The Final Stage
Over the weekend I spoke to Courtney again on the phone and even talked briefly to Henry and Lily. Whether it was the connection, my untrained ears, or simply their childish and somewhat slurred pronunciation, I hardly understood anything they were saying, but it didn’t matter, they sounded nice and I would manage.
All that was missing was perhaps a few other nannies nearby to meet and chat with – then everything would be perfect. Courtney proved to have clairvoyant abilities when she informed me in her next email that another German girl called Amelie would be working nearby.
Thanks to Facebook, I quickly found her and sent her a message telling her when I would be arriving in G. and whether we could do something together, as we were entitled to some free time as nannies. Amelie was delighted, as she wrote back straight away, to meet someone from G. already.
We could certainly do lots of things together as her eldest was about the same age as Lily, maybe they were already friends. We were looking forward to the year together and sang our host family’s praise.
She was also supposed to look after a three-year-old girl and a ten-month-old boy, but that wouldn’t be a problem. The mother wasn’t working and would be looking after the youngest for the most part. What’s more, the children were really lovely and sweet anyway, as she Skyped with the family every weekend and already knew them all really well. Amelie was also the first nanny for her family, and everyone was incredibly excited.
She hadn’t actually wanted to go to Chicago, but to Boston, but the host family was simply love at first sight! There was also one of the best orchestras in the world in Chicago, which we should definitely go to. She would be allowed to use her host mother’s car, and there was a direct train connection to downtown as well.
I in turn told her that I had actually wanted to go to San Francisco, but that family was ultimately much more important than the city and that I only had good feelings, even though Skyping hadn’t worked out yet. Andrew hadn’t managed to call me either, but that was only because of his time-consuming work, as Courtney assured me several times, because he would really like to get to know me.
I also spoke at length with Amelie about our plans for the thirteenth, the month of travel. I definitely wanted to use it as much as possible to see everything the USA had to offer:
San Francisco, Las Vegas, Seattle, Hawaii, Cuba, Canada, Washington D.C., Hollywood, L.A… and so many other cities.
I got on really well with Amelie instantly, and we would probably even be able to fly together and share a room at the nanny training school.
When Courtney found out about our blossoming friendship, she even phoned Amelie’s host mother to make contact and told me that she thought she was “very lovely”, which of course I had to tell Amelie straight away. It would be a huge advantage for us if our host moms became friends.
So that I could really fly with Amelie, I called Berlin and had my departure airport changed from Düsseldorf to Frankfurt, which went smoothly. From then on, we planned the year together. We would organize play dates with the children, go to the gym regularly so that the numerous visits to Starbucks wouldn’t be so much of a burden, we looked forward to shopping escapades and going out with the host family or traveling. I also wrote to her that I probably wouldn’t want to go home after a while, as I wasn’t the kind of person who was plagued by homesickness anyway.
At some point, Amelie came up with the idea that we could meet up in Cologne beforehand, and so we made an appointment for the end of June. Unfortunately, I kept hearing that Chicago was quite unsightly, but Amelie reassured me with the words of her travel guide. Chicago may be ugly, but it’s still much nicer than New York.
All the other things that still had to be done for the year went easily under the sign of anticipation. For example, I had to find an insurance company and successfully complete the AP personality test. And the result of this was clear: I would become a true power nanny. To summarize briefly: I would be very socially oriented and in possession of a strong self-motivation to meet people from all walks of life. Developing and maintaining a wide network of relationships would not be a problem for me. I also had a great enthusiasm for all kinds of ideas and projects, could handle pressure well and those around me would describe me as sociable and optimistic. My strengths would be my team and people skills, encouraging others, and taking the tension out of a situation. However, I should be careful not to get too involved in relationships with other people but also accept that work is not always about people and that I sometimes run the risk of being a little too optimistic and enthusiastic.
