MY FIRST DAY
I woke up this morning in my new room which will be mine for the next year. The fresh air came through the window facing the garden and I pulled my blanket a little tighter. Apart from the cold I must have caught from my mum I felt pretty good and was looking forward to my first day in my new home.
Firstly my host-father and I went to the doctors to register me. I had to fill out some forms and do some tests such as measuring my blood pressure or my height and then I was officially registered as a patient. If my cold doesn’t get better soon I’ll probably have to actually make use of that. After the doctor we went to the drugstore and then home again where we set up an appointment for me to get a national insurance number. With it I’ll be able to set up a bank account and (in case I want to) look for a second job. It was actually the first conversation in English I’ve ever had on the telephone, very exciting! Admittedly I had to ask the lady to repeat one or two things but mostly it was fine. In the end I even got an appointment for the interview on Friday which my host-father said is really soon. It is in Oxford and so I’m using that possibility to do some sightseeing in the famous univercity (hihi see what I did there? ;)).
I’m probably going to be accompanied by another au-pair from Germany. Celina was on the same plane I was on and when she heard at the passport control that I was an au-pair as well she came up to me and asked if we should exchange phone numbers. We also found out that she is living in Maidenhead which is just about 20km from my home Caversham and spontaneously decided to go to the Warner Bros. Studios together to see the Harry Potter world. I guess I’ve already found a friend the minute I officially entered the country (or actually a friend found me).
After lunch my host-father and I went to the centre of Reading where he showed me around and recommended a few good restaurants to me. Reading certainly is a beautiful city! The Thames River is flowing through the centre creating a lot of idyllic green parks and spaces. The houses are literally old at the top and new down below. You can see the old brickwork at the highest floor and underneath it they’ve put modern looking shops. I’m going to write a whole post about Reading including some pictures when I’ve explored the city a little more.
After we came home I checked the pedometer on my phone and it said that we walked a good 14km today! Not bad is it?
Now I’m sitting at the kitchen table writing, drinking tea and blowing my nose once a minute. This evening we are going to have a barbecue for dinner and my host-father wants to do a recipe with aubergines, olives and zucchini. Yummy!
You’ll hear more very soon!
