An Au Pair in Germany: April 17th, 2010

April 17th

My year spent as an au pair in Germany, told in many parts. 2010-2011

I love days like today.

I would say that so far, today would be my ‘ideal day’. I woke up at 9 and showered with no rush on my part (rushing sucks, especially straight out of bed). Unfortunately I missed the big group breakfast in the dining room, but somebody saved me a croissant and I paired that with some homemade jam and a macchiato. I believe this is what they eat in Heaven.

The friends of the family will be here until after Clara’s party tomorrow, and they spent a lot of time playing with the older kids today which was nice for me.

I stayed in the kitchen with K and baked! We made a huge elaborate version of strawberry shortcake for the party tomorrow, and K made some strange concoction that she calls ‘cereal’ that is totally not cereal. It is cream and fruit and other things I can’t recall. It will probably taste amazing, though. We also got the mix ready to make breakfast bread tomorrow. Its sweet bread that is braided.

Later our whole crew piled into two cars and went out for lunch. We went to a town called Grossweil and ate at ‘Platzl’. Whenever we go out to eat I feel strange that I can’t read the menu so I just pretend to read it and see if I can pick out any familiar words until someone offers to help. I have become quite fond of Coke light (as it is called here) because if you order water it comes fizzy, and I am not really sure about anything else. K suggested that I order the Rigatoni, so I did. It was SO GOOD. They brought it out in the frying pan on top of a plate. It was Rigatoni noodles smothered in cheese with pieces of chicken breast on top and a seasonal herb they call ‘Baerlauch’. [I unfortunately have not yet found the English equivalent of this, but it is so delicious and grows wild].

After dinner we went back to the house and had a glorious nap. After nap time we had macchiatos and cake on the terrace (the temperature out was nothing short of perfection) Then a few of us went sailing! It was my first time REALLY sailing. It was fun (although a bit cold with the wind) and also a bit scary! I wish there had been a sign that said “WARNING: extreme turns” because I was constantly freaking out in my head that we were going to go into the water.

After our sailing trip it was dinner time for the kids, and then bedtime.
I will not sugar coat this, Clara was a terror tonight. She wanted her daddy to put her to bed, and he was staying downstairs, so she flailed and hit and screamed for a good 30 minutes while we three women tried to get her ready for bed. I think to rebel she decided to sleep on the (hardwood) floor, which made her happy somehow.