Expectations

So once I had booked my ticket and had taken care of all the necessary paperwork, I had time to sit and think about what I expected would happen during my time as an au pair in Ireland.

When I thought about what I expected to see in Ireland, I pictured green fields everywhere, lots of animals, beautiful sites - basically what I had looked up on the internet. But I expected the same kind of roads we have in the US, the same foods, the same looking places. I had always heard that the Irish people are so nice and helpful, so that was something to look forward to. Oh yeah, I also expected a lot of rain - I mean that is what you hear about Ireland. Other than rain, I expected the weather to be similar to mine back home. I am from Texas so we do have weird weather - we can get 4 seasons a day and the summer can get up to 110 degrees F. No I did not expect that, but the same seasons during the same months - January, February is winter with snow and cold; March, April, May is spring with warmer weather and rain; June, July, August is summer with even warmer weather; September, October, November is fall with leaves falling and the weather cooling; December is back to winter. Those were my expectations.

With the au pair side of it, since I had worked with kids in a daycare, babysitting, in schools, as neighbors, I thought that I would have no problem stepping into a responsibility role and having a good time with the kids. I knew that I would have to be firm, nice, open to talk to, fun, and responsible. You have to be "like" a parent, but not their parent (if that makes sense). I've had lots of experience with kids and love being around them and "taking care" of them. I also expected to learn a lot from them about their culture and their way of life. I knew this would be a big responsibility because I would be taking them to school, picking them up from school, making them meals, helping with homework, entertaining them, putting them to bed, etc. It would be a lot, but I was up to the challenge. I want to be a teacher so if I could handle a room with 25 7-8 year olds, I could handle 3 kids! :)

I was nervous about traveling so far away from home - away from family, friends, everything that is familiar to me. I am really close with my family, so I knew that would be hard not to see them every day. But I was doing this for me, to have this adventure and experience this new place.

 I also expected that living with a new family and adjusting to their habits, routine, and life would be difficult and take some time to get used to. I know that I would need an adjustment period to get comfortable with everything - flying thousands of miles away, being in a foreign country with no one I know, living with new people, taking care of kids, etc.

But after all this thought, I was still so excited to be doing this and couldn't wait to get started.