The Trip to Zurich

Hello Everyone!!!

I have not quite made it to Zurich yet, but I am sitting in Dusseldorf, Germany with a free internet connection so I thought I would give a little update! I am super excited to finally be starting this year. I have been talking about it for months and it is just about time to start!  I think I am still a little overwhelmed and unaware of the fact that I just moved to Switzerland for the year.

I was able to spend a month in California with family and friends which was great! Leaving home is never easy, no matter how many times I do it. I miss everyone already but am so grateful for the opportunity to do something like this.

Bruce, my host-dad, will be picking me up from the airport tonight. The kids are in France with their Mom visiting their grandfather.  I will have a few days to get settled in my room and adjust to the time difference before I meet the kids and start my job!

That is all for now!!!

Leaving Washington DC

I left D.C. one week ago. I took advantage of every minute of my time in DC the last couple months. I was able to spend time with the amazing friends that I made in DC.  A day trip to Philly, visitors from California, museums, "hiking" endeavors (difficult when it is 100 degrees out and there is 80% humidity), rooftop BBQs and pool nights, July 4th on the National Mall with friends from Chapman, and miniature golf at a quirky bar. I loved every minute of it. I had a great last dinner with my new DC friends who will be around for many years to come.  I said good-bye to my co-workers who were absolutely amazing! I was so fortunate to have the experience in DC that I had. It is because of that experience, beginning with lonely nights to making new friends, and strengthening the bonds with old friends, that I now have the confidence to move halfway across the world in less than a month. I am so incredibly grateful for the entire experience. I have grown so much as a person. Everyone that I met in DC taught me more than they will ever know.

Leaving DC was harder than I thought. I have become used to moving around and people leaving. I am a person who will keep in touch with you until it is so obvious that you aren't going to call me back that it hurts. I love meeting new people but I thrive on having good friends. I depend on having friends around me as often as possible and by the end of my experience in DC, I found a way to make that happen. I am one of the luckiest people in the world to  have so many supportive and wonderful friends in my life.

From the moment I stepped off the plane in DC, it was surreal.  I have realized that I am an outgoing person. I can hold a conversation. I was willing to meet anyone! I met several relatives I had never met. I met friends of friends of friends.  I am ready to take on this challenge in Zurich. I am excited for it because I know I can do it.

Washington DC is a beautiful place. I think it represents everything that is wonderful about this country that I was so lucky to be born in. I also think it brings to life the many problems we need to deal with face on. I love DC more than just about any city I have ever visited. I know it is the right place for me in the future but I also know it is time for me to explore more the world.  My transition time in San Diego is extremely busy without beginning to deal with the list of things I need to do to prepare for Switzerland. I have so much to look forward to it is hard to dwell on my time in DC. I have found I need a little time to move past it.

I know looking forward I will have countless transitions to deal with. I will leave people and keep in touch. I know this is the lifestyle I want for the near future, but it doesn't make the good-byes any easier. It is a weird feeling to have so many places to call home there is no where to call home, but that is a compromise I am willing to make for now.

I want to take a sentence to thank everyone of my friends and family members who support my decisions to move around and take the risks I am taking. It is because of that support and your confidence in me that I am confident I am going to take Switzerland by storm.  I love you all so much and really appreciate each one of you in indescribable ways.

“Life is either a great adventure or nothing.” Helen Keller

Helen Keller is completely right! No matter if your adventure is a day at the park or moving across the country or world once a year, you need to make sure that you are always creating new adventures and experiences for yourself. I have decided that right now my adventures include moving across the world for the year! 

I have made my official decision to go to Zurich, Switzerland! I am so excited to have a decision made and know what my next step is! It was a very difficult decision but I know that it was worth the struggle. It said a lot to me that the family was willing to go through nearly a month of back and forth to figure everything out with the visa and all, so I think that we are really a great match.

A little about my upcoming life: I will be an aupair for a French and Canadian family living in Switzerland. They are both lawyers.  There are two kids, and in October there will the a new baby! There is a 9-year-old boy and a 6-year-old girl. Their current aupair has been so very helpful with everything. She has given me honest answers about what to expect as an aupair- both the good and the bad! I will be heading over at the beginning of August through August of 2011! 

