2 weeks USA!
Here we go again!
November 17th: There we go again!
'Just got home 2 weeks ago, but no one can stop me. I am going to the USA again finally! I am soooo excited to see everyone again and surprise the kids and one of my friends! I also can't wait to see the rest of the family again and celebrate Thanksgiving! I left to Amsterdam at 7 AM and then my flight was at 1 PM. I had one stop in Iceland today before flying to JFK and arrived here at 7 PM. So in total, I basically traveled a whole day, including different time zones, but the flights were totally fine! Unfortunately I had to wait in line for the security check and I was a little nervous to show all the paperwork I needed (visa, covid-test, prove of vaccination and an attestation form), but in the end I only needed to show my passport?! Tonight I stayed at a friend's house in Guttenberg (NJ) and she was so nice and even cooked for me! How sweet! Tomorrow I am going to surprise my friend Hendry! So excited!!!'
Finally back in the States!
November 18th: Meeting my fav Dutchie in NY and surprising a friend!
'Today I first met with my amazing travel buddy Sharon. She is also from the Netherlands and used to be an Au Pair too. She is visiting her boyfriend in New Jersey for 3 months and arrived one week before me so it was amazing we could meet today! We walked through Central Park and chilled here a bit and talked! Later I had to take the bus to Philly. When I finally arrived at my host mom's house, Rusty, their dog, seemed to be excited to see me. I wondered whether he really remembered me or not as I had only seen him as a little puppy. He's much bigger now but still so cute! A few minutes later my host mom came home. It was so great to see her again! It felt like I had never left! I unpacked some stuff and then dressed as a gangster to surprise my friend Hendry as a 'pizza delivery woman'. On my way to Fishtown I picked up a big pizza and then went to his house. His host mom was already waiting for me outside so she could record it. Man. His reaction was AMAZING! He was so surprised when I took off my sunglasses! Happy my first plan worked out! We had a great time tonight! Excited to surprise my little nuggets tomorrow!!!'
With my fav Dutchie in New York and finally back in Philly!
November 19th: FINALLY REUNITED WITH MY NUGGETS!
'Today it was finally time to surprise the kids. I was so nervous. Didn't know what to think. How would they react? I literally had no idea! But this was so exciting! I went to school and also my host parents came over. The kids both finished school at 12 today but the youngest one came outside first. My host dad made up he had a 'surprise snack' for her. I was hiding behind a wall. She was so shy when she saw me! And then she gave me a hug and said :'Lieke, I thought I would never see you again. I missed you.' I could cry when she said this! So cute!!! Then the oldest girl came out of school and my host dad made the same joke about the snack. When she saw me she totally freaked out. So happy she was to see me! I really loved these moments and I had been waiting for it for so long! Finally together again! Can't wait to do great things together the next 10 days! After school I took the kids to the playground and later we went to Craft Hall for dinner which was great!'
FINALLY REUNITED WITH MY NUGGETS!!!
The next days I mostly spent time with the kids and had fun with them! We went to John Heinz Park with another family which was great, made 'Ejelins' (salmon-spinach turnovers) and pepernoten (Dutch gingerbread cookies for Sinterklaas). This is a Dutch holiday wit little presents in your shoes for a few weeks and on December 5th it is pakjesavond, which basically means a night full of gifts from Sinterklaas. My host family celebrates this Dutch holiday as my host dad is Dutch as well!
November 23rd: Movie & Show Time!
'Today I was with the kids the whole day which was great! They finish school at 12 this week and they are off from Thursday already due to Thanksgiving. Today we grabbed a bagel after school (I mean, they had a muffin at the end haha), and then we went to the movies together. We went to the movie 'Clifford the Red Dog'. This was a great movie! One of their friends joined us too which was nice! When we got home I cooked dinner for the kids and when my host mom came home, she asked if I wanted to go to the musical 'Hamilton'. First I had to think about it as I was so exhausted, but WHY would someone have to think about this? One chance to see this musical! So obviously I went and it was absolutely AMAZING!! I loved it and I was so thankful my host mom bought me a ticket! Especially as I knew this was pretty expensive! But so cool to see this!'
I Went to the musical Hamilton!
November 25th: Welcome back to Harpers Ferry!
