Source: The Lady Album of the Week
This magazine has adverts from people around the world seeking staff for their (very big) houses.. They also have adverts for au pairs to look after their children. I had decided I wanted to go to Germany, I thought it looked strange and romantic but also I thought it was full of all the structure that I did not feel at home. So I applied for many jobs, as I was underage it meant that the person employing me would have to be my Guardian so it was a little more difficult. Finally I was offered two jobs and I took the one that sounded the best. It was a family with three children aged 11, 9, and 4. I remember the day I left I had packed (not well) I hardly took anything with me and hadn't even packed a coat (the woman I worked for ended up buying me a coat when it got cold) I left my Mother at the airport she was upset, I don't remember really crying until I got on the plane which was full of just German business men - I felt so far away before I had gone anywhere...
I arrived at Frankfurt airport and was met by the woman from the au pair agency, I remember driving through the German streets thinking how different everything looked, a different smell, different trees, a different feel. I arrived at the house and met the children and the Mother - they showed me my room which was in a grey basement and had a tiny window with bars and all I could see was the mason's opposite who had gravestones in his garden . The room consisted of two mattresses on top of one another some bedding, a table and I think a chair. The advantage of the basement was that I had my own bathroom next door to the room but other than that it was a very austere room that despite my efforts with posters never looked much cheerier! I went out for a walk on my first night, got promptly lost and had great difficultly finding my way back as I couldn't speak German and did not even take a map with me. I think I spent the next six months lost ....
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