Returning from hibernation

It's been over a year since I last posted, and a lot has changed!

In 2014 I spent 4 months in Philadelphia, 6 months in New Hampshire and 2 months in Boston. I then spent January 2015 travelling the US - Washington D.C., New York, Disney World, Universal Studios, the Grand Canyon, Yosemite, Las Vegas, San Francisco.

I spent 2015 back home in Brisbane, and finished my 3rd year of my Education degree. I only have one year left, and I am so not ready to graduate and have to start full time work... so in September I had an interview with Janet from Disney World... and I am currently writing to you from my apartment in Vista Way, Orlando, Florida!

I'm going to be working in Operations, which basically means I could be anywhere doing anything! Carpark, Parade management, Ushering, or working on a ride. I'm super excited to find out where I'll be working and start training!

I didn't have a strong preference about which apartment complex I wanted to live in, they all have their pros and cons, but my roommate really firmly did not want to live in Vista Way, which is, of course, where we ended up living! It's actually nicer than I expected, but it's definitely not as nice as some of the other complexes! On the upside, we're really close to the bus stop, all the buses stop here, and some of the first week stuff happens here! The thing I was most surprised at was how empty the apartments are - there is so much stuff I hadn't thought about but that we definitely need - like oven trays and tongs!

We're in a 3 bedroom, 6 person apartment (no bunks, yay!), but unfortunately we only have 2 bathrooms - so one bedroom has an ensuite, and the other 2 rooms share a bathroom. I was lucky enough to be the first one into the apartment, so we have our own bathroom. I imagine sharing one toilet and shower between 4 people could get annoying!

I still have my housing meeting and onboarding to go tomorrow, and then on Thursday I have traditions! My roomie is really wanting to go to Magic Kingdom first, and I'm hoping to go to the housing welcome event that night - it's France themed, and there'll be characters from Beauty & the Beast to meet!

Guilt

I've been feeling a lot of guilt lately. I'm hoping writing it out and then releasing it will help me feel better.

I feel guilty for wasting a year and a lot of money having a pretty awful year away from home.

I feel guilty for missing a year of uni.

I feel guilty for walking past homeless people on the street, avoiding eye contact, knowing that I have spare change in my wallet, but not wanting to stop to get it out. This is the worst one for me. My stomach churns as I walk by, but I keep going. Pretty pathetic.

I feel guilty for not being more excited about all the travel I'm doing. I feel guilty for being in New York, a place I know lots of people want to come, and not enjoying it, not wanting to do more.

I feel guilty for still being so reliant on my parents at 21. I feel guilty for allowing my parents to help me financially.

I feel guilty for staying up late and sleeping in and not doing more with my time.

I feel guilty for always saying I will and never following through.

So I guess this is what my triumphant return to my blog looks like. I've been away for a long time, and a lot has happened and changed since I last posted. 

Movies I watched: March + April

Hello Friends!

I'm back again with some movie reviews!

Frozen (2013)

Everyone has been talking about this movie for AGES, so when it was on the big screen during my flight home I decided to finally watch it all the way through! Caroline (the girl I nanny for) has been obsessed with it, and will not stop singing Let It Go, so I guess it was about time! I did really enjoy it, but I think my expectations must have been too high, because I wasn't as into it as I expected to be! I liked the overall message, and Hans is such a great character. The soundtrack is really great, it's perfect for doing housework and singing along to. But yeah, I didn't love it as much as I expected to.

Captain Phillips (2013)

This is another movie they showed on my plane to Sydney, and while I didn't really intend to watch it, this is one of those movies where once you've started watching it, you literally can't tear your eyes away until you find out what happens. In fact, I needed to go to the bathroom really badly about 3/4 of the way through, but couldn't move because I HAD TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENED. I think this movie was really well done, they kept the suspense up really effectively, and Tom Hanks was (as he is in literally everything) completely fabulous. Of course it's completely one sided, but I didn't really care, I was just so relieved that it was finally OVER. 

