The third week

December 11, 2018

My work days went relatively smoothly in my third week. While Tuesday was again just about dropping off and picking up the kids, I did playground days with Matthias again on Wednesday and Thursday. For that, we made sandwiches and cut up some apples, carrots, and cucumbers, which we took with us so that we had something to eat in between. On Thursday, I even took Odin, the twelve-year-old dog of my host family, with us so that he could get some exercise too.

My weekend, on the other hand, was a bit more restless. The Christmas stress hit me full force, so I met up with Jana, the former au pair of my host family, in the city on Friday so that we could get to know each other in person and look for gifts together. In the end, I didn't buy anything yet, but at least I could gather some ideas.

Then Jana suggested that we could go to the Argyle Bar in Sydney in the evening, so I went home again quickly, got ready, and then went out again. It was another great evening and a lot of fun.

On Saturday, the Good Things Festival took place in Parramatta Park. Since I was only home at 4:00 a.m. and had to leave relatively early (the whole weekend there were replacement services, meaning much longer journeys than usual), I had a whopping 3 1/2 hours of sleep that night, but surprisingly, I was relatively awake (the tiredness definitely hit me on the way home).

The festival was really great! I was mainly there because two of my favorite bands were performing, but the other performances I saw were also very good. Unfortunately, a large part of the festival took place in direct midday heat, and shade could mainly only be found under the trees, but accordingly, large crowds of people gathered there, so there was hardly any shady spot left. Consequently, despite a lot of sunscreen, I got my first light sunburn in Australia on Saturday... yay... but to be honest, I expected it and actually anticipated it much earlier.

On Sunday, for the first time since I've been here, I slept in (which was necessary) and then went to Bondi Beach where I met up with a girl that I saw in the city last week. Of course, as typical tourists, we immediately laid down in the midday heat to get tan. The only problem is that despite sunscreen, my body always turns red instead of getting tan. Fortunately, it's not too extreme and it's already fading, but I was initially really shocked. Fortunately, my host mom immediately cut off some aloe vera leaves in the evening, which I could use to treat the sunburn. But I definitely learned my lesson: No sun exposure in direct midday heat.

I think I spent more time out and about this weekend than at home. Of course, it was exhausting in between, but I am also very glad to have these opportunities here and not just hang around at home and get bored. After all, I'm here to experience something!!

Tomorrow (Wednesday) is my last day of work before my host mom goes on vacation, and I go to my aunt on Sunday. It's a bit strange because I already feel quite comfortable here and then have to settle into a new environment again. I think I'll upload another blog post about the Christmas season here in the next few days and then the next one as soon as I'm with my aunt.

Until then!

- Nora