Au Revoir But Perhaps Not A Bientot

I came to Toulouse full of expectation and excitement. I'm leaving Toulouse exactly a month later with a bad back. I wouldn't say I've wasted my time, I just perhaps could've spent it better. I've learnt a lot though. I've especially learnt to appreciate my Mum's cooking! Before I would've moaned about the veg or whatever but she could offer me cheesy cauliflower tomorrow and I would be lapping it up! Honestly, never turn down food, you never know when crazy French people will try to force you to live off raw cabbage. I've just realised that for tea today I had the twin's left over, cold mash potato. Literally living the dream! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE God, let my new family eat actual food! I'm actually quite looking forward to getting stuck in with the cooking, seeing as they'll have an actual oven!
I should really be asleep by now, seeing as my train leaves at about 10 tomorrow morning and I am nowhere near finished packing! I don't have a clue how I'm going to get my suitcase to the station but I'll cross that bridge when I get to it! Currently I'm in a half ready for bed state so I'm going to get the other half of me ready and have a sleep! No doubt Emilie* will be making as much noise as possible in the morning, just to annoy me! Oh well, that'll give me plenty of time to get the 140 euros off of them that they owe me! I should probably demand more for compensation on my back and empty stomach but they're not really worth talking to. I am considering leaving a little note though to express my feelings towards them! I feel I've been much to easy on them. Tonight for example Emilie said to me 'Me and Thilbault are going out, are you ok to babysit?' and left. I should have in fact said 'No Emilie! No, I am not ok to babysit. You've given me about  3 seconds notice and this is my last night in Toulouse. WHAT IF I HAD PLANS!?' I didn't say this because I was not quick enough! I wish I had been though because that would have thrown her. I've been far too nice to her so as soon as I get my money I'm going to warn the new girl about how much of a bitch she is! (See the blog post entitled 'Dear Lara...' I may do a similar one entitled 'Dear Emilie...' It'll just be one line though, You are a bitch.)
Well night night everybody! Next time we talk (are we technically talking?) I'll be in Paris! I'm trying to not set my expectations too high for Paris but I am looking forward to getting out of this shithole!

*Just spell your name properly will you? Dickhead!

Dear Lara...

So I've been replaced by a Spanish girl named Lara. I don't know what conditions she's used to in Spain but I feel like I should warn her about how she'll be living for the next year (or however long she can stand it).

Dear Lara,
I hope you settle in quickly with this family. Really, they're lovely people. Well that would depend on your definition of lovely but some may see it like that. They're not my definition of lovely, but then this apartment also isn't my definition of 'cosy'. You say 'potato', I say 'potato' I suppose! It probably comes down to whether you enjoy, let's say, spontaneity. For example if you signed your contract assuming what was written in the contract was true, this may not be the family for you. Don't get me wrong, I love a trip to the laundrette as much as the next girl but to go 5 times in one week is slightly much I believe! Especially when what you'll be washing are, in fact, the clothes of the parents. Your contract said you wouldn't be? So did mine. But as Emilie said, what's one more absolutely huge bag of laundry to carry up and down 4 flights of stairs in the great scheme of things!? And she's right, we're just the au pair so the condition of our backs should be the last of our worries. And anyway, what better way to rest your back after lugging around bags of washing than to relax on your nice cosy mattress on the floor? I know it's my favourite part of the day. And as sarcastic as that comment sounded, it wasn't. Genuinely, it doesn't get much better. Now, coming from Spain, perhaps you have  certain culinary standards? Do not expect to find them here! Just a word of warning, I hope you like raw food. We're talking raw meat (if you're lucky enough to get some) and of course the infamous raw cabbage! A personal favourite of mine, which is lucky as it's also a family favourite! And nothing is better than to fall asleep to the sound of your own stomach rumbling... But of course, although it seems to be the smallest concern of the parents, this job is about the children. My advice to you on that front would be to dress them in their Abercrombie and Fitch, Ralph Lauren and Converses and try to forget about the fact that you all live together in a squat. No, absolutely nothing is childproofed, but who needs safety when you have designer clothing for 21 month olds?
So that's just a  brief preview for you of your life for the foreseeable future, I hope you're as excited to start as I am to leave! And as they say over here, bonne chance!
Samantha x

Update

Oh my goodness I've kept you all in the dark so much recently! I just read back my previous posts and I've left you thinking that I'm moving to Paris! How things changed! So I'll just quickly update you on what has been happening.

