Some Updates on My Life as Une Jeune Fille Au Pair

It's hard to believe that I've been back for almost a month already.  To be honest, most of the time it feels like I never left.  And I don't consider that a bad thing, either.  I don't want my time here to end.  If I'm ever having an off day, I can always count on my host family to bring me out of my slump.  In all honesty, they make it pretty hard to be in a slump in the first place.

First I'd like to wish a (belated) birthday to N, my host mum.  She unfortunately wasn't home with us since she's in Davos for the week, yet that didn't stop us from celebrating.  I baked her a birthday cake for everyone but her to eat.  Then we gave her a call on Skype to sing her happy birthday, blow out her candles and eat the cake in front of her.  Aren't we kind?

Now a side note on the cake.  Since P (host father) can't eat gluten, I figured the cake we all ate in front of N had to be gluten free.  Baking without gluten isn't always the easiest thing to do.  Luckily enough, I found a recipe for an easy flour-free chocolate cake!  I was a bit disappointed there was no picture on the recipe page, but I figured I'd take a picture of my finished product and post it.  Then I realized why there was no picture.  The cake doesn't exactly look very...edible...straight out of the oven.  The "crust" turned out rock hard and looked like it has been shaken with earthquakes from the cake falling so much.  Oh, that's why gluten is so important...


In the end, all I needed was some Pillsbury icing (yes, gluten free!) to cover up the mess, and everyone was happy.  E even requested I make it again.  But not before asking if I screwed it up (he knows about my past baking experiences).  I of course answered, yes, I screwed it up.  He then said, "Ok, just make sure you screw it up again."  Gosh, I love that kid.

E has accomplished quite a lot this past week.  He won a tongue twister challenge at school, competed in a ping pong tournament with his best friend (and wasn't too bummed out when they didn't qualify), and has gone on a run every day (ya, a 9 year old that goes running.  You'd think I'd be inspired...).  To think that he's only 9, is so talented and smart, yet so polite and genuine, restores my faith in the future generation.  Maybe we won't all turn out to be useless couch potatoes.

Now as my week comes to an end, I'm very excited to pack my bags, and a borrowed set of skis, because I am off to Chamonix for the weekend to ski with three of my best friends!  We're loading up the "Soccer Mom Van" and heading out Friday night.  And luckily Groupon had a deal on ski passes, so along with our cheap hostel, it looks like it will be a fairly inexpensive weekend.

I'll be sure to fill you all in on Monday with pictures and stories while I'm lying covered in heat packs and complaining about how sore I am.

Have a great weekend everyone!

A New Year, but the Same Old Goal

Now that I am back safely in Geneva, I have started to think about my resolutions.  I tend not to make any, since I know I won't follow them, but this year, I knew there was one I just had to do...

Travel more!

So on my first night back in Geneva, my friend Lu and I sat down at her laptop and went nuts on Easy Jet's seat sale.  It was quite a sale, and there were many places we wanted to go.  Now we have a trip each month, with plans to add some more as the dates come closer.

Here's what we have so far:

January 27-29th - Chamonix Ski Trip!  Since Chamonix is only a short drive from Geneva, and Geneva's airport is actually the airport you fly into to get to Chamonix, we obviously are not flying.  But after Lu came back this weekend raving about it, we booked our trip last night.  Can't wait!

February 12-19 - ITALY!!!  I am lucky enough to have enough time off to do Italy justice.  I'm starting in Rome alone and working my way up to Venice where my friend Cy will be meeting be to celebrate Carnaval!  If you have any suggestions of things to see and do in Rome, Florence, Pisa, Milan, and Venice, please leave a comment!

February 24-26 - Into the German part of Switzerland to continue my Carnaval celebration.  Why stop in Italy?

March 16-18 - Manchester!  It's Lu's birthday, and so we're traveling to her hometown.  With lots of people to visit and lots to see, it's gonna be a whirlwind weekend.

April 6-8 - Now I've always said I'd love to see a concert in Europe, and Drake happens to be touring.  So a couple of my friends and I have bought tickets and booked a trip to Brussels to go see him.  Very excited!

April 9-15 - I also have all of this time off, which I think I will be using to go visit my friend EM in Malta.  Woe is me, eh?

May 18-21 - Being my birthday weekend, I knew I had to go away and do something.  So where will I be?  Amsterdam!!!  Because who doesn't want to visit the Anne Frank museum on their birthday?

June 1-3 - For yet another friend's birthday, Lu and I are traveling up to Newcastle to experience yet another English celebration.  Can't wait!

So far that's all I have planned.  I still have a list of places to go, but just need to pick a weekend to do it.  If you have any suggestions of places to go, specific times to go, and things to see, please leave a comment.  I'm always looking for suggestions!

Hope everyone's have a great new year!

Sunday Picnic: Annecy Edition

Our picnic spot

After our action packed Saturday night, we decided to take it down a notch and drive to Annecy, France for a picnic since it is less than an hour's drive away.  A couple of the girls planned the picnic as a birthday surprise for R, another British nanny (who also joined us at the hockey game).

