Tea Corner - Where you can talk to all

    Yeah, I agree that high heels are nothing for everyday...but for some outfits you really need them. :hmm


    Annina, that is great! I was an AuPair myself. I think you will have a wonderful time. Even now and then it will be a little hard but it will be an unforgettable experience. :)
    And yes, your English will definitely improve! :D

    My boss here in Brussels has a son, who's a little bit autistic. And, I think it was friday, we saw a boy at school, who was running in circles and talking to himself. My boss said that he thinks this boy has a problem, too. But we can't do anything for him 'cause it's a problem of the educators, extremly sad =(

    Annina, my stay at the first family was quite short. After two weeks we decided that it would be the best for all if I would leave and after four weeks I moved to another town and in with a divorced dad and the 13 year old son. :D Fact was that the first family wanted me to work extra hours which I didn't want to do and even though the mum was at home, she never helped me and when she was gone my rules didn't count anything...so...yeah. And I was very very lonely. We lived in the middle of the forest and there was hardly any places to go. However, the new family was something completely different. I felt at home and they accepted me as I was (the first family didn't approve of my piercing and my tattoo...). And the kid was great. We became great friends. :)


    I heard of that organization. It has a pretty good reputation. :) I once met an Au-Pair that was caring for a boy with autism. He's was a great kid but yeah, when he got angry it was quite a challenge. But I think you will do just fine since you would get extra support, I guess?


    Franzi, this really is extremely sad. And I feel really sorry for the kids because sometimes even the educators are unable to cope with the situations and there is no real way to help them... :kopfschuetteln:

    Zitat von Serenissima

    Annina, my stay at the first family was quite short. After two weeks we decided that it would be the best for all if I would leave and after four weeks I moved to another town and in with a divorced dad and the 13 year old son. :D Fact was that the first family wanted me to work extra hours which I didn't want to do and even though the mum was at home, she never helped me and when she was gone my rules didn't count anything...so...yeah. And I was very very lonely. We lived in the middle of the forest and there was hardly any places to go. However, the new family was something completely different. I felt at home and they accepted me as I was (the first family didn't approve of my piercing and my tattoo...). And the kid was great. We became great friends. :)


    I'm glad it turned out that way, can't imagine how you must have felt with the first family.
    May I ask you what city and state you stayed in? I'm kinda America-addicted that's why I wanna know. :D
    And just being curious, what does a 13 year old need an au pair for? I always thought au pairs usually take care of smaller children like elementary school aged kids, espacially for daylight babysitting?


    I've tried to find some ways for myself to stay a year in the US but I couldn't find anything I was interested in...so I'm just gonna start university and try to do some internships in the USA while studying. :)


    @Schlingpflanze: I hope it all works out for you so you can go to Australia or the US etc. :)

    Fabi: Believe me, it took me some courage to tell anyone that I want to change families. It's hard if you're quite young, you're alone in a foreign country and suddenly everything goes wrong. Anyways, the first (evil) family I was with was living in Weston, Connecticut. It's really tiny and there are more trees than houses. However, one of our neighbours was Keith Richards. That was pretty cool. :D
    The second family lived in West Caldwell, New Jersey which is just 15min away from Manhattan. I know what people say about Jersey being New York's armpit and stuff but it is really a cool place to stay. Of course, some places you should avoid at day and night time...especially if you're white. But I would always go back there. I met a lot of great people and it is, as the name Garden State already indicates, really green. Oh, and Princeton is always worth a visit. ;)
    Haha, my host kid needed me for driving and hanging out. :) You don't really walk anywhere in the States since even suburban neighbourhoods are usually far away from everything and there is no real public transport. The closest bus stop for me was 45min away by foot and if I used the car to drive to the next town it took me just 15min. Well, my host kid was big in the school band business so I had to drive him all around the state.
    But yeah, normally Aupairs are used for smaller children. However, it becomes popular with older children too. Americans like to check on their kids, making sure they're ok when they're home alone. ;)


    Hmm...you could become an Aupair yourself? I met quite a few male Aupairs in the States. They become more and more popular for boys aged 10-14. You know, helping them through puberty. :lachen:
    University is great for a stay in the US, though. You can just go a year abroad for studying. Well...it will be rather all about partying. :D


    Annina: That's great! Congratulations! :) Did you talk to the family already? What kind of family is it? Australia is great. I have a friend who lives there and she just got her visa prolonged for another 4 years.

    I see the point with the driving. It's just when I was like 13 everything was about acting "grown up" and I would have never let anyone "babysit" me. :rofl:


    Oh and did you meet Keith Richards in person?^^



    Zitat von Serenissima

    Of course, some places you should avoid at day and night time...especially if you're white. But I would always go back there. I met a lot of great people and it is, as the name Garden State already indicates, really green.