Good, then nothing could really go wrong. A medical examination, a police clearance certificate, and an international driving license were also quickly ticked off. Only the visa was still missing and the deadline for this was set for mid-June – things were getting serious. As I soon realized, the journey to America couldn’t get much more adventurous than the trip to the embassy in Frankfurt. First I took a bus, then a train, then another train, and finally the subway to my destination. Luckily, contrary to my fears, there was no long queue expecting me, I only had to go through security and then wait a few minutes.
After all, I hadn’t seen the inside of an embassy before. The promised new experiences were already happening. A cheerful man checked my documents and took my fingerprints before asking me a few questions. The officer was extremely friendly and only asked what I wanted to do in the USA, what my host family was like, and what I planned to do when my year was over. He enthusiastically commented on all my answers with “very nice”, “interesting” or “great”.
Yes, he had the famous American friendliness down to a tee. My visa was approved immediately, and I was sent back home, where the school year was slowly coming to an end and the Abitur events were increasing as the lessons and my motivation for school were decreasing.
Then, my meeting with Amelie finally took place in Cologne. I picked her up from the train, and we sat down together at Starbucks, something I was sure we would do a lot in America. We actually hit it off straight away and were looking forward to the adventure ahead together. It all seemed so perfect, and it was priceless to know someone in advance with whom you got on and could discover new things together.
My doubts about whether I could really meet all the family’s expectations were fueled a little by the fact that Amelie knew her future host parents almost better than her own through the constant Skyping, while I still hadn’t spoken to Andrew. But Amelie laughingly swept my doubts aside. Our American families were already starting to become friends thanks to us, and her host mom had even been to my future home. It was “the most beautiful house she had ever set foot in”. No wonder, Courtney was a trained interior designer. She had also advised Courtney on a present for me, which Amelie said was really great, and I was more than excited to see when I would get it and what it would be. Incidentally, G. was also notorious for having an above-average number of male nannies, mainly from Sweden. They were known to be not too bad-looking. We promised each other that we would do something together every day, even if it was just having a coffee or baking something. I really couldn’t wait to explore America with her and escape the gray everyday life in Germany.
After the graduation ceremony and prom, I traveled through Italy for three weeks with a friend to celebrate, and then the stress of America caught up with me again. Although I had done everything imaginable, from all the administrative duties to memorizing the Chicago travel guide, I somehow felt more than unprepared. I had even thought of a webcam to keep in touch with my family back home, and had treated myself to the biggest suitcase I could find. Which I later exchanged again, because what was the point of having a suitcase that would have had room for two fellow travelers if you were only allowed to take 23 kilos?
Perhaps you couldn’t really prepare for a trip like this. No matter how much you did, did you ever really feel ready to start a new life?
A few days later, at the end of July, there was already an unpleasant surprise. Deliberately ignoring the fact that Amelie and I would be flying from the same place to the same destination on the same day, the agency had assigned us different flights. She would be arriving earlier than me, and I had had the departure airport changed just for that! But what was the point of complaining about it? Courtney wrote directly that she was very sorry for me, but I shouldn’t worry, they would come and pick me up directly at baggage claim. I also told her how many photos I had taken in Italy, to which she replied enthusiastically that I would certainly be a wonderful photographer, and it would be so nice if I took good pictures of Henry and Lily.
After all, my conviction that I had found the right family grew from day to day, and with every email I sent. In the end, I even managed to avoid having to fly alone by using the biggest social network on the planet, Facebook, to find another nanny who would be working near Chicago at the same time as me. Her name was Caro, she would only be looking after a five-year-old girl and would therefore probably never work more than six hours a day.
The family had only employed nannies from Poland and Lithuania before, she was now the first nanny from Germany and afraid that the girl would not accept her. So we all had our worries and fears as young girls who would soon be responsible for the welfare of other people’s children.
The only thing left to do was to get presents for the host family. Together with my mother, I went on a search and immediately spent my future weekly salary, as I wanted to bring as many of the things suggested in the handbook as possible. These were all souvenirs that had to be both typically German and original. For the host parents, I picked up the cookbook “German Cooking Today” and the illustrated book “Journey Through Germany”, for the children Haribo, Kinderschokolade and Yoguretten, a large collection of games, CDs with the most beautiful German children’s songs, cereal bowls with the cathedral, Tinti bathing balls, and then for Lily a snow globe with Lillifee, a Lilifee diary, writing paper and stickers and for Henry a snow globe with the 1. FC Cologne mascot, a Playmobil footballer, and a cap with the German flag. I wanted everything to be perfect and for the family to get a good first impression of me.