Firstly, after telling you that I was moving to Paris I found a new family in Lyon. They sounded amazing! They were going to pay me more money, give me a car that they were paying petrol for but was for my own personal use, had a swimming pool, two alpacas and only one 3 year old child. It all sounds great and I went to visit them last weekend. Anyway, to cut a long story short, one of the alpacas had died. This had no relevance  to the job but I'm using it as symbolism. They'd replaced the alpaca with a llama but what I'm trying to say is that, umm, I'm not really sure... That maybe my dream died with the alpaca? Basically, yes they were stinking rich, but stinking here being the operative word! They smoked like absolute chimneys and I hate smoking! Also the Mum seemed like a right bitch and it just didn't really feel right. Pretty sure they didn't want me anyway as when I left they said 'we'll phone you'. It's almost been a week now and they never have done...

However, because I'd thought that this family was a dead certainty I told the family in Paris that I would not be going to them. I later regretted doing that and tried going grovelling back to them but they had already found someone else. Quelle dommage!

Whilst I was Lyon though, I was contacted by a family in Toulouse. This would be so convenient! So I replied to them and it turned out their next door neighbour's au pair is one of my au pair friends! I went round to meet them and they were so organised and did everything by the book. In a good way though so the Mum was ensuring I wasn't working any more than I should be. We arranged for me to go for a trial babysitting last night. Meanwhile though, I'd been talking to another family in Paris. They were really really lovely and friendly and just wonderful people so I said yes I would come and booked my train. Me being me though, still decided that I would go for the trial babysitting. Because I'm a dickhead! Basically, I love them too. And the thing is I know for definite that I like their family. Like the other family I've only met on Skype so once I arrive they could be different. And I already have friends in Toulouse. But I've booked my train to Paris, for tomorrow! I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO! I think I want to stay in Toulouse but I have booked my train! And I've told the Paris family that I'll arrive tomorrow! Why do I have to be so flipping indecisive all my life!? I think I can still cancel my train, but what would I say to the family!?

So yeah, that's the predicament I find myself in right now, any advice??

I will write a blog!

WARNING: This blog may come in instalments. I have a lot to say and it's almost midnight so I'm tired! Now, where's my Dairy Milk?

Ignore that. I'm so angry I can't even blog right now! I'll do it tomorrow or something.

Sorry!

I'm so rubbish at this updating my blog thing. Probably why I have no followers because no one thinks there's anything to follow. I promise I will fill you in on everything tomorrow, as I have a lot to fill you in on! But right now I've just finished my Dairy Milk Fruit and Nut (Yes Mummy sent me some Cadbury! :D) which it makes it time for bed. Good night world. A demain, je promis x

I'm outta here!!

So I spoke to the family last night. It wasn't quite how I'd planned. The Mum got home, I was going to wait for the Dad too but the Mum started asking me how my day had been and we started discussing the oldest's behaviour. Yes he's difficult but I can handle him and so I said that actually it was the twins that I was finding difficult. Then it sort of all just came pouring out and I said that I think they should probably find someone new. She seemed slightly shocked but I cried, and who can be angry at crying person? She said she wasn't annoyed with me just a bit worried about finding someone else, so I felt REALLY bad! I'd also forgotten that she has a massive exam and the end of the week so probably doesn't need this right now, oops!!

Anyway, long story short I said I'd stay until they find somebody new but it is going to be so awkward now! I hope they find someone soon!

But on the plus side... I'M MOVING TO PARIS!!! YAY YAY YAY!

Get me out of here!