    We once had a rental car with NJ plates and it said "Garden State" and I always meant to ask somebody from New Jersey if the state is really that...you know, green and "gardenlike" :D
    Never met anyone from NJ though...until now. :blumen:


    Zitat von Serenissima

    Hmm...you could become an Aupair yourself? I met quite a few male Aupairs in the States. They become more and more popular for boys aged 10-14. You know, helping them through puberty. :lachen:


    I think I would like hanging out with and taking care of kids. I actually considered to become an aupair, some time back I searched for some organizations. But it turned out that you will have to provide proof of having worked with children, you're not related to, for at least 200 hours (that's correct, isn't it?) And I'm afraid I can't possibly provide that proof.^^
    So I'll have to stick with my internship plans in the US.

    In the neighborhood of KEITH RICHARDS???? :what?!::what?!::what?!::what?!::what?!::what?!:


    Oh, this is so unfair!!! Why can't there be interesting people in my neighborhood??? schnueff:
    Actually I always live on the wrong side of this planet...
    Damn, I won't go to America... Even if I could see Keith Richards or anyone else there.
    Gnaaaaa~ Life is so unfair!


    I really admire this man!!! :herz::herz:

    Zitat von Fabi

    I see the point with the driving. It's just when I was like 13 everything was about acting "grown up" and I would have never let anyone "babysit" me. :rofl:


    I didn't really "babysit" him. It was more like driving him home, letting him play with his xbox, driving him to band practice, ordering pizza and going to the movies. :D I should have checked his homework and stuff but I never did that. In my opinion, he was old enough to know what he had to do. ;)



    To both you, Fabi and Minchen...unfortunately, I never met Keith Richards in person. I met his daughter at the gas station once but that was as much as I really saw of the Richards family. I can only say that he is a really loving daddy that was really active on the parents side when his kids went to the local high school. Rumour has it, he had to compensate for the time he spent in rehab. The kids never really had a lot of him...only the money. :gruebel: But his house is so not rockstar. :lachen: It's white, very very American with a porch and a swing on the porch. Just like the movies. And he has his private road. That's pretty normal in that area though, my host family had one too. :hmm


    Zitat von Fabi

    I think I would like hanging out with and taking care of kids. I actually considered to become an aupair, some time back I searched for some organizations. But it turned out that you will have to provide proof of having worked with children, you're not related to, for at least 200 hours (that's correct, isn't it?) And I'm afraid I can't possibly provide that proof.^^
    So I'll have to stick with my internship plans in the US.


    The 200 hours are actually no problem. I decided to become an AuPair only 4 months before I actually went there and had no experience at all. You can do an internship at a kindergarten for 2-4 weeks. That gives you alot of hours. If you have neighbors with kids, then just ask them if you could look after them a little. Go to the playground and stuff. After school tutoring counts as well, work with kids in church... there's actually quite a lot that counts in. :D


    @Minchen: Why won't you go to America? It's just six hours away. :) Fun fact, my friend once met Tommy Lee at a SevenEleven (you know, it's like a gas station without the gas :D ) and didn't recognize him. He even opened the door for her and just when she was back at the hotel she knew who he was. :rofl:

    But you lived in his neighborhood! Oh, just that would make me happy for the rest of my live!!! Ah, I always knew that he was a loving daddy! A person with such nice eyes and such a lovely smile, couldn't be all "bad". :wow::wow:


    Well, why won't I go to America...
    I don't like the American people... The most...
    They are so arrogant and selfish and ignorant.
    No there is no climate change!
    And they must stuck there nose in every things, that aren't meant for them!
    Can't stand this...
    And they food is awful!


    Just my meaning.

    Zitat von Serenissima

    I didn't really "babysit" him. It was more like driving him home, letting him play with his xbox, driving him to band practice, ordering pizza and going to the movies. :D I should have checked his homework and stuff but I never did that. In my opinion, he was old enough to know what he had to do. ;)


    So what you're saying right now is all you had to do was driving him thourgh the town (and sometimes the state) and you got a bed, food, pocket money and the memorable experience of staying in NY Metro Area for a few months in exchange...That's quite a nice deal. :D


    Zitat von Serenissima

    The 200 hours are actually no problem. I decided to become an AuPair only 4 months before I actually went there and had no experience at all. You can do an internship at a kindergarten for 2-4 weeks. That gives you alot of hours. If you have neighbors with kids, then just ask them if you could look after them a little. Go to the playground and stuff. After school tutoring counts as well, work with kids in church... there's actually quite a lot that counts in. :D


