Sleepy Samstag

It’s a happy Saturday evening in my little corner of the world – a beautiful sunshiney day in Munich. I’m relegated to the house tonight to play Mary Poppins as my host parents are going out for the evening. It’s good though because I had an incredibly long night filled with way too much bier drinking and a fair amount of embarrassing behavior and loss of volume control. Needless to say, I could use a night in. I fully intend on watching a movie once the girls are asleep – my host mom has The Men Who Stare At Goats downstairs so I want to see it, I heard it’s funny and it has a great cast. And I love Kevin Spacey. After the movie I think I’ll start a new book. Again. I’m really rolling right through them. Just read Jodi Piccoult’s latest novel, Handle With Care, and it was really good. It had a typical Piccoult ending which kind of pissed me off but she’s good at really throwing you off. It was like the ending to My Sister’s Keeper but less dramatic. Anyway, that’s what I’ll be doing with the rest of my Saturday.

This past week was very different for this au pair. I spent the whole week feeling like I actually have a job and a purpose. The girls’ schedule changed so they’re out of kindergarten and enjoying a few weeks of summer vacation. The family was originally supposed to be in Austria all week but they came back five days early. I spent Tuesday through Friday with the girls all day which is really new for me because before, I was only with them for one hour in the morning and most evenings. I’ve been pulling about 9 or 10 hour days this past week. We’ve been doing all kinds of stuff – going to playgrounds, bike rides, hide and seek, picnics. Through it all, I’ve bonded a lot with the girls which is good because I fall in love with them more every day. I mean, how could you not with faces like these?

  

Hopefully these next few weeks of super au pair duties won’t make me hate my job. I doubt that will happen because eventually, they will go back to school and I will be able to take day time naps again and feel useless once more. Ha.

Socially, things are great here in Munich. I’m making new friends all the time which is always a blessing. I have a little group of friends that I’ve made and we do most everything together. We’re all recent transplants to this great city so it’s nice to have a group of people who are all experiencing a new life at the same time. I love the friends that I’ve made who are already established here too because they’ve been able to show me around and make me feel comfortable, showing me all the good bars and other fun stuff. Usually we all just get together and drink bier because German social customs are so centered around that stuff. Seriously, you go to the English Gardens on a Saturday morning, around like 12 or so, and pretty much everyone you pass has a beer. There are drunk people riding around on these crazy 10-person bikes with bars in them. Germans do love their beer and I can’t say that I blame them! It’s some good stuff.

Someone close to me recently said that she’s worried about me becoming an alcoholic but I’d say that’s pretty unlikely. I only drink in social situations with my friends – I could never just sit at home alone and crack open a beer and enjoy it. Gross. Yes, I do stupid things like injure myself (repeatedly), miss the late night trains and walk home at 2 am, spend way too much money, and potentially jeopardize great friendships with melodramatic confessions of “love” and adoration but hey, c’est la vie. It’s a constant learning process about self control (which I never seem to learn from, go figure). At least I know that I’m a drunken idiot most of the time and I’m not in denial. Haha. Anyway, it all makes sense because I can just say that I’m getting ready for Oktoberfest which is is coming up soon. I’m glad that I proved to myself that I can not consume more than 2 liters of beer in one night without physical and emotional consequences. A lesson I’m happy to have learned before Oktoberfest and not during. Still – maybe I should work on my manners and my inside voice whilst drinking. Might save me some trouble down the line.

Earlier today I met some friends in the Englischer Gartens and we just laid out in the sun for half of the day. The sun’s come out in Munich again, thank God. Perfect send off for the impending end of summer. Right now I am watching Mama Mia with the twins – they love the music and sometimes sing along. So, it’s a quiet Saturday night around here. After this, we’re all going to bed. It’s a perfect night if you ask me.