My previous blog posts may have given you the impression that I am enjoying living in France. Your impression is wrong. I hate it here. Nice little trip? Yes. Work here for a year? Definitely not! Don't get me wrong, Toulouse is a lovely city and I love the fact that everytime I post something on Facebook it says sent from Toulouse, France. However, I HATE my job!
I just really do. There's not actually a lot more to say on the case other than I hate it. Well, actually there's a lot more. I live in a squat, basically. I have a mattress on the floor. We have no oven. We have no washing machine. I have to hold the shower above my head in the grottiest bath known to man. We live on the 4th fucking floor with no fucking lift. In my other post I was chatting as if that was all perfectly acceptable, but it is NOT! You don't get an au pair when you can't even offer her a fucking bed! Am I being unreasonable?
And when I arrived I got told that I cook for the kids and the Mum will cook for us later on but if I fancied cooking for them too I could. After all this was my home and I could treat it as my home. Sounds reasonable enough, right? Well let me tell you that yesterday I made some friends :) I'll tell you all about that when I'm not hating my life massively. Could be a while as I don't think I'll ever be happy in this shit hole. Anyway my new friend needed the toilet, and I live right in the centre. If I was at home, and by home I mean England, with Mummy, and we were passing my house I would happily let my friend in to use the toilet. No harm done. So I let my friend in, she quickly used the toilet. Didn't touch anything said a quick hello to the Great Grandma who was there and left quickly. This to me is a perfectly acceptable thing to do. I even supervised her to and from the toilet. (Not whilst she was on the toilet as that would've been weird, and she couldn't have possibly stolen anything from in there as it is literally just a toilet and the cats' litter tray. It's not one of these fancy bathrooms with a sink and posh soap to steal.) Anyway this morning, on my day off, the Mum woke me up at 9 to tell me that she doesn't like people they don't know in the house (squat) when they're not there. I apologised and decided this was fair enough. However, after having a day to think about this and discussing it with my friends, I think this is fairly out of order. So I can treat the house like my home when it comes to them leaving me a bowl of washing up or me cooking for them, but when I want to let a friend use the toilet this isn't allowed. It's not really my 'home' then is it?

I started writing all this yesterday when I was in the worst mood in the world. Anyway I've cheered up a bit now and I'll tell you for why...

So after all of this I decided to repost my profile on au pair world. I was also looking at old applications I had had that I hadn't bothered to delete. (For those of you that don't know, once you end the conversation you can't talk to that family again). So anyway there was a few families that I liked the look of but I assumed that most of them had already found au pairs by now and had just not bothered to deactivate their profiles. Anyway there was one family that had contacted me before from Paris but I'd already chosen this family. However they were offering me a car, a mobile a NAVIGO pass (Oyster card type thing) and other stuff all paid for. So I hadn't ever ended the conversation with them as I said that I may be interested next year. This morning I wrote them a quick message saying that they probably have already found an au pair but if they were still looking I wasn't entirely happy in my family. I said that it wasn't the fault of the family, and it isn't. I don't feel I have the experience required to look after toddlers and to be fair it would benefit the family to get someone who did. The children in the new family are older, two girls who are 11 and 9 and a 5 year old boy. To be fair I knew what I was signing up for when I came, there were no nasty surprises (I suppose a bed would've been nice but you can't win them all!) but I suppose I was a bit naive and didn't properly think about it. I probably unintentionally let on that I had more experience than I did and we both took a risk. It obviously didn't pay off.
So anyway, I got a reply from this family an hour or two later saying that their au pair left yesterday as she was incredibly homesick so they were now looking for someone new. Now, I'm not a massive believer in fate and all that shit, but surely, if anything is fate- this is!! They said they are happy to wait for me until my current family have found a new au pair and I'm so so so happy!
But, now I have to break the news to my current family! Which I'm really not looking forward to! But I think we can make it fairly amicable. I'll do the whole it's not you, it's me thing. Which to be fair it is. They're a lovely family but I just cannot handle the job. I just hope they understand!
I'll emailed the entire situation to my Mum and all I really want is a quick message saying 'Just go for it. Do what makes you happy.' However, more than likely I'll get a ridiculously long email saying that I should stick it out for a bit longer. But I don't want to. The longer I stay, the harder it'll be to go. Not just for me but also for the children. More than likely though, I won't get a reply at all. We have shit internet at home so Mum won't see the email until she's at work tomorrow and I'm planning on talking to them tonight. At least like this she hasn't said don't do it!

