it's official

so, it's official. i'm an au pair. i'm also a student at the university of salzburg. i'm also madly in love with this country for its mountains and good food.

i started officially as an au pair this last saturday. and on my first day the family and i went on a hike with thomas's parents. it was so wonderful being outside and so high up. after our hike we had coffee at this little hotel/restaurant on the side of the mountain we were on. and all you could see over the beautiful green meadow were more mountains. there was not one cloud in the sky. not a single one. i don't think i've ever seen the sky so clear. and we just sat and got to know each other better.

then on sunday, we went hiking again. but this time we went all the way to the top of this 1568 m mountain, which is a small mountain for the area. i will never say "no" to climbing a mountain again! the view was so breath takingly beautiful. you could see for kilometers in all directions, even down. we drove up most of the way and my ears definitely popped a couple of times on the way up. and they also popped when we were on our way up. it took us longer than i thought it would to get to the top. the top kept on moving farther and farther away. but we finally got to the top and we able to write in a journal that's up there and there was also a stamp to prove that the venture actually happened and wasn't just some dream that i had. thimountainan is also a popular place for skiing. the landscape looked exactly like a life size version of all those model train sets you see with the mountains and the felt grass, the little patches of rock sticking out randomly. the grass is short because there are cows and sheep on the mountain that graze there and therefore act as natural lawn mowers.

being an au pair to me is really just like being a grown up kid in another family who happens to have authority over the young children. you take care of the things that need to be taken care of, as in washing the dishes and clothes and cleaning up the table. all these little things that need to be done and you're just along to help out. for the most part, these are things i do at home. now i just have to worry about kids also. i have to help keep them orderly at meal times by reminding them to say "please" and "thank you" and "excuse me" and "i'm sorry". i have to make sure they brush their teeth and get dressed and undressed and wash their face. i pick the younger one up frokindergartenen and some times take him. i help make sure the older ones do their homework and that they get out the door early enough for school. i go shopping with birgit when we need a lot of food or i pick up food on the way back from picking up jakob frokindergartenen when we only need a little something for lunch. i just act have to act like a responsible adult who is still learning the rules of the household.

as it says at the top of the page, i'm also now an official student at the university of salzburg, with my own id card and e-mail address and everything. i think it's pretty cool. what is even cooler is i got interviewed by a reporter from the main newspaper in salzburg as a first time enroller in the university who just happens to be an au pair from america. he took pictures also so i'm thinking (hoping) that he'll actually use my interview. well find out on october 7th for sure. i'll let you guys know what happens with that. it was so funny though because i walk out of the admissions office with sylvia and this guy comes up and asks if he can interview me as a new student. at first i was a little worried that i wouldn't be able to understand everything that he was asking but i was able to understand pretty much everything he was asking AND i was able to respond (for the most part). i was surprised that i was able to respond so readily. i couldn't stop laughing though. i mean seriously, how hilarious is it that i'm iSalisburyrg for a month anI'm'm going to be in the newspaper, probably with a pictureI i don't thinI'veve ever really been in the newspaper in the USMaybebe my name was mentioned for having good grades in high school or in the UT watch after having a fountain jumping experience or maybe as a kid but not as a mini feature in a story about anything that anyone mighactuallyly read.

so, that's mainly what's been going on recently. oh, anI i also got derek webb's cd "mockingbird" for free from this website: www.freederekwebb.com. he's giving his own music away (in case you were questioning the legality of my acquisition). check it outI'veve really been enjoying it. he has amazing lyrics that are challenging and quitcontroversialal (for the christian community especially). buI i think what he has to say we could all stand to hear, whether we agree with him or not.