    That sounds really interesting and I still would like to do something in the US. But the aupair thing is more or less off the table at this moment. Mainly because my 18th birthday is like 5 or 6 months after my graduation and you've to be 18 to become an aupair and you know I figured it just doesn't fit into my timeframe. I thought about attending a language school somewhere in the USA but I couldn't really find an organization I liked....so the thing I'm gonna do is going to the US in August on vacation with my familiy and then I plan on visiting some friends in relatives in Australia...it's a long flight so I would need at least 4 weeks in Down Under to recover from that 24 hour flight. :Oo: And then I'm gonna start university in the spring semester in Germany....Well, let's see how much of that is gonna work out. :hmm


    And I'm really hoping that my internship plans work out. I hope I'm gonna find my way, because I really like the USA. I was four when I visited the states for the first time and I've been there like every other year since that time. When I was a little kid we would always stay in the same state - Florida. We still go to the same city every year but I figured it was cheaper to buy domestic flight tickets from FL to somewhere else in the US than from Germany...of course^^. Last summer I took a short trip of two days to San Francisco, that was pretty awesome. And up to now I've been to several cities and places all over the country and I really liked all the impressions.



    Did you visit some other cities while you were in NJ? I think Philly and D.C. aren't that far away.



    Edit:

    Zitat von Mina Snape-Circeni

    I don't like the American people... The most...
    They are so arrogant and selfish and ignorant.
    No there is no climate change!
    And they must stuck there nose in every things, that aren't meant for them!
    Can't stand this...
    And they food is awful!


    How can you say that if you've never even been there?
    I think most people in the US are actually kind of nice....and there is arrogant and selfish people in every country....

    Zitat von Mina Snape-Circeni

    But you lived in his neighborhood! Oh, just that would make me happy for the rest of my live!!! Ah, I always knew that he was a loving daddy! A person with such nice eyes and such a lovely smile, couldn't be all "bad". :wow::wow:


    No, I guess no one can be that bad. But he definitely raised his children in the typical American way. :lachen:


    .


    Oh...pretty strong words from someone who's never been there...
    I completely accept your opinion but don't you think that this is a bit stereo-typical? :gruebel:


    I had a very strong opinion when I went to work there. I've been there before and I didn't make the best experiences back then. However, the longer I stayed the better I understood them. Of course, some of them really are arrogant, selfish and ignorant. But I know lots of Europeans who are just the same. I have friends that work actively to raise awareness for the climate change. And of course they are a little nosy. Who isn't? ;) It's just that they are raised in a completely different way, live in a different way and therefore, have a different way of looking at things. :)
    And the food. I have to agree, there's evil stuff in America. No doubt about that. When I was there I gained about 10 kilos in the beginning. However, I lost them as fast as I gained them. I just had to look for the right food. There's fast food but at the same time they have such a wonderful diversity in dishes since influences from all over the world are fused. Jambalaya from New Orleans, special Chilis from New Mexico, Neo-Sushi from California. It's all there. ;) And alot of Americans switched to organic food a long time ago. I never met so many vegetarians and vegans before.



    Fabi, yeah, I was getting everything. Even the car was really mine and the paid for the gas and the toll. And I had no curfew and all weekends off. :D
    Your plans sound really good and I think you will figure something out to get there very easily. :) There would have still been the chance of doing Work&Travel there. Or just to be a councellor at a Camp. If not, you can always go there with an exchange program at university. I know that my university is offering tons of opportunities to go there. It's just that you should be an undergrad if you wanna go. :)
    Oh, and I visited a lot back while staying in NJ. I've been to D.C., Philly, Niagara Falls, New Haven (Yale), New York of course, Buffallo, Syracuse, Thousand Islands, Salem (so worth visiting the pseudo-witches :D ), etc. And on the west coast San Francisco, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, ... :) I had quite some time to travel. :lachen:
    Where have you been to??

    Zitat von Serenissima

    Fabi, yeah, I was getting everything. Even the car was really mine and the paid for the gas and the toll. And I had no curfew and all weekends off. :D
    Your plans sound really good and I think you will figure something out to get there very easily. :) There would have still been the chance of doing Work&Travel there. Or just to be a councellor at a Camp. If not, you can always go there with an exchange program at university. I know that my university is offering tons of opportunities to go there. It's just that you should be an undergrad if you wanna go. :)
    Oh, and I visited a lot back while staying in NJ. I've been to D.C., Philly, Niagara Falls, New Haven (Yale), New York of course, Buffallo, Syracuse, Thousand Islands, Salem (so worth visiting the pseudo-witches :D ), etc. And on the west coast San Francisco, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, ... :) I had quite some time to travel. :lachen:
    Where have you been to??


