I just finished talking (and seeing on a video call) with the family that I will be living with and nannying for starting in August continuing through the next August! I was a bit nervous to meet them as we have only had email conversations in the past and now it was time for the reality of actually "meeting" them and seeing if I met their expectations as well as the reality of someone once a stranger becoming a friend and a large part of my life for the next year and hopefully years to follow!
Would they like me? Would our personalities mesh? These and many other questions ran through my head as waited for the call to come through. Conversing over e-mail does not allow for body language or a whole lot of personality show through especially when you have never met the person before; what if they expected someone completely different! I soon remembered I am not in control and that it is best that way. I wasn't going to let anxious thoughts ruin my first experience with the family I would soon share my day to day ins and outs with.
I continued to wait...10 minutes passed from the time we had scheduled to Skype. Huh...what was going on? I soon realized I was an hour early...I had miss calculated the time difference forgetting about day light savings...ah bugger!! Another hour to wait...which seemed to pass quite quickly I must admit! Soon the well known sounds of my Skype call rang though! I was welcomed by Narelle and Simon on the other end of the connection!
Once we started chatting all my nerves and hesitations faded away! I had a blast chatting with Naralle and Simon, getting to know them a little bit! They both seem to like to laugh a lot, have fun and just overall enjoy life. I left the conversation feeling more excited than before for the adventure that is store, I wish I could just jump on a plane and get it started!! But...oh, wait there are things like plane tickets, health insurance and visas that have to be dealt with yet!
How could I forget such things-believe me I want to forget about them, that would mean they are all taken care of! Some of the little things in the journey to getting to Melbourne are well quite frustrating. However, in the end everything gets done and the journey that comes once they are done is worth the frustration that occurs along the way. On a positive note, I currently have an international drivers permit in my possession. This was certainly the easiest thing to check of my list of preparations. Say a little prayer I can get all my ducks in a row to have my visa application completed by the end of the week! Once the visa is in my hands (or at least a letter stating I received one) I will book my plane ticket...then reality really will sink in!
I am looking forward to another Skype call the first part of July. It is during this call that I will get to meet the precious children that I will be caring for! I am super excited to get meet them and start to learn about each of them, the things that they love to do, their silly little quirks and habits they might have and just enjoy meeting them in general!