Wake Up: 6:45am - I usually start waking up about 6:45a. (I take showers at night, so I don't have to wake up as early. ;))
Be Downstairs: 7:15-7:20am- This can vary each day, but most of the time, I am downstairs just before Yannis heads off to school with his dad. Then I get sometime with Awa before I take her to school. Sometimes she needs to get dressed or have her hair done, or help me empty the clean dishwasher.
Take Awa to school: 7:50am-8:00am- Her school is open at 8 and since she loves school, I taker her there at 8. Some days are later than others, but most days its 8am!
Morning Routine: 8:15am-12:00pm- I'm responsible to clean up after breakfast (which is usually cereal or toast), empty the dishwasher and get myself breakfast. I usually do all those things in the morning to get them out of the way. Once those are done, I have free time. Usually from 9-12, I have free time.
Lunch: 12:00-1:00pm- Usually around noon I start thinking about lunch and what I want. In Germany, most people have a hot lunch served at their workplace, so we eat sandwiches for dinner in the evening. So I make myself a hot lunch too! Somedays its leftovers, it just depends.
Afternoon Routine: 1:00pm-3:00pm- Usually my daily work is laundry. I do some process of getting laundry done, weather its hanging things to dry, or folding dry clothes and putting them away. I am also responsible to take out the trash, sweep the floors (not all the time, just if its really bad), pick up the kids rooms, help them organize their rooms, and even wash their bedding once a month. So those things I tend to do in the afternoon. Once they are done, I have more free time.
Pick-Up Kids: 3:15-4:00pm- When I first got here, this was crazy. Unfortunately for me, Yannis' school is in another neighborhood and his parents weren't comfortable with him walking home on heavy traffic roads or taking the bus alone. So I used to have to drag Awa along to pick him up. It was crazy, when we could ride bikes, it wasn't so bad, but days we had to walk, would take us an hour round trip. Since just before Christmas, he is riding the bus home all by himself, which saves me so much time and energy. I call his school and ask for them to send him to the bus and he heads on his way. I go get Awa and we meet him at the bus stop and head home.
Late Afternoons: 4:00pm-6:00??- Once we get home, I am with the kids until their parents come home. Usually this is around 6pm, but can be as late as 7:00pm. We just hangout and play. They also must practice their recorders since they take lessons on Tuesday afternoons. Sometimes they also help me fold or put away laundry or other light house chores.
Dinner: 6:00-7:00pm- Usually I eat dinner with the family when ever my host parents get home. Most nights, like I said before, we just eat sandwiches, but sometimes we cook something quickly, or eat leftovers.
Free Time: 7:00pm-??- After dinner, I am free to do what ever I want. I can go out, or I can just go to my room and hangout, its my time completely.
So, thats a typical day in my life. As you can see, I can have up to 5-6 hours of free time per day. I only work 25-30 hours a week, unless we have a sick kid on our hands, so its pretty relaxed. I also have weekends completely free, unless my host parents need me. But that hasn't really happened yet. I can tell you though, that I have a friend who has Tuesdays off, and works most Saturdays, since her host father is a musician and they need help on the weekends. But if she asks in advance, they will let her have Saturday off most of the time. I also have friends who work in the mornings and then late afternoons and evenings, it just depends. All situations are different, but this is what my days look like!
Thanks for reading!
Check back soon about my recent visit with my family and trip to Paris and Salzburg!