    That sounds awesome.
    Yale is in New Haven? Wow, I didn't know that. I knew that Yale is a very good university and New Haven is some rather small city in CT but I couldn't connect those two things. :D


    I've been to Las Vergas when I was 13 so I could get an impression of all the things I'm gonna be able to do when I'm 21. :D But we didn't go there to gamble, we went to the Hoover Dam, the Grand Canyon and Bryce Canyon in Utah and I've also been to New York and San Francisco.
    In Florida we're always staying in the Tampa Bay Area. But I've never been to Miami or the Everglades up to know. But when I was smaller Orlando and Cape Canaveral were probably more attractive and way closer. But I want to see Miami, the Everglades and the upper Keys this year.


    Uhh and...do you have a NJ driver license? Because you stayed there for more than six months I assume? I really love the design of american licenses, the German ones are so damn boring. :lachen:

    Oh, my father is working at the Bundeswehr.
    I met a few americans when he was taken me with him to the buro, when he must pick something up there.


    They were all the same...
    I just don't like them...
    And then there was BUSH.... :wall::wall:


    I met two American people, who are very nice, on DeviantArt, but the most Americans I met, are pretty vitriolic...


    And they are so paranoic... They more bad then myself in that way! :rofl:


    Maybe I should go there some day... But not alone... :hmm

    Zitat von Fabi


    That sounds awesome.
    Yale is in New Haven? Wow, I didn't know that. I knew that Yale is a very good university and New Haven is some rather small city in CT but I couldn't connect those two things. :D


    I've been to Las Vergas when I was 13 so I could get an impression of all the things I'm gonna be able to do when I'm 21. :D But we didn't go there to gamble, we went to the Hoover Dam, the Grand Canyon and Bryce Canyon in Utah and I've also been to New York and San Francisco.
    In Florida we're always staying in the Tampa Bay Area. But I've never been to Miami or the Everglades up to know. But when I was smaller Orlando and Cape Canaveral were probably more attractive and way closer. But I want to see Miami, the Everglades and the upper Keys this year.


    Uhh and...do you have a NJ driver license? Because you stayed there for more than six months I assume? I really love the design of american licenses, the German ones are so damn boring. :lachen:


    Yes, Yale is in New Haven. Yale is a pretty cool place, nice bars and cafés all around but New Haven itself is not such a nice place. Since the crisis hit the states there are a lot of empty houses there and lots of unemployment...So you better park your car on campus. Safer that way. :hmm


    Nice places you've been to. :) I also visited the Grand Canyon while I was in Vegas. But it was sooo hot. I'll never go there in august again. :lachen: But the best experience was riding the roller coaster (well, kind of roller coaster) on top of the stratosphere tower. It takes you over the rim and you just hang there in the air, 350m over the ground. Adrenaline rush guaranteed! :D
    Florida sounds great. Never been there but all the stories I've heard about it. Must be a gorgeous place. I'm planning a road trip with a friend this summer. 3 weeks on the road, from atlanta all the way up and down again. :)


    Haha, no I don't have a Jersey license. I never really thought about getting one and no one really asked me about it. I got pulled over just once and they didn't really care if my license was German or not. My friend got one, though. Pretty easy to get. You didn't even have to take a real driving test. Only needed to read the manual and do some multiple choice questions on a touch-screen. Done! :lachen: I have a friend from Alabama and his license is...well...pretty awesome. He has the weirdest picture ever. :rofl:




    So, you met the guys from the Army? Or their kids? The typical army brats? ;)
    Well, some of those can be quite annoying, that's true. Met those when I was about sixteen and hanging out in Karlsruhe. Those guys where always going to the same concerts as I did. You just have to have a bigger mouth than they have. They'll give up pretty quickly. :lachen:


    But there not all the same. You should meet the Americans I know. You would just love them. :)
    Bush...well, he was something. My first host family were democrates, the second family were republicans so Bush had his place on the mantelpiece. Still, they didn't mind me not liking him and they know that he wasn't the best choice for the country. And there's a golden rule with Americans everyone should follow...don't ever talk about politics. They won't get your point and you never theirs. Just that easy. :)


    Paranoid is right, though. I know some Americans that would call the cops if a car they don't know would park in front of the house for more than 10min. But this again, is just something we have to deal with. There's also some stuff I really don't like about Germans...I still accept that though. :hmm


    And you should definitely go there. Take a friend with you and take a look for yourself. Meet the people, talk to them. And maybe get a new picture. :)

    Oh, it were the normal Army-People. No children...


    I think I should do that sometimes. Maybe with my driving-teacher, he asks me yesterday, if I would go on vacations with him :lachen::lachen:
    He looks good, and he's so nice... I grinned and said: "Yes! When you're paying!" :boese:



    I don't know if you're interested in it, but there are new pics in my Art-Thread. Actually my private Masterpiece, too! It would be an honour if you take a look and maybe leave a comment. :blumen:

Jetzt mitmachen!

Du hast noch kein Benutzerkonto auf unserer Seite? Registriere dich kostenlos und nimm an unserer Community teil!

Benutzerkonto erstellen Anmelden