Aussie Birthday and Christmas

hey my dear ones,

I know I haven't been in touch for a long time, but the au pair life is not particularly exciting. Last week, the days I have been dreading finally arrived. My birthday and Christmas. On my birthday, I skyped with mom and dad in the morning and received the first wishes from them. During the conversation, Hannah came into my room to congratulate me, the first in the family. I have to say I got the best cake ever. I have never seen such a beautiful cake in my life. My host mom made me a cake and decorated it as a reindeer. I almost cried at the sight because I was so happy. After that, I opened all my gifts, and with Hannah's gift, I finally did cry. A pair of pink socks with two little monkeys and our names on them. I've never seen anything so cute. They will have a special place at home in Germany. From my host parents, I got UGG boots (great at 25°C, but perfect for next winter in Germany). After the gifts, we had waffles for breakfast (apparently normal here. P.S. Mom and Dad, I expect this every year now :D) After dropping off the boys at school (they were particularly excited because it was not only my birthday but also the last day of the school year for them) and doing some shopping for the BBQ, we went with the girls plus Aunt Jaci and Grandma Helen to another town to browse the shops and have lunch. On the way back, we picked up the meat for the BBQ (I don't think I've ever seen such large pieces of meat). In the evening, Aunt, her husband, and Kristie's dad joined us for the BBQ, and we had only things that I had wished for. Lots of vegetables :) After dinner, we had cake. In the evening, when I was alone, I have to admit that homesickness hit me. It made me realize what I'm doing here and how much I owe to my family. THANK YOU.

Now on to Christmas. The first difference is that Christmas is not celebrated on the 24th here but on the 25th of December. So the 24th was just a normal day here. On the 25th, the presents were opened at 6 in the morning. Jaci and Nathan came to be a part of the presents and breakfast. The kids got so many gifts. At noon, we went to one of my host dad's brothers. He lives on a sheep farm, and we celebrated in a converted barn. There were about 50 people, as my host dad has many siblings. There were also a lot of gifts. We had ham and turkey for lunch and pavlova and plum pudding for dessert. The kids were so tired after a day full of gifts, food, and playing that almost all of them fell asleep on the way home. On the 26th of December, my host mom's family came to us. And again, gifts and lots of food. So Christmas here is one day shorter than in Germany. Overall, this year I didn't really feel the Christmas spirit. Despite baking cookies and drinking mulled wine. So Christmas wasn't that hard for me, as I just missed the typical Christmas atmosphere.

The boys are on summer vacation until the end of January, and in January, we are going camping for a week on the Great Ocean Road. After that, I will redeem my Christmas gift and go to the Australia Open. A big dream come true.

I will get in touch again at the latest after the camping holiday. Until then, I wish you all a happy new year in 2018, and I look forward to seeing you again.