Hi guys! It’s been a while since you last heard from me, but the biggest change is that now I’m here in the States! I’ve officially been here in Boston for 50 days and I’m loving it! I don’t even know where to begin, but one thing that I can tell you is that in these 50 short days in the states I’ve learned so much about myself and who I am as a person.
In the two months I’ve been here I’ve focused on building a life in Boston. Now, I’m starting to feel like finally my life here can begin “for real”, if that makes any sense. I’ve found some friends that I text with and meet up with on the weekends that I feel like I really know. I’ve been to Boston enough times that I don’t really feel like a tourist. I can now drive to certain locations without the GPS on and sort of know my way around our neighborhood. And I really like my host family.
So I take care of three kids, two energetic boys who’s 5 and soon 7 and a girl, my sweet baby girl, who’s 2. They’re so sweet, sometimes my heart just melts. Especially when my two year old hears me coming down the stairs in the morning… I can hear just hear saying “Minna!”. Nothing beats that feeling of hearing that. After spending two months with them I feel like we’ve bonded a bunch, and I know them well enough that I feel comfortable in my role as their Au Pair and their friend.
It wasn’t until I found some friends here to talk to and being able to have a life of my own, outside of my host family, that I was able to start enjoying the life I had here. And it wasn’t until I got to know the routine in the family until I relaxed a bit at home. And just learning how to use the washing machine, figuring out where all of the dishes went while unloading the dishwasher and accepting that your family is in Sweden while you are in the States. Just things that I think I took for granted in Sweden that I didn’t realize was so important to my well-being. But once I got over all of those things, I started to enjoy my everyday life here…and eventually I started to love it!
So, besides getting over a very hard period of homesickness, I’ve been able to check some things off of my bucket list! I’ve been to New York City, gone with my host family to the Hamptons, traveled to visit my aunt in Canada for a week so I’ve seen the Niagara Falls and Toronto. I tried s’mores and seen fireflies, found two amazing friends (I’m sure more will follow). I’ve had a real american breakfast with american pancakes and I’ve explored Boston.
I’m so happy that I went through with my decision of becoming an Au Pair. I’m finally here and I’m so grateful that I have the host family that I have. I can’t wait for what the rest of the year will bring!
–Minna