But I tweeted my Dad, Skyped my friend and emailed another and they all think it's a good idea, so I'll just have to take their words for it! A friend* I've made over here said that she told her host parents my situation and they said that if I'm not happy I should go. I'm not happy, so I'm going.

*I have made some friends :) Which does make the whole leaving thing slightly difficult but I'll do another blog about them because this one's getting quite long and varied.

I've started so I'll finish...

Ironically this wasn't the case with the kids mashed potato, but more on that later! (In case that made no sense to anyone but me, I mean I started but did not finish making their mash potato.)

So, where was I? Right, I'd arrived and got picked up at the airport. We went back to the apartment and I then met the Mum, Emilie and the twins, Anselme and Gaspard. Extremely cute twins, so so smiley! Anyway, the first few days weren't overly eventful. Other than the fact the only thing I seemed to get fed was couscous and raw cabbage. Along with a ridiculous amount of olive oil and balsamic vinegar! Also I am currently sleeping on a mattress on the floor. And my wardrobe is a box. For anyone else this would be quite a worrying situation. You may have read Left Bank Manc's blog? Well the first family she was with just fed her polenta. I don't even know what this is but it wasn't an enjoyable time for her and she ended up finding a new family. However, rest assured that this is not the case for me! You see, we are in the process of moving house so this is only temporary. And once we've moved I'll have my own bathroom and little kitchen and yes, a bed! :) Wooo!
Also the interesting food that I was eating was food that the previous au pair had prepared. When the Mum cooks the food is really nice :) So it's all good!!

Yesterday was my first proper day of work. I didn't have to take the twins to nursery as the parents had already done that. So my day started by getting breakfast for Leopold. I then let him watch a film whilst I had a shower. (He's not really allowed to watch too many films, but I needed to wash my hair!) Then we made the world's best train track! He kept saying pas mal as I was making it then after I'd finished he said c'est parfait! So sweet! :) I had to let the cleaner in at 11 then Leopold and I took the washing to the laundrette and I let Leopold go on his bike. I did not have a clue how to work the washing machines! But something happened and he clothes ended up wet so pretty happy with that! However, they took about an hour, as they would. But half way through Leopold said he needed the toilet. Of course there are not toilets in a laundrette so I didn't really know what to do. There was a restaurant next door so I told him I'd wait on the street (So I could watch our stuff and see him when  he came out) but he didn't want to go in by himself. So in the end I had to go in with him and left all of our stuff, including his bike in the laundrette. Luckily it was still there when we returned but it was a bit sketchy to start with!
After lunch I took Leopold to the park. He's amazing on the monkey bars! Only kid that can do it! So proud, haha! So me and Leopold had a lovely day. But then we picked up the twins...

Did I mention that our apartment is on the 4th floor? And there is not a lift. So getting two 21 month year olds up and down is sooooooooooooo difficult! Any suggestions? PLEASE comment below! Bath time was a nightmare! And I didn't even think about the fact that I'd be changing nappies! But I got through the day and am still alive! (So are the children!) So pretty successful all round!

Oh, and I made some friends :) I went out with a German girl and a French girl. I didn't like the French girl, thought she was a bit of a knob (if you're reading this, I'm talking about a different French girl. Shit, I really hope she isn't reading this!) but the German was nice although her family are moving to England in a month! But on Thursday I'm meeting up with an English girl!!! Yay yay yay yay!!!! I REALLY miss English people! And I don't mean people that speak English, I mean genuine tea drinkers!

On that note, time for a cuppa! x

Goodbye Bristol, Bonjour Toulouse!

