The Nanny Diaries

Today I officially started work although I have been playing with the kids since I got here. And I officially had my first big mix up J I had been to Jakob’s school the first day I arrived (rather jetlagged and out of sorts) so I knew what the building looked like but that was it. I was given hurried instructions this morning about a way to get there but was given the wrong house number (they are thinking of buying a house in the same street but there is a big difference between 36 and 178… especially when you are walking… and they are on the same side of the street) So I ran most of the way back up the street (past some amazing looking parks, churches and the berlin wall memorial centre which will all have to be visited at some stage!) and arrived to find a rather dejected Jakob rolling on the floor convinced no one was ever coming…oops… he got me back though. He insisted on bringing his bike with us. Awesome idea! It is a police bike and has this wonderful flag that is almost sideways and constantly runs into people, trees, animals, me… another great thing about taking the bike with us was getting the bike (and damn flag) into the tram… then up the three flights of stairs to the U-bahn (yeah contradiction having to go UP to get to the Underground rail J) then almost have to bash a mum with a pram out of the way to get me, bike and grinning Jakob into the train. We got home safely though and I was then allowed to read Thomas the Tank Engine.. over and over and over he he.
There seems to be a whole culture of nannying here and I keep getting these smiles from girls about my age who I am sure are in this with me as they drag along kids they really can’t be old enough to have had.

Thanks to Bec and Joe I now have GORGEOUS flowers in my apartment and they make me so happy. You can smell them through the whole apartment and the world’s happiest flower delivery guy came to give them to me. I heard the doorbell ring, and he was jumping up and down with excitement that someone was getting flowers. He couldn’t stop grinning and was offering to fill the vase with water for me and to show me how to care for them properly. He said happy birthday – then I told him it wasn’t.. so he just kept repeating “Viel glück.. viel glück und alles Gute. Alles Gute und viel Glück“ I must now be the luckiest, most well wished person in the whole of Berlin. It has kept a smile on my face all day.

In sadder news, my beautiful new ipod (yes be semi-jealous.. ), though not a week old, has gone the way of its forefathers. It froze all day and then somehow ran its battery flat in 2 hours (great for a 40 hour battery life!) so… maybe hold out on buying them – fingers crossed he realises that it’s either get better or I ship him back off to America to be swapped!