'Yasss! Finally we went back to the grand parents in Harpers Ferry today! I was so excited to see them and the rest of my host mom's family again!! In the morning I first went running as usually and then we got ready to go and collected all our stuff. Today it was officially Thanksgiving but we will celebrate it tomorrow as one of my host mom's sisters is coming tomorrow. I can't wait! We went for a walk all together and cooked spaghetti with chicken and I made a salad. After dinner we started the 1000 piece picture puzzle I gave the family for Christmas last year. It is a pretty hard puzzle as there is so much green but hopefully we will be able to finish it before we leave on Sunday!'
Finally back in Harpers Ferry with the whole family!
November 26th: Happy Thanksgiving!
Today we celebrated Thanksgiving with the whole family. It was my 3rd Thanksgiving already but I was still very excited for it! I love helping them to cook everything and the house always smells delicious the whole day! My host dad also came today! I went for a run in the morning again and the weather was great so I ended up running half a marathon! at 5 PM all dishes were finally ready and we had our Thanksgiving dinner all together! It was all delicious as always! I was so full I couldn't eat any dessert so I decided to safe that for later in the evening. We played games all together which was amazing! What a great day!'
Happy Thanksgiving!
November 27th: Christmas Tree time!
'Today it was time to look for the perfect Christmas tree for the grandparents. This is a yearly ritual the day after Thanksgiving. We went to the same location as the past 2 years which is called 'Dreamland'. In about 15 minutes we found the tree. We waited at the bonfire for a bit and when the tree was attached on the car, we drove to the brewery close to Harpers Ferry. I really like this brewery! We had some food and drinks there and then we drove back. Tonight we played games again which was fun!'
Time for a Christmas tree!
November 28th: Time to go back to Philly!
What an amazing weekend I had in Harpers Ferry! As always! Everyone was happy to see me and I loved seeing everyone too! Unfortunately we didn't finish the puzzle, but maybe they will finish it with Christmas! The grand parents even said they wanted to book me a flight for Christmas! So sweet! But unfortunately I will have to work... At 12 PM we drove back to Philly. It was very crowded on our way back. Probably because everyone was going home after Thanksgiving. At 3:30 PM we finally got home. I baked chocolate chip cookies with the oldest one and they were absolutely delicious!
The next days I met with some friends which was great. My host mom's neighbors came over with their babies which was very cute. I had breakfast with my friend Hendry and my last day in Philly I decorated my host mom's house for Christmas as a surprise. She and the girls loved it luckily! At night I went out for dinner with my host dad and the kids at Marathon which was nice! Couldn't realize I was leaving again tomorrow. Later I went to an ice cream place ('Van Leeuwen') with Hendry and Jasmine. I really wanted to try this place as it was vegan ice cream and their name was Dutch! I tried the vegan peanut butter-brownie-honeycomb one and it was delicious! It felt great seeing them one more time before I would leave again! I am gonna miss them so much! Sadly I didn't get to see all the people I wanted to see, but at least my closest friends and I was happy with that!
My last days in Philly already...
December 1st: One last day in New York & Flight back home!
'This morning I left to New York. I was so sad to leave the kids behind. Again. It felt a little the same as when I left in March 2021 after being their Au Pair for 1,5 year. But I was so happy I saw them again and could see the way they had grown these past 8 months! I left to New York very early and arrived here at 10 AM so I could spent one more day here. I went to Rockefeller Center to see the Christmas tree but unfortunately I couldn't see it with the lights as they would be officially turned on later tonight... My friend Sharon came too which was great! We walked around the city and went to a few shops and at 3:30 it was time for me to get ready to go to the airport. I needed to take the subway first to the Air Train and to my bad luck it stopped only one stop before mine. Then things got even worse and one cord of my backpack broke... Luckily I was able to make a knot in it. When I finally got to the airport I was totally exhausted but happy I made it on time. I had one stop in Iceland again the next morning (December 2nd) and at 11:30 I finally arrived in Amsterdam. I took the train back home and my dad picked me up at the train station. At 3 PM I finally got home after traveling 26 hours. Totally exhausted! But it was so worth it! So thankful I was able to make this dream come true and see the kids again finally! I love them so much! Hope to see everyone again soon!
Time to go home... What a great time it was!
Comments
Post a Comment