J'ai arrivé! Actually I arrived on Thursday but I've been busy and I only connected to the internet yesterday and then my laptop ran out of battery and then I tried to charge it but when I plugged the adaptor into the socket I could smell burning and that is NEVER a good sign! Anyway, the plug's in the socket now but I can no longer smell burning so fingers crossed nothing explodes. It would be fairly unfortunate.
Anyway, I arrived Thursday after a very emotional flight. I'm not usually an emotional person but I feel very sorry for the French man sat next to me who I kept spontaneously bursting into tears in front of. He was watching me, feeling very uncomfortable. Anyway the flight was bumpy but nothing to write home about, but the airport in Toulouse was a fucking nightmare! WHY DO FRENCH PEOPLE NOT UNDERSTAND THE CONCEPT OF A QUEUE!? It's really not that difficult, is it!? I don't know what country people reading this are from (a non-existent one, I hear you cry, ha fucking ha!) and what type of airport etiquette you're used to but at Bristol Airport, once disembarking the plane there are ropes and things ensuring people stay in a pretty much single-file queue. This is not the case at Toulouse airport. Oh no... At Toulouse airport the is a gigantic fucking mass of people all scrambling to get to the desks. Reminds me of year 8s fighting for the school bus. You can tell who the English people are because they're the ones who only move when there is an actual space to move into! Anyway, I managed to fight my way through this catastrophe and into the lion's den they call baggage reclaim, I went. Christ. The Tunis flight had also just landed and although there were at least 4 carousels, they thought it'd be a good idea to put all the bags from both flight on one. There was literally no space for me to even see the carousel, and even if I could, pulling it off would've definitely been impossible! So I stood with all of the children and decided to wait until every other person had left. But then, in the distance, I caught a glimpse of my suitcase. I could play the waiting game no longer and charged towards it! Of course, there were people in the way and it slipped out of my sight once again. But this didn't stop me, I ran as fast as could to the other side of the carousel and waited there for it, ready to pounce. I saw it come so pushed a couple Tunisian children out of my way and squeezed myself in between their mothers. Did I mention that my suitcase weighed 29kg!? No, I don't think I did, so for anyone wondering, my suitcase weighed 29kg. It is fucking heavy. I held onto it but it was pulling me rather than me pulling it. I slammed into the Tunisian women and used her to push against whilst pulling it off. I hope she didn't mind, but she should have fucking moved/ helped when she saw me struggling!

Shit. I was just Skyping my friend and I gave her a tour of the apartment. As I did the evil cat started following me so I sprinted back to my room and slammed the door. My door doesn't have a handle this side. So my options are climbing out of the window from a fourth floor apartment or waiting it out until the family get home in about 4 hours... I suppose it gives me time to finish my blog though.

So, I then had my bag and was ready to meet the family! Thibault, le papa, Leopold, the 4 year old and Nora, the previous au pair were waiting for me at the airport.

Quick update, I managed to get out of my room alive. Apparently just pulling it is an option when it closes, who knew?
This blog is taking FOREVER! And I get distracted far too easily! I'll finish later!

ENGLISHNESS

Currently, I am sat on my bed in my towel. This is how I have spent approximately 90% of my time since finishing school in May. Well that or watching day time TV. Anyway, it has just dawned on me that I am wasting my precious time left in England. I have 3 weeks and 3 days left until I go to France for a year and I know that once I'm there, there'll be millions of little English things that I'll miss! However, I cannot for the life of me think of what they'll be! I want to spend the rest of my time here doing really English things but I just don't know what!
So for now I'll continue to lie around all day watching TV. Although to be fair I am watching The Olympics most of the time and supporting Team GB massively and it doesn't get more British than that!!
But any comments suggesting English things that I may miss would be greatly appreciated!

Long time, no... write?

It has been a while! My last post was the end of June and it's now almost August! I don't know how all of my followers (sorry how many is it I have now? Oh that's right, still none.) are coping without their fix of my blog!

So what have I been up to since my last post? Well, there was of course Ibiza! Probably the best week of my life. Ever. If you have never been, go!! And if you have been, go back! It was seriously amazing and Bristol seems even shitter since returning! Which makes me a lot more excited to be going to France in 4 weeks and 6 days! Not that anyone's counting...

In preparation for France I got some insurance today! Well technically I didn't, my step-dad did. Which annoyed me a tad to be fair. He's been going on at me for ages to look up what I need and get some and stuff and then he comes at me today and says he's got me some. I'm growing up, moving out into the big bad world, I'm an adult for goodness sake yet I'm not trusted to get my own insurance! To be fair I got my travel insurance for Ibiza 4 hours before leaving, but at least I got some eventually! (After being nagged by my boss at work for my entire shift.)

