that I will know how to get around a little bit.
The last couple of weeks I decided to try and find a family. This was partly because I was afraid that I would have nothing to do after my exams and would get a little 'lost' since I won't have school anymore. Most of my friends will be moving across the globe (sounds pretty cool right?). Of course I could have found a job, but since I already know what I want, why would I wait?
It was pretty hard to find a hostfamily since I am not with an organization There are a lot of scams and also a lot of other au-pairs that are trying to find a job. I will not share details, but I had a liking for all three families. I am excited for this year with a new family as their au-pair. To my belief, they are also excited.
I am not going to tell you much about the family since I don't think they will appreciate that, but I can tell you that they have two children and they live in a part of London which is close to Victoria Park and London Fields (Hackney area). They have a dog, which I will have to walk a couple of times a week. I also have to do a couple of household chores but I am mainly taking care of the kids. I will have my own room and from what I know the parents are lovely people. They have a current au-pair which I talked to on Skype and she was very nice and told me a lot about the family. I will stay there for at least 12 months.
Right now I am planning to move around the end of June. I will probably already visit the family before that since I am going to London in June with Sofie! Right now I have to focus on my exams but will also start to plan things in the next couple of weeks. On this blog I will keep you updated on my life in London, and the things that will keep me busy.
As you can see my 'moving' date (I am not sure when I will move exactly but around the 26th of June), is already quite soon (11 weeks)! My birthday is also in between those dates and I think I will make it into a birthday/goodbye party.
For all my Dutchies: Er is een vertaal knop in de menu balk rechts.
