A love affair with Great Britain

I'm a 25-year-old German girl. I'll start my third au pair experience in April 2015. This is my blog.

[my-aupairchronicles]

14 days

until I will be on the plane to London. 14 days until I start my next big adventure. Apart from having a day of “everything sucks” and “I’m not even excited to move” that I spent in bed last week,  I am extremly excited for this to happen. I still need to sort through my stuff and start packing. And I should really do that soon to figure out what can stay here and what I’ll take with me.

Also, one of my friends got us vip tickets to see Dan and Phil in Manchester on October 11, 4 days after my 26th birthday. YAY!

[lemonsadventures]

Christ Church, Oxford, England

[1000drawings]

[lukes-penguinn]

cute things i would do as ur girlfriend

•cuddle. a lot of cuddling.

•buy u clothes randomly cause i saw a shirt in the store and it reminded me of u.

•we can go out for breakfast.

•go on runs or hikes or walks with our adorable puppy

•show u good music.

•coffee runs.

•u have a permanent best friend.

•where did ur shirt go? oh yeah, im probs wearing it.

•spontaneous adventures.

•talking about everything.

•hold your hand while we walk in public cause that’s a cute thing.

[my-aupairchronicles]

itsamatteroftime replied to your post: It's interesting that you say you...

I agree, it should definitely be included when being spoken about!

It definitely should. And I really can't understand why it isn't...

[my-aupairchronicles]

It's interesting that you say you have never heard of paragraph 175 before! My Oma was living in Kiel during the holocaust and said that she had no idea what was going on at the time and it wasn't until years after the war that she learned of all the people been taken captive and all the deaths that occurred as a result of. I just always found it interesting and also kind of scary that that sort of stuff can be happening all around and not having a clue about it.

We learn loads of stuff about WWII and the Holocaust in school but it's usually always "Jews and people that helped them were deported to concentration camp". Not once in 12 years of school have I heard about the fact that it was also gays that were deported and that they had to fulfill their sentence even after the camps were liberated. This makes me sick. I am German, this is part of our history, why do we NOT learn about this? -.-

[ramirezbundydahmer]

When the Nazi concentration camps were liberated by the Allies, it was a time of great jubilation for the tens of thousands of people incarcerated in them. But an often forgotten fact of this time is that prisoners who happened to be wearing the pink triangle (the Nazis’ way of marking and identifying homosexuals) were forced to serve out the rest of their sentence. This was due to a part of German law simply known as “Paragraph 175” which criminalized homosexuality. The law wasn’t repealed until 1969.

[crypto-keynesian]

This should be required learning, internationally. 

[stripedsilverfeline]

You need to know this. You need to remember this. This is not something to swept under the carpet nor be forgotten. 

Never. Too many have died for the way they have loved. That needs stop now. 

Make it stop? 

[hollowoutmybody]

I did a report on this in my World History class my sophomore year of high school. It was incredibly unsettling.

[pearlclam]

My teacher shown the class this. Mostly everyone in the class felt uncomfortable. 

[sashadechagny]

I have reblogged this in the past, but it is so ironic that it comes across my dash right now. I a currently working as a docent at my city’s Holocaust Education Center (( I say currently because I’ve also done research and translation for them )) and out current exhibit is one on loan from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum ((USHMM)). This is a little known historical fact that Paragraph 175 was not repealed after the war and those convicted under Nazi laws as a danger to society because they were gay were not released because they had be convicted in a court of law. There was no liberation or justice for them as they weren’t considered criminals, or even victims for that matter. They were criminals who remained persecuted and ostracized and kept on the fringes of society for decades after the war had been won. Paragraph175 wasn’t actually repealed until 1994. And it was only in May 2002, that the German parliament completed legislation to pardon all homosexuals convicted under Paragraph175 during the Nazi era. History has forgotten about these men and women —  Remember this history. Remember them.

[my-aupairchronicles]

I am German but I hve never heard of this before? How have I never heard of this before?

[my-aupairchronicles]

i think your dad's reaction is very normal and justified. his child is going to a foreign country where she will not be studying/investing in her future and will be paid too little (yes i think au pairs are underpaid) without any security. while other people your age are living close to their parents and studying or already have a university degree. dont get me wrong i think you should go but don't think badly of your father for having the most ordinary reaction

It’`s not like I won’t be doing anything for my future. I am going to England as an au pair to get a foot in the door. I will do a childcare course that will give me a diploma which in turn will entitle me to work in childcare in England. As I am not really planning on moving back to Germany after I’m done au pairing. He’s knows all that. I get that he’s disappointed in me for not building up a career here and for wasting my talents and it is not so much the fact that he isn’t supportive that hurts me, it’s that he gave me the complete opposite impression yesterday. As if he totally changed his mind about it over night.

[my-aupairchronicles]

I finally told my Dad yesterday that I was going to England and he was all ike "Yeah, sure, do it" and asked a lot of questions but when I talked to him on the phone today he said "WE as in him and his new wife would have preferred if you finished school first." Why couldn't he have told me that yesterday, eye-to-eye? I really need him to be supportive. And he also said stuff like "There are places in some cities of the UK where you shouldn't go as a non-British person", "You need to save money in case something happens and you have to come back to Germany" and "What happens if things don't work out, where will you stay when you come back to Germany?" Why isn't he supporting me? I really need him to be supportive. But now it just feels like I'm a major disappointment for him...

