I ♥ NY

I was watching, of all things, a Sex and the City episode where Carrie and Miranda are sitting outside on a stoop on a NYC evening when I was hit with such a pang it made my eyes sting. This, coupled with my missing Grey Goose dirty martinis, suddenly made me feel sad and extremely out of sync with my surroundings. Surroundings of wood, mosquito netting and the sounds of crickets.

Homesickness hits you in the strangest ways.

It’s now two weeks into my time at Cultural Care and I am really enjoying it. The week flies by and the work is collaborative and varied in topic which works just right for me. I’m having a good time with the ladies I work with (the other two staff members and myself have all lived abroad and in countries where we had to speak a second language) and I get a kick out of the Au Pairs.

The Au Pairs come from all over the world: Chile, Sweden, Korea, Estonia… And all of them are thrown right into using English for all of their communication which for most it can be quite intimidating.

As someone who has lived abroad in another country, and one where I did not speak a word of its language in beginning (and my Thai skills were still debatable when I left!), I have had a few encounters lately with the Au Pairs I have a whole new level of empathy for.

In Thailand, it is impolite to wave people the way you do here (it’s how they beckon dogs). Instead you face the palm of your hand down at the ground and wave (or it feels more like flapping really). When the kids would wave at me like that I’d get confused and ask “Khun yaak hai chan bai ru ma mai? (Do you want me to go or come?) and looking completely surprised they’d reply “Ma! (come)”. It’s tricky strange little unexpected things like that which are hard to figure out.

One night last week, on the day before the Au Pairs departure to their host families, I opened my door to two very distressed looking Au Pairs. Gesturing to their friend, Iris (who was slumped in a nearby chair on the verge of tears) they explained to me she had received an email from her host mother, and in it, the host mother had said she would not wait for her at the airport the following day.

Puzzled, I walked over to Iris for more information. Yes, that is what the email said. No, the host mom didn’t suggest an alternative except for leaving her cell phone number. I asked her if I could see the email and we walked to the crowded computer lab where she logged into her account. The email opened.

“See?” she said frustratedly, pointing at the computer.

The opening line of the email read: “ Iris- we can’t wait to see you at the airport tomorrow!! If you need anything, call my cellphone!”.

I had to stifle a laugh.

Read literally, I could understand why she would think her Host Mom was not coming. Doing my best to immediately calm her, I hurried to explain to her this was a phrase we use when we are very excited about something. She gazed at me suspiciously until I said “How excited were you to visit NYC?”.

“A lot” she replied.

“See? You couldn’t wait to see NYC!”

Her face cleared immediately and she looked sheepish. “Oh.” she said, a slow smile coming over her face.

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