New York

Friday

Early Friday morning (17th March) I got on the train to New York City. Arriving there at lunch I got something to eat before making my way out to Tarrytown where I dropped off my stuff. I then went back into the city and just relaxed for the rest of the day. Didn't feel like doing anything big this evening as I had gotten a cold and my head got pretty messed up. Spent the evening chilling out with the person that helped me get a place to stay for the night before going to bed quite early.

Saturday

Started the day with breakfast in Tarrytown and then got on the train into NYC. A ride for about slightly less than 1 hour. From Grand Central Terminal I made my way to Central Park by foot.

A tall building on my way to Central Park

A street on my way to Central Park

Trump Tower

On my way to Central Park I really got my first experince (in daylight) of the tall and square buildings of NYC. Both for good and bad. Starting with the bad part, according to me it makes the city grey and kind of dull. Making NYC look like it has little personality compared to Boston or an European city of your choice. However it is very easy to navigate, you just need to know the right street and avenue and you will easily get to your destination. It also gives some amazing views. On my way to Central Park I happend to pass Trump Tower. No matter what you think about him I think the place looks pretty dull beeing just gold. It is also guarded by armed police officers as many other places in the city.

A statue right before walking into Central Park

A small vantage point in Central Park

Some kind of theater in the park

One of NYCs very tall buildings

Bethesda Fountain

Moving around Central Park was very pleasant. The park looked nice even though it was very snowy. I can only imagine how amazing it looks in the summer.

A super yummy burger

From Central Park I started making my way down through the city. It got closer to lunch so I made my way to the Brooklyn Diner where I had an amazing burger.

On my way through the city I saw some classic and amazing sites. First I made my way to Times Square.

An amazing place with huge screens making it seem like the sun was out even though it was a cloudy day. It's even more impressing during the evening or night where it lights up the place just as it was day. I did pass by Times Square during the Friday night but unfortanetly didn't snap any pictures then.

Flatiron Building

Empire State Building

An amazing looking roof

Starting to get cloudy

Washington Square Arch

A cool looking building

From Times Square I made my way towards Ground Zero and the 9/11 Memorial Museum. On my way I caught some famous and cool looking buildings seen in the pictures above. On my way there it got more cloudy and after a while it started snowing. At Ground Zero I met up with my Cezch Au Pair friend living near New York, whom I met at the training school. We went to the 9/11 memorial museum togheter.

The smoke from the 9/11 attacks from across the river

The 9/11 Memorial was captivating and very interesting. It had a lot of personal stories and captivating facts about before, during and after the event. On a scale from 1 to Concentration Camp I would put it one step below Concentration Camp. Just like a Camp it is very captivating and an awful act. The Camps do however feel more real and just feel like a bigger thing. Probably cause they are part of a bigger event that happend over a longer time. I still think it's a worthwhile experience. After that I had dinner and then my cold and headache beat me and I had to go back to rest.

Sunday

Got up and went to the city to meet up with my German Au pair friend wich I also met at the training school and also lives near New York. We went to the Barcade. A bar filled with old arcade machines. After that we went for some pizza.

NOM NOM NOM Pizza

From there we got some supplies for the train and then went to Penn Station where I got on my train back to Boston, a ride for about 3 and a half hour. Now for some pictures somewhere between New York and Boston:

Somewhere between NYC and
Boston

Somewhere between NYC and
Boston

Somewhere between NYC and
Boston

Somewhere between NYC and
Boston

Somewhere between NYC and
Boston

After the train I finally had got home to Boston and got some dinner and then went to bed.

After the weekend I think it was an amazing trip wich I really enjoyed and definently could return to, altough I think I prefer walking around Boston. Also sorry for some weird formating of the pictures the editor drives me crazy sometimes. Will look into writing some html-code and hopefully it will look better soon.

Ludwig

10 Days

Been here for 10 days now and it feels great! There are a lot of new things to learn. And there are a lot of differences from home as well. One example would be the way you get around. In Sweden I could bike a lot. Here it feels like the roads aren't very friendly for bikes and is mainly for driving cars. A lot of stuff is also bigger. Like the ammount of the stuff you buy. Even just in a regular grocery store some containers look ridiculously big to me. Then there are Costco where everything is big. Even though it may seem absurd with big stuff like that it can be useful for big families as they both will save money and time on getting alot in each package.

I have been with the family now since Friday the 10th and it feels great so far. They're super nice and it feels like I get the time I need to start adapting to the routines. The 4 kids are pretty wild sometimes so there's always something going on when they're home. But I like it, you never really get bored. There are also 3 dogs but they're super cute and really cuddly. The food is similar to home so that feels good. One thing that surprises me though is how much the kids eat casue even if you think they take small portions, they just eat a lot. They also do a lot of snacking and it just feels like food disappers all the time. But hey they're growing so it's good that they eat a lot.

So last Sunday I was at a wrestling competition where the oldest kid competed. He did some great matches and in the end got 2nd place after het got beaten in a close match against a kid from the same team. It was nice watching some wrestling even if it differs from what I've been doing in Sweden. Yesterday I got my bank account setup and was at my first meeting with the other au pairs in my cluster. We got some frozen yoghurt and it was nice seeing some other au pairs. Tonight I'm gonna have a meeting with the family and LCC and I think it's gonna be great to get all things going. Hopefully I will get my gym membership fixed soon so I can start working out! Need some papers so I can get a discount.

But for now over and out!
Ludwig

Arrival

I have now arrived at the New York training school and it feels great!
Although the day is filled with different classes the day goes by pretty fast.

Me at Copenhagen Airport Kastrup before leaving for London and finally New York

The trip from Copenhagen Airport Kastrup went by pretty fast although it took about 12 hours in total. I met two other Swedes traveling from Copenhagen so we spent our time togheter during our transfer in London. In London we just got something to eat and then got on to the plane going to JFK in New York. When we got here we were a group of about 30 people arriving with the same plane. We then went by bus to the Campus where we are going through the Au Pair Training School. The view from the plane over New York was amazing! It kind of reminded me of the games Grand Theft Auto when you look over the cities in the different games.

View from the plane of New York

View from the plane of New York

Here on Campus I share room with 3 other guys. One from Germany, one from France and one from Czech Republic. Everyone here is very friendly and it just feels like we all don't really understand what we have taken upon us. At least it feels so for me. I guess it will go up to my head once I get to my family. That will be on Friday and I just can't wait.

Today (Thursday) we were supposed to go into NYC but over the night there came a snow storm and they had to cancel the trip. I felt very dissapointed but I know I can go to NYC once I get to my host family. Instead of the trip we're gonna have a movie night tonight instead. Not sure what movie we'll watch yet. Until then I will probably just spend the day chilling on my laptop. It also feels great beeing finished with all courses and I just feel ready to go to my host family.

Back to chilling now. I'll write again once I get to my host family!
Ludwig