I have also been planning my leaving party! Yes, I'm only going for a year, but any excuse eh?* I was planning an absolutely massive PARTAYY with thousands of family and friends at mine, we'd all have a ball and then about a million friends and I would go into town and get right on it. However, back to reality and my mother is more concerned about the neighbours and what not than my happiness. Absolutely ridiculous if you ask me but anyway here's the new plan. I have a BBQ with family, my Mum's friends and literally two of my own friends. (Don't worry, I was also under the impression that it was my party, but apparently not.) But then, I meet everyone in town and that is when we get right on it and tear up Bristol! So not quite my original plan but I'm sure I won't remember how the evening went anyway so doesn't make too much of a difference to me.

I never know how to end my blog posts, so bye I suppose...

*I've been saying eh a lot recently, I think it's the Canadian in me coming out...

I Love Bread...

...And I don't mean the food! I mean the 80s sitcom that I watch with my Granny! I know that this is in no way relevant to my blog but to be honest, it's my blog and I'll write what I like! Plus, there's the fact that I'm the only person that reads this so I need to keep myself entertained! (Oh, just quickly, in case you were wondering, I do also like bread, as in the stuff you eat.) 

So I've been staying with Granny this week and we have been watching endless episodes of Bread. I really can't get enough of it and am currently waiting for another episode to load on YouTube (we could be a while!) Honestly, if I was going anywhere but France, it would be Liverpool. I've always loved Liverpool and I do a cracking Scouse accent, even if I do say so myself! This all really is quite pointless...

Ooh, in other news, I am off to Ibiza a week tomorrow!!! Wooohooo! Literally cannot wait! There is of course the slight issue of me having no money, and I mean none. Zilch. I am skint! I went holiday shopping today (I NEEDED TO!) and as I went to the till in New Look for the third time, my card got declined. Insufficient funds you see. I thought that could never be right so popped off to the cash machine to check my balance. And low and behold, would you believe it? The cash machine told me I had £1.62 in my account. And today I could withdraw... Nil. So off I went and bought £1.62 worth of sweets. Only joking! I'm saving that for a rainy day! On the plus side, I came home with 3 new tops, a dress/top (haven't decided which it's supposed to be yet!), and a pair of shorts. However I then drove extremely quickly (but safely and sticking to speed limits at all times, officer) back up to the mall (It was 7:48 and the mall closes at 8!) and returned the shorts. I realised that my shorts from Primark were pretty much the same and had been a lot cheaper. I really felt like I'd earned that £17.99 back! I then popped into work and picked up my wages (and tips!) so after all I was feeling pretty good about the whole money situation. Although £40 probably won't last me a week in Ibiza! Especially as I have to pay for a haircut on Monday. (Shit.) If you do feel like making a donation please comment below...

I think I will begin to make this blog more personal and tell you all my little secrets ;) But first I need to work out a way to make it anonymous or something. I'll probably wait until I'm in France as well. Because that's when my adventure really will begin, hopefully! (Plus if my mum does happen to stumble upon this, she'll be too far away to tell me off!

I really don't have much else to say and it's almost a different day to the one I began writing this on. So on that note, goodnight and God bless. 

P.S. If you have never watched Bread before go on YouTube (I hope for your sake that you have a better connection than me- let's be honest, it can't be much worse!) and you'll find all the episodes. Watch them. Everyone. You'll love them! And the theme tune is so catchy! :)

Night! x 

Stats

I find it really exciting that I've had page views so that makes me want to keep blogging so I get more, and who knows one day I may even get a follow or a comment! :) Originally I thought all the views must just be from myself but I've had views from Russia, Germany, France and America as well as the UK! So that's exciting!

I got other exciting news today as well! My friend has just got a job au pairing as well! Only she'll be in Spain and she's only doing it for a month. But we'll definitely meet up in that month! I'm thinking in Barcelona as it's between us both, well an hour away for her and three for me but I want to visit other countries in the year anyway so I might as well go when she's there too!

