Who, what, when, where, why

In a weeks time I will be headed to the airport on my way to New Zealand! Why New Zealand you ask? I will tell you!

In New Zealand I will be living with a family in a small town outside of Auckland called Waimauku. There, I will help out with the kids and the household Monday through Friday in exchange for room and board plus some spending money. On weekends I am free to and encouraged to use the car that's available to me and drive off to explore the beautiful country. 

How did I come across this opportunity? I was thinking and thinking about what to do with my life after college. I knew I wanted to travel.  But I didn't want to wait and wait until I saved up enough money to travel for an extended period of time because I knew I would probably never go! It was then that I decided to find a job in another country! A job as a nanny (au pair if you want to use the fancy word) is perfect for me!  I have been a nanny for a great family for the past three years in SLO and I know I love it! I figured it be an easy transition and I'm overly qualified. The only differences are, I live with the new family and I'm in a completely different country! The completely different country part brings plenty of other differences I am sure, but I'm in for an adventure and learning about other cultures!

After I decided what to do I began my search for the perfect family. I used greataupair.com and talked to many families, mostly in Europe. They all sounded good but not awesome. Then Gendie contacted me; I read her family's profile, googled New Zealand, read a previous nanny's blog and fell in love! New Zealand sounds perfect for me! The landscape of the entire country is gorgeous, at least it appears to look that way in all the pictures and everyone tells me so. There are many exciting things to explore and do, mainly outdoors which is awesome! The country is way more environmental than the U.S. and I could use to learn a few things to bring back to teach us here! The family sounds great, they have two adorable little boys,  Oli 5.5 and Sam 3.5. They seem very easy to get along with. They live in a beautiful home on five acres. I hear they eat lots of vegetables, yes! I can learn more recipes! They have a dog plus many other animals. They live near the beach. I can't wait to meet them in person, not just over Skype and get to know them all! Oh, I almost forgot, it's going to be spring and summer again while I am there! I get three of the two best seasons of the year in a year and a half (Did you get that? Think about it.)

As the one who will notice a cool tree in a parking lot, I can't wait to explore the beautiful nature of New Zealand!