The surprise worked quite well.  All she knew when we left in the morning was that we were going for a picnic.  But she quickly figured out the location when she started guessing cities and we all started to sing along to the radio when she guessed Annecy.  We don't have very good poker faces apparently.

The weather stayed beautiful for us and we had a delicious picnic by the water.  After lunch, we wandered the streets of Annecy's old town.  Since it was a Sunday, most of the clothing shops were closed, but a few tourist shops and ice cream stands were open.

It was a beautiful day and I can't wait to go visit again.  My only regret?  Not bringing my bathing suit to jump in the lake.

Food Fridays - Gluttony Edition

This past Wednesday was one of my staff's birthday.  Last year, I had set the standard for staff birthdays.  Another staff member had a birthday on the day I was working (unbeknownst to me until I arrived at work), so I ran out (on a break!) to Dairy Queen to get one of their delicious cakes.

This year, I had to one-up myself.

At the beginning of the summer, I made sure I was aware of when everyone's birthday was.  Then, when I found out there was a birthday that I would be present for, I made sure to casually introduce the subject of favourite desserts (specifically cakes) to the conversation weeks ahead of time.  Lo and behold, I discovered that O's favourite cake was a plain cheesecake with strawberries.  (I must say I was quite happy this was her favourite, since I LOVE cheesecake).

So on Wednesday, once all the staff had arrived, we did a little surprise for O and enjoyed some cake for lunch.

I love birthdays.

For the recipe, check out Cooking with Philly.  The recipe is very easy, but I found the centre took quite a long time to bake (far longer than the recipe).  It may just be the oven, though...

After 40 minutes in the oven

Added a layer of sour cream with sugar and vanilla

Sliced strawberries for my topping

Fresh out of the oven.  Browned on the sides since it needed to be in the oven for so long.

Finished!  I'm not patient enough to do a nice design on the top.  Sorry O.

My mum commented that this looks like a small party pizza...with candles.

Anyone have any cheesecake or other kind of cake recipe they'd be willing to share?  I'm also always looking for gluten free options.  This cake was almost gluten free.  If I substituted the graham crumbs in the crust for almond flour it would have been.

A Week of Ups and Downs

After meeting with the F.E., I've been trying to figure out all the details for my Swiss visa.  Despite how simple it seemed, it has not been the easiest task.  Overall, the application is very straight forward, but one form has thrown me through the wringer.  The 'Check for Equivalent of Swiss Health Insurance' form has not been the easiest to complete.  To give you an idea, this is what I have been running around doing this week.

First of all, I need travel insurance.  Sounds simple right?  Not so much.  In order to get this, I need proof that OHIP (Ontario Health Insurance Plan) will still insure me since I will be gone longer than their alotted 212 days.  So I had to go to Service Ontario…

 Not so simple...

Service Ontario required a letter from my employer  stating why I will be out of the country and when I will be returning.  The F.E very quickly supplied me with the letter, so I went to the offices yesterday.  Since the the F.E is in Switzerland, I obviously did not have her signature on the letter.  Service Ontario was not impressed.  They also had an issue with the letter not being on a letterhead.  Seriously?!  I'm working for a family, and other than the royal family, who has their own letterhead?  After talking them out of needing a letterhead, they requested another letter with an actual signature and the telephone number of the F.E (thankfully it could be a faxed or scanned copy).  I quickly shot off an email to her, and within the hour had my new letter.  I went back to the Service Ontario office and this time they approved the letter and extended my OHIP.  Yay!  But that didn't solve all my problems…

OHIP won't sign my visa form.  Since they don't cover ambulance costs and a few other costs, they won't sign the form that stipulates they will be covering it.  Ugh.  They did however, give me a form that states what they do cover.  Cross your fingers this will be enough.  So I started to contact travel insurance companies to see if they will sign my form.  And guess what?  They all said no.  "We don't sign anything.  We only send you a copy of your policy."  Great.  But thanks to another one of my amazing aunts and her connections, I may have found a company that will sign the form: Manulife Financial.  If all my other options fall through, it sounds like I'll be going with them.  CAA (aka, Manulife prices on steroids) also said they'd sign if I could prove that the copy of the policy was not enough documentation.  This would be all fine and dandy, but my bank account is crying at my quoted prices.  So I've found another option:  Travel Cuts.  With a target audience of mostly students, this company offers RBC insurance at a seriously discounted price.  I plan on going to the office at York University tomorrow to see if they will sign my form.  Cross your fingers!

After all that, I'm hoping that I'll have all my completed forms in hand along with all the other required documentation (passport photo, CV, request letter to the Swiss Government, copy of passport) and mail it to the F.E on the weekend.  I just hope all goes to plan…

In other news, today is my 23^rd birthday!  I had a wonderful brunch with a few of my friends this morning, and tonight we are hitting the town.  It'll be nice to see all my friends, because with school and work, I haven't had much 'friends time'.  Hopefully I'll have some pictures to post after tonight.

And thank to my parents, I will be starting manual transmission driving lessons very shortly.  Thanks!

Now on to you.  Have you had to apply for a visa to move to another country?  Have you had to apply for a Swiss visa?  What sort of issues (if any) did you have?

Have a great Victoria Day weekend (if you're from a Commonwealth country)!