Day 11. Neighbourhood stalker.

The past few days I've been trying desperately to ditch this thing they call 'homesickness'. Huh! Never thought I'd get that. This first week has been very busy, getting to know the children and the family and in-between marking University assessments from back home in my little solace upstairs :) So I haven't had a lot of time to go and explore my new surroundings.

This morning the sun was shinning so as soon as the kids were dropped at school I decided it was really time to get outside and explore the neighbourhood. And as cliché as it may sound, fresh air and sunshine was fast becoming the much needed remedy. 

As I walked down the path, headphones in (maybe I should have been trying to listen to the birds or something?) Anyway, headphones in, Nikes on and a rough idea where I was supposed to be going (so many streets look the same, big houses and big trees!). Today I was going to meet another Au pair for the first time and I was so excited, desperately in need of some conversations with people my own age. I think I underestimated how much my friends and I talk back home! 

As I'm walking, I really feel like I am in a movie. These houses seem so familiar! I've seen them so often... the shutters, the front porches, the big front doors. Some serious resemblance to some of my favourite TV shows and movies. I'm going to try and do some matching, now the mind needs to do some stretching buuuuut there are some similarities if you look quickly :) 

 One of the houses on my walk

annnnnnd the home from '10 things I hate about you'.

***

Here is my house on my walk today.  

Here is the house from American Pie!!

****                

Here is a house from my walk today.

This is the house from Home Alone.

The house from American Beauty.
I see some similarities in both :)

I am definitely going to keep exploring as already I've driven down some beautiful streets with some amazing houses, I fear I'm going to become that person walking the streets taking pictures...  and seeming a little like the neighbourhood stalker? 

One thing in particular that has really stood out is that many homes fly the American flag, it's easy to find at least 1 to 2 in each street. It's a little surprising as in Australia I get the feeling if this happened people might just assume the Australia Day decorations have been left up or have been put up early!! Flying the Australian flag in our front yards I don't believe is something we do. I started wondering why many American homes may fly the flag in their front yards. After reading, one of many reasons is that the flying of the American flag is a solemn occasion to commemorate family members in the service or to honour national holidays. For whatever reason it may be (although I should probably find out) it really does look just right, and I think if I owned a house like some of these.... I'd probably fly the flag too! 

So anyway, my day continues. I end up at Starbucks, eagerly waiting to meet this friend for a coffee... we text each other (on my little Samsung work phone) and apparently we are both waiting outside. I see no one. She sees no one. Turns out we are at two totally different Starbucks. Hmmmm I guess thats what you'd call being a foreigner? Whoops. Never underestimate that power of the iPhone and Google maps (which I don't currently have set up yet), that's first thing on the to-do list this weekend. I got my mocha cookie crumble Frappuccino and sat down for a little break (heres to NOT gaining weight while in the US haha). 

So now what?

Here I am in America. I've been here for 8 whole days.... (it feels much much longer).

My front yard.

In training they told us about a thing called the 'culture shock'.

As the wonderful Google says "Culture shock is the personal disorientation a person may feel when experiencing an unfamiliar way of life due to immigration or a visit to a new country, or to a move between social environments, also a simple travel to another type of life".

Culture shock apparently has four distinct phases: Honeymoon, Negotiation, Adjustment, and Mastery. There is no true way to entirely prevent culture shock, as individuals in any society are personally affected by cultural contrasts differently. Buuuuut some people never get it, (like my lovely friend GG, she's lucky). But our stories are different.

So here is what I discovered. I love Australia a lot more than I thought! (go-figure). How I can explain is this, imagine you're in a dream, all your surroundings are different, you don't recognise the streets or the places and you keep getting lost, no shops are the same, even the food tastes and looks different, something as simple as buying cereal and I can't find it! I know, I know "embrace the change" and absolutely! Thats my plan. But usually when times are difficult or I'm coming into some obstacles I have my friends and family to give me a big "feeeeze" as my god-son would say. The gentle push I need and that love and warmth. But at the moment I don't have that. So here I am in my unfamiliar dream and there is no waking up. This time, I just have to learn to live and survive in this new place. I'm starting to wonder if my 'honeymoon' phase happened in December when I was here for two-weeks. Here I am now and I've just landed myself in the negotiation phase.

Negotiation: 

After some time, differences between the old and new culture become apparent and may create anxiety. Excitement may eventually give way to unpleasant feelings of frustration and anger as one continues to experience unfavorable events that may be perceived as strange. Language barriers, stark differences in public hygiene, traffic safety, food accessibility and quality may heighten the sense of disconnection from the surroundings. Still, the most important change in the period is communication: People adjusting to a new culture often feel lonely and homesick because they are not yet used to the new environment and meet people with whom they are not familiar every day.