I mentioned in my last post that I didn't really get into university. Well I actually did- sort of. I got one offer for the course that I actually wanted to do and two offers for alternative courses. (Plus two rejections, but we won't mention that!) Anyway, one of the alternative courses I got offered was from my very favourite uni that I was well up to going to, but the course was shit, and I would have had to have been there for four years if I wanted a teaching qualification at the end of it. So all of my offers got rejected and I began to plan my life in France! So anyway, a couple of days ago that favourite uni phone me up and ask if I would be interested in a place on the course I had originally applied for (baring in mind that when I emailed for feedback they were quite clear in telling me that there was no way they would offer places to anyone they'd already rejected). Needless to say, I told them where to stick it! Well my exact words were actually, thank you very much but I have made alternative plans for this year now. But it makes me sound tough when I word it like that! So that's my little story for today, I am still going to France to au pair and not to an indecisive university! They really are corrupting today's society!

 

Procrastination

I have been reading a lot of other blogs and it really makes me want to blog! The only problem being that I literally have nothing to blog about. In all the other people's blogs they talk about how they have so much more to say but no time to say it in. I am the complete opposite, maybe I could be their personal blogger?

Anyway, I thought that perhaps you (by you I mean, you the person reading my blog at this very moment, because I'm sure someone, somewhere must be- even if it's accidental) may like to know some more about me? I can almost hear you all, in your thousands, screaming how nothing would make you happier.
Well I'm Samantha, I'm not going for anonymity (is that a word?) but am going to leave out my last name at this stage. There is a picture of me though so I'll just have to try not to say anything too controversial. I'm 18 years old and am going to be an au pair at the end of August! I cannot wait! If you are a keen reader of my blog you will have already got that information from my other posts but I don't have a lot more to say.

Why do I want to be an au pair and what am I hoping to get out of it? At the moment, I quite like children. (Ignore the fact that I'm pretty sure I will have been sacked from my babysitting job after yesterday, but that's an entirely different kettle of fish. They're the sort of children that need to be left to cry themselves to sleep after I hear them bitching about me!) I also like the French language, a lot. I would say I'm pretty good already but I will stay in France as along as it takes for me to become fluent. I study it for A level, in fact I have an exam on Tuesday and yes, I know I should be revising but I seriously lack in motivation. The third reason for becoming an au pair is because I want to travel and move out and all that stuff that other people that go to uni do, but I don't want to go to uni. Well, it's not that I don't want to- and YES, I did get some offers! Well two, but who's counting? I might go in the future but I don't know for definite what I want to do (I'm considering being a primary school teacher but after a year with three little boys, this idea may change!) I'm not one of these people that go to university just for the crack. It's 9 grand a year fees for goodness sake! And that's before food and accommodation and all the partying, which is the real reason that people actually go to university! I mean I'm all up for partying, but I'm not going to pretend I want a degree just so I can waste tax payer's money on it. I, as someone who knows very little about politics, believe that the economic state that we find our country in is down to universities. The government encourages everybody to go to university (yes, go if you want to be a doctor or rocket scientist or something of use, but the people that go to study sport and leisure and come out of uni with a job working in a leisure centre along with 16 year olds without GCSEs are the biggest waste of space known to man) and then gives them over £27,000 worth of loans which they don't encourage you to pay back. Perhaps if they gave more of that money to people who needed it, ie. NHS, not just people that scrounge benefits (probably on thin ice right about now but it's ok as no one reads my blog), the country would be a lot happier!

I apologise for my rant especially as I've probably got most of my facts wrong, but that's just how I feel about the whole university situation. Oh and don't even get me started on student protests! They can piss right off, but that's for another day! So to conclude, the reason why I'm going to be an au pair rather than go to uni is because I'm hoping this year away from education (apart from the French lessons which I am struggling an unbelievable amount to sort out, more on that later...) will help me decide what I want to do in the future and whether I would need to go to uni for this to be possible. You never know I may go to uni in France or some other country.

