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

First post and presentation

Hello everyone!

My name is Ludwig Bengtsson and this blog will follow my adventure as an Au Pair in the USA, wich starts 6th february 2017 as I leave Sweden. In this first post I will try and introduce myself and some of the expectations I have. I'm currenty 20 years old and live in Sweden. I graduated this summer from the swedish high school and now hope to go on the adventure of my life as I leave for America. I've been training greco-roman style wrestling for about 9 years and have been both training and trainer. I've also played drums for about 10 years and have played in a few different bands. My biggest intrest however is computer games with a lot of time spent both online and offline. I do also spend a lot of time out with my many different friends. 
I choose my name, 'TheOddAuPair', as I know most au pairs are female. This made me feel like I would be different compared to most others doing a similar trip.

Why Au pair?

I usally awnser this question in two parts. The first one beeing that I want to leave my home and experience the world. I could've choosen to just travel as a tourist but I don't think that is the optimal way to really experience the world. Living with a family will get me closer to the culture and make me able to widen my view of the world even more. The other part would be that I like working with people and my future goal is to work with people in some way. This is a great opportunity to work with people both children and adults. I think that makes the au pair experience the perfect way for me to experience the world.

Expectations

It's hard to have any expectations as it will be so different from anything I've experienced before. I do however think it will be an awsome year with many great memories and many new friends. It might be hard to fit in from the start but I feel that I got the flexibility to fit in fairly quick and get into a positive rythm. With todays technology it is also easy for me to contact my family if I ever need to speak with them. I've heard a lot about everything will be larger and more unhealthy so I think I will need to focus more on what I eat and how much I exercise. I do think however it will be a great year to start exersicing pretty much everyday and focusing on getting both better stamina and more muscular. I Also think it will widen my life experience by a lot. 

Things that will be limited

There will probably be not that many pictures of my host family as they want to keep their activity on the internet low. I respect this and will work close with them to make sure they feel comfortable with me doing this blog.