Here is what I have noticed so far. To 'fit in' as a New Yorker, you need to start walking, and start walking fast. I was in Manhattan last weekend and as long as I kept my pace up and just looked straight ahead I was fine. The minute you start looking up (it's beautiful but New Yorkers don't look up) or start taking pictures (oh boy! that's a tell-tale tourist sign) you stand out! This transition is fairly easy for me, I'm a fast walker anyway so that parts fine, where I have trouble is I am walking on the 'wrong side'. In Australia it's the left, in America it's the right, so while I'm busy dodging through the crowds, I'm also dodging bodies as I keep having collisions. 

Secondly, no one waits for the pedestrian lights. If you're standing there waiting, there is something wrong with you. Again, this is ok, however as I'm stepping out onto the road I'm looking right, but I need to be looking left (although there are so many one way streets in Manhattan it's always changing!) so once I've made the other side I'm secretly high-fiving myself. 

Thirdly, believe it or not, our words are different and several times already I've had to find the right American word so they know what I'm saying. For example, I said "you put a nappy on the baby", apparently thats a big no no, here in the US the word nappy is "nappy hair is tightly curled or twisted. This word is used especially by black people", the correct term to use is diaper. The word dummy is a pacifier. Car boot is trunk. Bin is trashcan. Textas are markers. Fizzy drink is Soda. Petrol is gas. Foxtel is Cable. Coles and Woolworhts is the grocery store. Target is not some Big W type store, but in fact quite upper market (LOTS of people shop there) and this Target has everything, including groceries. Chemists sell EVERYTHING, including wine and food. And alcohol is ridiculously cheap (actually everything here is cheap) but alcohol especially is cheap and you can buy it at 7/11. 

This big city is so bright and beautiful. This country is so diverse and while similar, also so different to Australia. I'm beginning to learn the rhythm. 

Grand central station. Manhattan. 

This is the Post Office. Big, BIg, BIG. 

There are a few things I've been doing to get rid of this 'negotiation phase'. The biggest and most successful is keeping busy. When I start to sit still I start to think about home. I also hugely underestimated the impact of jet lag. Being 14 hours difference is an enormous adjustment, I'm only now beginning to feel human again. For my year here in America I'm working as an Au Pair, a live in nanny. I am living/working in a beautiful town approximately 25 minutes from Manhattan. This past weekend I took the bus into Manhattan and got myself a 'real' coffee (everyone here drinks drip coffee) and wandered around the streets. I went and found a nice nail saloon in downtown Chelsea, got my nails done and then kept on walking :) Then I took the elevator up 22 floors to bar 203, a rooftop bar. For the first time, I order a vodka soda and sat alone. THIS was a challenge. But one I felt ok with. The empire state building was right in front of me and I was sitting on a roof top in Manhattan.... now this was cool. 

                 

My nails getting done :) & after my nails with my coffee.

 Roof top bar and the BIG American Pizza.

This week while I've been working I've been playing the Piano, emailing people back home and now writing :) And today I successfully drove on the other 'right' side of the road. Next week when the jet lag has hopefully disappeared I'm going to go exploring during the days and hopefully some morning walks.

 xxx

Hello America.

After approximately 4 months of planning (maybe even less) I actually made it.
I got on that plane, I said those dreaded goodbyes and I packed up my suitcases (5 vacuumed sealed bags, 3 repacks and a handbag later). I managed to keep it all together without falling to pieces and crying like a 5 year old on my bedroom floor. At times I felt a little like an ice queen, although the lengths I went too to stop those tears included, when hugging my best friend I just kept staring at the cars driving past counting them as they went, just so I could distract myself long enough not to cry.

So there I was. Airport ready. Time to leave.

 Bye Bye Mumma Bear

Bye Bye Family and friends.

My last view of Sydney.

Walking down the isle of the plane, excited that I had a window seat, I soon became privy to the fact that my 13 hour flight would be shared with the 6 month old baby sitting next to me. I had lots of sympathy as my best friend had just recently flow to England with her two-year old. The first hour consisted of me "Oh don't worry, it's fine, I don't mind crying, she's cute!" to then then next 8 hours of screaming (and yes she screamed the whole way), my head phones stayed in and movie movie movie the whole way as I was starting to feel the length of this flight changing from 13 hours to 26 hours.

Needless to say after 18 hours of flying I made it to New York City and was about to begin my journey as an Au Pair for the next 12 months.

First night in Manhattan, walking through Bryant Park.

I spent 3 days at the New Yorker hotel in training with 22 other Au Pairs from South Africa, Ecudor, Panama, Serbia, Germany, England, Brazil, France, Poland, China, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand and Scotland. The 3 days I spent with these people was amazing, listening to stories about their country, their culture and who they were. At one point we were singing "Incy wincy spider" in 5 different languages.

Gabriella and I have a Bagel breakfast at the Tic Tok diner. 

The Au Pair training group. 

8th & 34th. Manhattan. 

After my morning run. Manhattan. 

The Au Pair training group. Day 3.

Lunch with the lovely Au Pairs. 

And so I made it. I made it to America.