Only Took 30 Minutes

All it took was leaving the airport and boarding the bus to Fulham, and the two little old ladies in front of me were speaking Portuguese. Although I much preferred the very tall, very handsome man sitting next to me on today's bus to Wimbledon, speaking on the phone in a mix of Portuguese and English, the way my friends make fun of me for doing with my parents. Although his Continental-English accent beats my Azorian-Bostonian mix any day.

But even that can't compete with the fact that I get to hear "Charlie" in an English accent all day! (Yes, Charlie bit my finger was the first youtube video clip I EVER saw). Charlie and his sister Penelope are the two children I am taking care of, and I'm having a blast getting to know them. Handful might be an understatement, but we are getting on quite well and I'm looking forward to the year we have ahead of us together. 

For my first week, I'm doing a cross-over with the previous nanny, who has been just as much a pleasure to meet. She has been a fantastic help not only with teaching me the routine of the household and the children, but also some great pointers on the city, like cheap eats, good shops, and most especially how to navigate the transportation system. I definitely count her among friends, making the last item on my to do list the first item to be crossed off. 

My time here is just beginning, but I'm going to go spend it roaming around outside, and not in here thinking of what else to write in this blog. Until next week, when I've done enough exploring to actually write about. 

Do or Die

With two hours to go before leaving my house to head to the airport, and everything but electronics and snacks packed, I think it's finally hit me! OMG, I'm moving abroad for a year. OMG, I think I'm going to be sick... Yep, that anxiety I was talking about has definitely conquered all other emotions, and most basic functions too. Like logic. Logic would dictate double checking things and getting some security friendly food ready instead of typing out a blog post. But anxiety says something more to the tune of "you can't concentrate and function correctly anyway, so you might as well type it out."

I've said goodbye (for now) to just about everybody I should have. If I missed you, I apologize. Unless you're not reading this blog, cause then you don't care enough anyway, so I'm NOT sorry for not saying goodbye. (Yes, logic understands how ridiculous and pointless that last sentence was, but anxiety doesn't care).

But alas, adventure time has come. And I leave you with my final draft of my to do list for my year abroad. I worked REALLY hard on it! To make it actually doable, but to make it fun and adventurous too. I will keep you updated with my progress on it for sure! See you in a year stateside!

1. Try lots of European candy, including Kinder Eggs, Bueno Bars, Mars Bars, and a variety of Cadbury chocolate flavors
2. Try every new flavor of crisps I encounter
3. Try a new, local beer at a non touristy, local pub
4. Try curry just one more time. Give up. Eat fish and chips
5. Fish Fingers and Custard! Really
6. Visit a minimum of 5 filming locations to any of my fandoms
7. Watch the filming of Sherlock on location in January
8. See at least one member of the royal family and/or an actor whose been in at least 2 of the following 3: Downton Abbey/Harry Potter/Doctor Who
9. Attend the taping of a panel show (preferably QI or Nevermind the Buzzcocks)
10. See a play at West End
11. Buy HP and the Philospher’s Stone
12. Buy something, anything, at Harrods
13. Get a Hard Rock Café shot glass from London (and Manchester if possible)
14. Iconic Abbey road retake
15. Get a stranger to take a picture with me in front of a phone box and a police box (Bonus points if it’s the same stranger in both)
16. Watch a Chelsea game (not on telly)
17. Become proficient in Celsius, metric system, and military time
18. Kiss a guy from the four countries in the UK
19. Do something fancy, that I could only do in London
20. Watch the New Years Eve Fireworks over the Thames in person (If not in Portugal for Christmas)
21. Visit AT LEAST 15 of the museums/ palaces/ tourist attractions (Musts include Royal Observatory, Madam Tussauds, Changing of the Guards at Buckingham, London Dungeon, Tower of London, and the Victoria and Albert Museum)
22. TRY to make a member of the Queen’s Guard laugh (I obviously don’t have to be successful, but I have to give it a real go)
23. Attend a prayer service and/or choral performance at Westminster Abbey
24. Ride around on the top level of a red double decker with no destination in mind
25. Visit the countryside (probably Bath or Canterbury)
26. Drive under the English channel
27. Leave the UK at least twice, for a minimum of 2 days. Anywhere I haven’t been to before (i.e. Lisbon counts, Paris doesn’t)
28. Learn who Guy Fawkes is (without using a computer- books and people only) and then celebrate Guy Fawkes Day appropriately
29. Find something to do as a volunteer
30. Make a new friend 

Getting Things in Order Includes Starting a Blog

ONE WEEK! If you've decided to follow this blog then you probably know that's how long I have before I move from my New England hometown to London, UK. One week. It hardly seems real. And with such a short time left before I leave, I've still got loads to do, but as is in my tradition, I've barely started doing anything. Okay, that's not entirely true. I've bought a camera, "started" packing, and got most of my paperwork in order. But I still feel like there's so much left, like cancelling all my America based services (car insurance, AAA, Netflix...), making my goodbye rounds, and cleaning my room (which is always on my to do list).

I've decided as part of this to do list, I should start a blog. I've traveled a lot, and have considered doing a blog during many of my previous adventures, but I just never got around to it. But I do regret not having kept a record of many of my former trips, so I figured this would be a good way to keep a record of my year as an Au Pair in London, and making a commitment to the world wide web will actually force me to detail my year abroad. But be warned, as a first experience, this may come off as a public diary (but ultimately, isn't that sort of what a blog is).  So here's my first pre-journey post.

Preparing to move abroad for a year is a whirlwind of emotions, and I can't seem to get mine straight. Naturally, I'm excited and anxious. I can't wait to move to a new place, make new friends, and be a new me (I can start wearing lipstick everyday, and nobody would think that was weird! I probably won't, but that's exciting to think that I could) Although, I think the disbelief still overshadows it all, and the real anxiety hasn't quite settled in. It's there, I can feel it in the corner of my stomach preparing attack strategies, but it hasn't gone all Sontaran and taken over yet. It has a lot of other emotions rolling around in there to conquer. The biggest by far is anticipation. Goes hand in hand with excitement, and is pretty self-explanatory as a pre-adventure feeling.

There's the negative feelings too, but not the ones that I think most people would expect. People keep calling me brave for jumping out of my comfort zone. Leaving everything you know behind and starting something new can be scary. But braveness requires action in the face of fear, and fear is nowhere on my radar. I was built for this. Instead I feel this major sense of guilt. Allowing myself to be slightly egotistical (and I'd like to say out of character, but nobody would say humility is my strong suit) I like to think that I matter (I do occupy space and have mass... ha... ha, No? Ok.) Nobody's world is going to stop when I leave, but I'm thinking, or maybe at least hoping, that my presence will be missed. I feel guilty about the things I know I will miss: family holidays, friends' weddings and most especially the birth of my soon to be favorite cousin. I feel even worse worrying about the things I could miss: the ailment of a family member or, God forbid, the death of a loved one. It's also not entirely helpful when the mentality of many of those around you is more "dealing with it" than "I'm so excited for you".

But ultimately, I'm excited for me, and when it comes down to it, this is my adventure, and that's what matters! To all those who know me, it's always been clear that staying still was never, and may never, be an option, whether they like it or not. But if they like me, that is part of me, and part of me is what I learn and absorb from all my adventures. And my greatest one (so far) is about to start! ALLONS-Y!