I will also be taking French lessons while I am there. I will also be looking into volunteering somewhere once a week or something since I will have some free time while the kids are at school. I am going to take full advantage of being in Switzerland and I really want to get to know Zurich and the rest of the country. My goal for my trip is a country a month and a new city/town in Switzerland every month! 

One of my best friends from high school is getting her Masters in Ireland in the fall and I have another friend who is going to be an aupair in Germany. I will have some tastes of home and of course anyone who wishes to visit is welcome! 

A Long Awaited Update

It has been along time since I have last written. I was preparing a new blog post a few weeks ago, and then everything changes making it no longer relevant.

Life has been great. I have a new understanding of Spring and why people love this season so much. It is a reward for making it through the daunting and long winter. Winter can be discouraging at times, and I definitely had my challenges, but Spring. Spring made is worth it (almost). I already forgotten many of the issues with winter other than I didn't really like it very much.

With Spring came the famous DC Cherry Blossoms. That appeared one day and were beautiful. They fell off as quickly as they came but they were beautiful while they lasted. I have never seen as many tulips spread out across a city before. They turned up in the most random places and I couldn't help but take a picture almost every time.

Spring has brought thunderstorms and waves of hot weather followed by a week of cold! It consistently unpredictable.

Spring has also been the beginning of my job search. I decided to throw myself into the aupair search. I have had some fun really learning about so many different families and researching potential new cities to live in and places to visit. A few weeks ago, I was offered a job in Switzerland with a great family. They had everything an aupair could ask for. I signed the contract and began making plans! It was so exciting. It was exciting to have a plan. I was planning on going home for about a month to enjoy my family and friends before I left them for an entire year. I was dreaming about Amsterdam in the Spring for the tulips and Germany for Oktoberfest.

It was all coming together, until I learned that Switzerland was placing tight limits on the visas they were giving out. This was quite the curve ball. It was a heartbreaking phone call from the father. I have since been looking for away around this while beginning conversations with new families.

I am confident that I will find a family that is a good match, even if it takes a little longer. I am building a great network in DC and am loving every minute of it. I have a bunch of pictures that I will hopefully get to put up soon!

A Woman's Nation Changes Everything

I had the opportunity to attend a conference put on by the Center for American Progress many months ago about the Shriver Report. Maria Shriver and a team of people created this report which interviewed people across the country about what it is like to be a family member, to be a woman, to be a man, and what needs to be done about it now. Many of the authors spoke at the conference. It was a great experience and one of the many things I did when I found myself unemployed in a new city.

A few of the statistics-

• Women make up 50% of the workforce for the first time ever.
• Women are receiving 57% of college degrees and 50% of master's and doctorates.
• Women are still being paid $0.77 to the dollar for doing the same work as their male counterparts.

Women's empowerment and equality is what I have found I am most passionate about.  I know that my ideal job will surround women's economic empowerment, education, and all together community development.  I have recently been reminded of this passion as I continue to do research regarding graduate school and what I want to do.  I have also watched or read the following articles.  I recommend taking a moment if you have one to look at them.  There are also a few articles about getting married or being single, which I find interesting to think about as well. 

Still Working- Commentary on the road ahead for equal opportunities for men and women.

The End of Men - An article about equality and where we are going. Lots of issues brought up!
Rich White Men Are Doing Just Fine -- It's Men and Women of Color Who Continue to Fall Behind - This is a response article to the article in "The Atlantic." 

Eve Ensler- She wrote the Vagina Monologues which became one my proudest accomplishments at school.  Eve continues to work hard to fight for women everywhere and is always an inspiration to me. This is a great talk about everyone embracing your inner girl. (Ted.com is an awesome website with 15 minute talks about everything you can imagine! It is a quality time waster.)

The first article I have ever read saying something positive about Walmart

White House Council on Women and Girls: One of the first things that President Obama did when he came into office was create the White House Council on Women and Girls. Valerie Jared is in charge of the council and I have really enjoyed listening to her speak over the past year and a half. 

I would recommend everyone read Arianna Huffington's book On Becoming Fearless. It is a FANTASTIC book about looking fear in the face and realizing that it might not have been worth fearing after all. 

Marry Him and On Settling for Mr. Good Enough are thought provoking articles about finding the balance on "settling" and compromise.