Because we were supposed to pack a small carry-on suitcase for the time at the nanny school, as the large luggage would be locked in a separate room, I also picked up small travel tubes of toothpaste, shampoo, and other care products.
I kept in touch with Caro and was able to look at photos of her future home on the Internet, which had palatial features. Unfortunately, as she would be living forty minutes away from me, we planned to meet up more in Chicago than in the houses. Like me, she also wanted to take advantage of the thirteenth month of travel, as she would be accumulating quite a bit of salary, which would need to be spent. I wrote that it would be weird to be underage again, but who knows, maybe we would manage to get invited to one of the infamous secret college parties. Sara had already raved about it at the preparation workshop.
Although I didn’t feel any excitement, I found it increasingly difficult to sleep in the days leading up to my departure, and at one point I even started taking pills because otherwise I would have been up all night. My anticipation also diminished more and more and my fear of not getting on with the host family grew from day to day, although I tried to convince myself that it could only be good and that I would experience a lot just from the money alone, for which I didn’t even have to work hard. I was only supposed to help the children with their homework, do the laundry, tidy up and then play with them until dinner was served at 7 pm. The weekends would be free, except for a few hours in the evening, so I would have enough time to enjoy American life. On YouTube, I kept finding videos of nannies showing photos of the year of their lives, which encouraged me to be optimistic about the whole thing.
Caro decided to stop smoking, especially for the nanny experience, and also became more and more jittery. We reassured each other that if something went totally wrong, we could change families, and otherwise we could just sit together and laugh about whatever it was. Now we just had to manage to find each other at the airport. Well, there was a T-shirt specially designed by nannies with the creative slogan: “AP gives you wings”, but neither of us intended to land in America with a big Red Bull logo (which was emblazoned under the slogan). To recognize each other quickly, we simply exchanged photos.
A few days before I left, my farewell party took place and I realized again how happy I was not to be starting an FSJ or an apprenticeship like most people, but to be able to experience something really exciting. Many of Caro’s friends were also envious of the great time she was about to have. Perhaps I too would be able to report on the homepage after my return what a wonderful year I had had. I would rave about it and thank the agency to the skies. The time of my life was within my grasp.
Although I didn’t feel any excitement, I found it increasingly difficult to sleep in the days leading up to my departure, and at one point I even started taking pills because otherwise I would have been up all night. My anticipation also diminished more and more and my fear of not getting on with the host family grew from day to day, although I tried to convince myself that it could only be good and that I would experience a lot just from the money alone, for which I didn’t even have to work hard. I was only supposed to help the children with their homework, do the laundry, tidy up and then play with them until dinner was served at 7 pm. The weekends would be free, except for a few hours in the evening, so I would have enough time to enjoy American life. On YouTube, I kept finding videos of nannies showing photos of the year of their lives, which encouraged me to be optimistic about the whole thing.
Caro decided to stop smoking, especially for the nanny experience, and also became more and more jittery. We reassured each other that if something went totally wrong, we could change families, and otherwise we could just sit together and laugh about whatever it was.
Now we just had to manage to find each other at the airport. Well, there was a T-shirt specially designed by nannies with the creative slogan: “AP gives you wings”, but neither of us intended to land in America with a big Red Bull logo (which was emblazoned under the slogan). To recognize each other quickly, we simply exchanged photos.
A few days before I left, my farewell party took place and I realized again how happy I was not to be starting an FSJ or an apprenticeship like most people, but to be able to experience something really exciting. Many of Caro’s friends were also envious of the great time she was about to have. Perhaps I too would be able to report on the homepage after my return what a wonderful year I had had. I would rave about it and thank the agency to the skies. The time of my life was within my grasp.
But things never turn out the way you expect them to.