[just-shower-thoughts]

"Fifty shades of grey" is considered a romantic story only because the guy is a billionare. If he was living in a trailer or in a shack somewhere in the woods it would be an episode of "Criminal minds".

[sil9800]

PHENOMENAL Jensen photo op story! A *must read* by anyone with self-image issues

As related to me via email by Jennifer, @Jennife14402688 on twitter

So, I guess I should start at the beginning…

I was super nervous and scared to go to the con in Houston. I’m 31 years old and I got married at 18 to a guy I started dating at 14 and started having kids at 20, so I’ve never actually gone out of town alone in my entire life before. I was a nervous wreck! So the first night in Houston, I took a pic with Kim Rhodes. I was freaking terrified. It took 3 shots to get it right—finally, she was like “don’t be nervous, I don’t bite that hard. you’re not breathing, just breathe”. So I did, and survived. Barely. lol. Needless to say, I was even more nervous for pics the rest of the weekend!! So Saturday I did a Misha/Mark combo which was nerve-wracking because I literally could not remember the events of the photo op after it was done because I was so overwhelmed. Six billion times hotter in person, I was a mess. The pic came out “eh”, not really awful but not good.

So Sunday morning was my Jensen photo op. I had finally made a couple of friends at the con on Saturday so I was loosening up a little bit, but when I got my first glimpse of Jensen I started shaking. Like, complete body trembling like a teenage girl as soon as the line progressed to the point where we could enter the photo op room. When I got halfway from the door to the photo area, my eyes were teary and it was talking all of my concentration and focus not to be the girl crying for her picture.

I’m overweight. I’ve had five kids in under 10 years and it shows. I don’t have a pretty smile and I don’t have pretty feminine features. I hate taking pictures in general and no picture I have ever taken has come out well. I have a very low self-esteem and have a history of depression, so I’m even harder on myself than most people. But even with that in mind, I know that I’m the ugliest girl in the room and I don’t want him to have this ‘why do I have to take a picture with this cow’ face on (not that I thought he would, but that’s just the expression I read on *everyone’s* face when I take a picture with someone) So when I get to Jensen, I lose all common sense and I blurt out the first thing that comes to my mind: "Please, just smile like I’m not fat and ugly."

He says, “Don’t say that about yourself.” in this really firm and nice voice that made me get teary again. I kind of shrugged and said “Well, it’s the truth.” Because it is, and I know it. So he gives me a big hug for the pic, and I swear I could no longer feel the floor beneath me because I had lost all sense of the world during that moment.

So they snap the picture, and before I could walk away, he says, “hey”. I look at him and he put a hand on each side of my face and sort of cupped it, and said “You’re beautiful, don’t ever let anyone tell you any differently.” in this serious and incredibly kind and compassionate voice. I had no idea how to respond to that and I was about to cry and I was shaking again and all I could say was “Okay” and then walk away. Once I was out of the room, I cried. It was the single-handedly nicest thing anyone has ever said to me in my entire life. He didn’t have to say that, and he may have just been saying it to be nice because I know I’m not beautiful!, but it really touched my heart. I’m never going to forget that moment for the rest of my life. So, my lengthy Jensen story….he’s the most amazing and down-to-earth human being alive.

[florel]

tip: When you’re at an airport, add “?.jpg” at the end of any URL to bypass the expensive WiFi and access the Internet for free.

[schtickyfriend-old]

[freakyfithippie]

Tumblr teaches me the important things they don’t teach in school.

[theaupairhandbook]

I haven’t tried this, but this is for all of those traveling soon!

[theaupairhandbook]

HOW AN EARTH DO I KNOW IF A GERMAN BOY LIKES ME. WHY ARE THEY SO HARD TO READ, anyone have any idea?!?!?!??!?!!?

Honestly, I have no idea. They become a bit more chatty, usually. I somehow ended up with a Russian while in Germany though, so I’m no expert!

[my-aupairchronicles]

Just straight up ask him. Most German boys would never do the first step. So unless you wanna die waiting, just ask him :)

[breadboxes-deactivated20130902]

what did vincent say when he lost his car in the parking lot 

[breadboxes-deactivated20130902]

“where did my van gogh”

[yolkygudetama]

the correct pronunciation of “gogh” is “goff”, you uncultured swine

[lotad]

fuck gogh

[shaxaphone]

Well actually, British people pronounce it “goff” and American people pronounce it “go” and unfortunately, both are wrong. Vincent Van Gogh is dutch so his name is actually pronounced “van KHOCK” so suck my gogh

[my-aupairchronicles]

Unfortunately, you are all wrong. Gogh's phonetics are [fan ˈɡɔx]. But I guess, 'khock' is actually the closest it gets for you non-Dutch/German speakers :)

[peeblespair]

Academia: The Architecture of Oxford.

Staircase at Christ Church.

[spinals]

[jetpackbluesss]

One of the reasons why Emma Watson is one of the best female role-models of our time. She’s so underrated.

[hearthandclove]

Crying bc she’s been my role model since I was like 10 for this very reason. She showed me that I was worth more than “pretty” - that I had a mind and intellect that was valuable.

[wentzguyliner]

Some Fall Out Boy songs are like I’m punk rock and I’m fucking ANGRY and others are like I’m punk rock and don’t look at me because I’m crying

[acoustiphobia]

novocaine vs jet pack blues

[falloutboyonhigh]

the phoenix vs miss missing you