September 2005

Hey Everyone,
Sorry it’s taken so long to get this months analogue up. Things have been so hectic over the past month - I’ll try to get back on schedule for next month. I am now officially over half way through my year! Time has flown, it seems like just last week since I was saying goodbye to my family at Auckland Airport yet at the same time it seems like a lifetime ago since I last saw them.
As one of my cousins was over here working as a councillor in a summer camp, he came and stayed with me for a week after his camp had finished. It was just what I needed and I had a great time. We got together with Jess, Greta (Kiwi’s) and Eckard (South African) to watch the first N.Z. vs. SA Tri-Nations game which was a bit unfortunate for us 4 Kiwi’s but we lived to tell the tale! During that time I had to say goodbye to Jess who finished her year working and returned to New Zealand; and Emily arrived home from camp and is looking forward to next summer!
One of my friends from high school who is also in the same Au Pair program as me arrived mid-August. The family she is with is in San Francisco so the only time I could catch up with her was on the Monday before her orientation course began. I went into the city to meet up with Hayley and another Kiwi who she traveled with, Stephanie. We went to the UN headquarters and to Central Park. It was great to catch up with someone else from home.
One of the most exciting thing I did in August was go to a Yankee’s Baseball game with Sharee and Sarah. It was on a Friday night at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx; so after I’d finished work for the day I caught the train into the city, met up with Sarah and we caught the subway up to the Stadium to meet up with Sharee who’d gone ahead to purchase tickets. The tickets we got were for the tier - the very top section, but we could still see what we needed to and it was amazing. The atmosphere was great, with Mexican Waves going round the stadium (which is HUGE) 6 or 7 times in a row. We were playing the Royals and won 5 - 1. I even got to sing ‘Take me out to the Ball Game’ and buy Crackerjacks!
Eckard returned home at the end of August and it was harder saying goodbye to him than it was to Jess because it’s going to be easy to catch up with Jess in N.Z., but a lot more difficult to catch up with Eckard. I miss them both heaps and am so thankful for the 6 months I had to get to know them and become great friends.
Two new Au Pair have moved into the area; Petter from Sweden and Ewa (Eva) from Poland. It’s made me realize just how well I know my way round the Hewlett and the neighboring towns to give them directions etc.
The kids went back to school at the beginning of September which has meant I get the day free, and have been able to get back into the routine of things. There after school activities have started again, and this year is just as busy as last. Monday is the only day of the week where none of them have an activity! Tuesdays Emily has Hebrew, Ali has dance, and Bradley has inline skating. Wednesday Emily has Tennis. Thursday Emily and Ali have Hebrew, Bradley has it the 1st Thursday in the month otherwise he has Library class. Friday Ali has Yoga. Saturday Ali and Bradley have Soccer, and on Sunday Emily has Lacrosse!
For my weekend off in September I went on a tour specially designed for au pairs up to Boston. We left NYC at just after 8:00am and got to Boston just after 1:00pm, we had an hour for lunch before having a 3 hour guided tour of the city. Boston is beautiful, it’s a lot cleaner and prettier than NYC. It’s the student city of America with over 100 Colleges, Universities, and Institutes in and surrounding the city - the average age is 28! Part of our tour took us to Harvard University which was great as it was the first day for the freshmen so our group got to sit in on one of the welcoming lectures. So now I can say I’ve been to a lecture at Harvard University! We got to our hotel at about 5:00pm and after we’d checked in we got the rest of the evening to ourselves. I went up to Harvard Square with a group of other girls where we had Hot Chocolate and watched a rock band play in the street. We also got all of Sunday to ourselves just as long as we were back on the bus at 4:00pm. As Boston was one of the first cities in the USA it has quite an interesting history, and because I am so interested in history I really wanted to walk the Freedom Trail which is 2.5 miles long and takes you to all the important historical places in Boston. It takes you to the cemetery than Benjamin Franklin and Mother Goose are buried in; the site of the Boston Massacre and where the Boston Tea Party was organized. It finished at the Bunker Hill memorial which was one of the battle sites of the American Revolution. It took 2.5 hours to walk it with stops along the way to take photos and breaks - but it was well worth it. We caught the ferry and subway back.
I was back in Boston this last weekend for Suzie’s nephews birthday party. We went on the Boston Duck and all the children got a turn ‘driving’ it in the water. I got a turn too!
I have started my study over here and am doing a course in American History. For my first assignment I had to read the Declaration of Independence, and the Constitution among other documents and then answer questions on them. As I’m doing my course by correspondence after I’d emailed my questions into the school I had to ring my tutor and have a discussion with him. He was impressed with the work that I’d done considering I’d never studied the documents before! It was good to know that I’m on the right track.
The weather is starting to change; the days are not as humid and are a little cooler. I also noticed the leave on the trees are starting to change color on my trips up to Boston.
Well it’s getting late, so I better sign off.
Lots of Love and God Bless
Anna