I know that you are now all (I use this term lightly) on the edges of your seats wondering what problem I am having with sorting out my French lessons. Well the wait is over because now seems like a perfect time for me to tell you. (Anything to get out of revision!) A couple of weeks ago I was Skyping my au pair family and we were discussing the French lessons that I will do once I'm in France. (I'm not sure if they're compulsory but I want to do them anyway so I can people people and stuff). The Dad of the family told me to look for lessons from Institut Catholique or Alliance Francaise. Both websites are in French which I can deal with but they also translate so I of course chose this option being as lazy as I am. Anyway, neither give any information about lessons whatsoever. Well they do but nothing that I understand (even when it's translated into English). So I decide that it would be easier if I just emailed them my specific requirements to see what they could do. I easily found an email address for Alliance Francaise and emailed them to say that I was coming at the end of August to be an au pair and all that sort of thing. They replied with information about lessons in July. I emailed in French so maybe I didn't make complete sense but I'm pretty sure le fin d'Aout means end of August! I didn't give up hope and emailed again saying that I was looking lessons that would start in September. I did get a reply but they were chatting about something like 4 weeks of lessons for an extortionate amount of money! I was looking for something a bit longer term and a bit cheaper. I am only earning 80 euros a week and have to go shopping and partying with that as well! I therefore decided against Alliance Francaise and decided to try Institut Catholique. (I'm not Catholic but I don't think this matters- perhaps it does which is why it was being such a pain in the deriere!) There is literally no way of contacting them at all on this website! Well, there wasn't an email address. There may well have been a phone number but I'm not going to phone France. I would make something up about the cost of international phone calls but I live at home so I wouldn't be paying. I'm not going to phone France because although I do speak fairly good French I have the worlds most Bristolian French accent. (I am from Bristol, but have only ever been told I sound Bristolian by people that live in Weston- I'm not sure why; or when speaking French.) So for that reason I will not be phoning them and we'll just have to wait until I get to France to sort out my lessons. Actually if anyone actually is reading this and has had French lessons in France whilst being an au pair before PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE comment and give me some advice on how to go about it. Thank you.

I think that is just about all I have to say for now which you (the reader, who I'm sure exists...) must be very grateful about as I'm sure I've bored your socks off. If you have actually read this and I have bored your socks off please remember that I am not yet actually in France and that my posts will (should) get more interesting so please keep reading this!!    

Worst Blogger in the World, Ever. In the World. Ever.

I feel as if I've been neglecting my blog quite substantially. I mean, what's the point of having a blog if you're not going to post in it? However as I haven't got to France yet and haven't had any French adventures, as the title suggests, I don't exactly have a lot to write. 


I suppose I could update you all (if anyone actually reads this. I'm not convinced they do, especially as this is only my second post) on my preparation for being an au pair! MY FLIGHTS ARE BOOKED! I leave on the 30th of August and am well excited! However, I have only booked one bag onto the flight with me. I would take one bag for a 2 week holiday and even then struggle to fit everything in. I am moving to France for a year- I think I will have to book another bag! But I haven't even began to think about what to pack. I will literally need everything!


I'm Skyping my family again tomorrow which is exciting. It was a bit touch and go for a while as we didn't speak for a bit due to us all just being extremely busy. But we're speaking again now so it's all smashing! I've also been talking to their current au pair and she's lovely! 
I've also been trying to find blogs from au pairs in France so I know what to expect when I go. I finally found a really good and funny one, so if you've come to this blog looking for an insight into au pairing in France and have been slightly disappointed, read this one instead! http://leftbankmanc.blogspot.co.uk/  


At least until I actually start mes aventures francaises! 


Anyway, until I have something more interesting to write,
Au revoir, pour maintenant!   
x

The Beginning!

Yesterday I accepted my au pair placement in Toulouse and am so excited! The family seem really nice and have 3 boys! A 5 year old and two twins who will be 21 months, everyone thinks I'm mad! They have sent me a contract which I've been looking over and I'll be starting in August. I've decided to write a blog whilst I'm there and will probably update it more once I'm there. At the moment I'm just trying to design the blog and have gone for a background with food on it as the French love their food! Haha!