well i made it.

first of all i feel realllly overwhelmed to start this post because i have so much to say. but first i will explain why i am here in "switzer somewhere"...as my niece leah called it once.

back in the summer(09) my sisters alicia and natalie suggested i nanny in france after graduation in december. i have studied french in middle school, high school and in college. she thought it would be a great experience and also may be the only time in life i can go do something like that. so it was something that was on my mind. come october, my french teacher forwarded onto us all a nanny opportunity in the french area of switzerland. without question i applied for that job. a few weeks later and after having swine flu, i heard back from that family and they decided to higher(i think there is another spelling for that word but i canNOT think of it) someone else. i replied asking them if they knew of anyone else looking for a nanny...au pair is the official title. so then november came, right before my thanksgiving break i hear from the woolley family. they wanted an au pair for winter and one for summer. i chose the winter for a few reasons but the main one was they are traveling to egypt this winter and i will be going with them. i love egypt and has always been at the top of my list of places to go. so i replied to their inquiry of me and a few days later we had a phone interview and a week later i was told i had the job. so the end of november and all of december was me getting ready for my trip. i have always felt right about coming and although i had a period of nervousness and a bit of panic i still knew i needed to have this experience.

i am here now and i live in a town about 40 minuets from Zurich called Wädenswil which is actually more german speaking. so i will be attending german classes. the german here is a bit different more of what they call a swiss german. the town of Wädenswil is GORGEOUS AND AMAZING. this morning(my first full day here) we walked into town to get my train/bus pass. this pass will take me pretty much anywhere in switzerland. then we went to a little grocery store and took a bus back. i am seriously in LOVE with this town and canNOT wait to explore it. i could see myself living here. i wish you all could see it. (well you will cuz i will be taking a MILLION pictures of it.)

here are the random pictures i have taken so far of my journey here.

my first plane ride that took me from seattle to paris was almost unbearable. mostly cus it was squishy(expected) and i am a tad claustrophobic. my seat didnt lean back, broken, so trying to sleep was a joke. however there were MANY things to watch on my person tv screen in front of me. i watched a french movie and started a few other movies but couldnt really finish any of them cus i would get sleepy or bored with it. but the flight went pretty fast so that was good.

at the Charles de Gaulle airport in paris. CRAZY airport. it took me about half hour just to get to my gate. there are soo many different steps to it and i was rethinking having 2 heavy carry ons. my arms and shoulders are super sore right now. even my right hand i can still feel the indents my heavy bag made. but as hard as it was, i made it! this picture below is of the unfortunate people who's flight was cancelled for one reason or another.

(i was originally going to have a 10 hour lay over in paris for me to go out and explore the city, but because of weather and chance of flight delays i decided to change the time of my flight leaving paris. which turned out to be a great idea cuz i heard the flight i was going to take ended up being canceled. phew. dodged that one. even though it killed me that i was so close to paris and couldn't go, it turned out to be the better plan. i will just have to go back another time...and this time with a buddy.)
my heavy purse which was chucked full.
france right there.
more of france from the plane.
there is something truly amazing about being above the clouds.
my first peak at switzerland. might need to click on it to see that there is actually something in the picture.
more switzerland.

its true! im in switzerland...that bus that took us from the plane to the airport proves it.
the view from my window in my bedroom. if you look close into the distance you can see a beautiful lake. i saw it closer today on our walk into town. it is sooo pretty.

so that is all for now!
i am so happy to be here and KNOW i will have a great time.
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