THIS IS MY LIFE: WELCOME TO LONDON

London is great! I have been here for almost a month now and time is really flying by! I am living with a lovely family in Acton (west London, near Hammersmith). The mother, Sophie, is French and the father, Jens, is Danish. They are a pretty young couple who have been really helpful and kind to me and we get on very well. They have three kids Lucas (9), Alice (7) and Mia (5). They attend a french school and are fluent in English and French and attend Danish school in the weekends. I am so envious of them for this!

I very much have my hands full with them! I now have a massive appreciation for Mum raising us three with very little help - I really don't know how she did it! They are hard work! I am not really sure if this is right for me. I have so much responsibility and I have been thrown straight into it and it is all a bit overwhelming. I am hoping things will settle down soon, as Sophie keeps telling me but I don't know how long I can last.

The weekly schedule is very intense. The kids start school at 9am each morning. Sometimes Sophie takes them in the car meaning a half hour sleep in for everyone involved. If she can't then I need to get them up half an hour earlier to catch the 8.15am train. We take this one stop and then change for a different train, followed by an eight minute (15 with the kids!) walk to school.

Once I have ensured that they have arrived safely, I am free to spend the day however I like. Generally if I have taken them, I will walk/run the 5km home. I then have to make sure dinner is organised for the night, as well as any things the kids need for afternoon activities, such as swimming gear or ballet bags. Quite often I have a nap after all this is done, and wake up in time to head back to school for the kids.

Some days they finish at 3pm but some days it is not till 5pm, depending on what activities are on that day. If the activity is not to do with the school, I have to take them from school to the activities and sit and watch. Once we finally get home, its showers and dinner as quickly as possible. I have to make sure the kids are doing their homework as well, but since I cannot speak french I need to liase with Sophie quite a bit about what needs to be done, so she can help them once she gets home.

Before bed, I brush the kids teeth. This is very interesting and totally unexpected! Some nights Sophie and/or Jens are there to put them into bed and say goodnight but other nights it is up to me to do.

In the weekends I am thankfully free to do what I want and I have meet up with a couple of Kiwis. I used to work with a girl back home (Andrea) who went to school with these two kiwis (Chloe and Conor), who are over here so it has been great to meet some people. They have really only just arrived here as well so we are planning to do lots of exploring together! It's safe to say I don't spend a lot of time at home on the weekends, but I do try and make it back for dinner on sunday nights so we can get ready for the full on week ahead!

The underground is surprisingly easy to use! I do have an app on my phone which can help me out but so far I haven’t needed it much! I have been very surprised so far with the weather here in London. It has been pretty warm and sunny, not at all what I have been told and so far no rain so its been great! Its just starting to get cold in the mornings now, but still really nice days. I have been for a couple of runs through Hyde Park, which is only a 45 minute walk from the school.

Last weekend Chloe and I went to the Tower of London which is currently covered in poppies at the moment. This is to commemorate the 100 year anniversary of World War I and to remember the british soldiers who died. So far there is 380,000 poppies in the ground and they need 888,000 by the 11th of November! They are all being individually made and you can buy them for 25 pounds each with the money going to helping the families. I really want to buy one but the shipping costs to send it home would be huge! They think that they will run out of room around the Tower to put them all. I really want to go back and see when they are all there, November 11th is the date and it is in my diary!

Chloe and I did a biking tour of the city where we visited the royal parks and gardens. It was great to learn a bit of history about London as I don't really know much about it. It started in Hyde Park and wound its way up under Wellington Arch, pastt Buckingham Palace, down the Mall, and ended up in Trafalgar Square. A great little adventure.

Afterwards, we visited M and M World in Leicester Square with Conor. The place smelt a bit funny, like stale chocolate almost. There is so much merchandise in there from clothing to pillows, mugs to key rings. And the amount of M and M's is crazy. There is every color imaginable. But it is all super expensive, and after looking around we found a dairy down the road selling them for half the price! I haven’t seen a lot of East London yet but still early days and plenty of time to explore!

"A bad day in London is still better than a good day anywhere else." - Unknown.

I hope this has inspired you.

LARISSAJODEE x

#aupair #solo #friends #lifestyle #bucketlist