Saving Mr Banks (2013)

As a huge fan of both Mary Poppins and Disney, I'd been meaning to see this movie, but never found the time, until my flight to Vancouver! This movie is magical and I love it so much and if I could I'd watch it again tomorrow I love it so much. I love it so much I've started writing in run on sentences. Now, I'm not saying that it's a great movie, or an honest movie, or anything like that - I just love it. Mary Poppins (the movie) was a big part of my childhood, and I can sing along to pretty much all the songs word-for-word. This movie tells the story of how Walt Disney got P.L. Travers to sell him the rights to the movie. She was very protective of Mary Poppins, and hated musicals and animation, so was wary of Disney from the start. We see why Mary Poppins is so precious to her through flashbacks to her own childhood growing up in rural Queensland. Despite the fact that the title gives away the movies punchline, it is, in my opinion, completely wonderful. Tom Hanks is a fantastic Disney, but honestly the whole cast is amazing. I am not personally a fan of Paul Giamatti, but he is does an absolutely wonderful job in this. B.J. Novak (author of one of the books I read this month!) and Jason Schwartzman are completely amazing, and it was so fun to see Bradley Whitford in something other than the West Wing! I'm not going to say anymore because... well because I've gushed enough! But I really love this movie. 

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013)

Another movie I watched on a plane! And another I'd been intending to watch for ages! I really, really love this movie. It encourages adventurousness and imagination and impulsiveness and it's really, really wonderful. It stars Ben Stiller and Kristen Wigg, both of whom are brilliant, and it was so fun to see Adam Scott (Ben Wyatt in Parks and Rec) playing a mean guy! The soundtrack to this movie is absolutely beautiful, and features the David Bowie song Space Oddity used perfectly. The movie is visually stunning, and shows so many beautiful places around the world. This movie is really fun, really beautiful, and has a perfect soundtrack. You should see it.

Richie Rich (1994)

Okay, so this movie is generally considered to be really terrible, but I watched it when I was a kid and am unnaturally attached to it. Yes, it's completely ridiculous and silly, but I love it. He has his own McDonalds! They put foam in the fountains! They have an artist carve their faces into a mountain and call it Mount Richmore. What more could you want?? (I also watched this on the plane).

The Book Thief (2013)

This was the second time I watched this movie and I think I loved it more the second time. Don't get me wrong, I loved it the first time too, but the Book Thief is my favourite book (favourite ever, of all time) and I found it difficult to adjust to the sound of Death's voice. This movie is absolutely brilliant, and while nothing will ever be able to compare to the book, this is one of the best book-to-movie adaptations I've ever seen. If you haven't read the book I highly recommend you do, and then go see the movie! I had a lot of doubts about the casting, and while some of the characters don't visually match their descriptions, the actors have all managed to capture their spirits very well. Max in particular is completely brilliant and I love him and I'm not going to talk about it any more because if I do I'll cry. Just see this, please. (After you've read the book, obviously).

Mean Girls (2004)

I'm not ashamed to say that I love this movie A LOT. Tina Fey wrote it, and it stars both her and Amy Poehler. It is a masterpiece. Mean Girls is so funny and clever and memorable that it is still constantly quoted. My generation is obsessed with it, for good reason. Love it forever.

Captain America 2: The Winter Soldier (2014)

It's no secret that I love Captain America very, very much - he is my favourite super hero by FAR (he was already a hero before he got super serum-ed) (let's not talk about it), so I was expecting to like this movie - and I did! It's nothing miraculous, a lot of it is very predictable, and the twists were really obvious, but it was a really fun superhero movie, and it introduced a totally badass new character (Sam is my favourite). The Black Widow continued being amazing, and the movie basically completely changed the game for all future Marvel movies involving SHIELD. Yay!

Divergent (2014)

This movie is based on one of my favourite book series, and so I had high expectations. It's a trilogy of books, and the first one is amazing (and will blow your mind). The 2nd & 3rd go downhill (and the third book actually ends up going into totally bizarre territory) much like the Hunger Games series, but they're definitely still worth reading (in my opinion). Divergent was the first movie I ever went and saw by myself in a theatre, and I really, really enjoyed the whole experience. I really, really like the way they adapted this book! I think having Veronica Roth, the author of the books, producing would have really helped. I think they did a fantastic job. They made it a lot more of an action movie, and took away some of the more interesting character rivalries, but they did a good job. Despite leaving out several of my favourite scenes and quotes. This is a good movie! Yay for good movies! 

View from the Top (2003)

This is an old Gwyneth Paltrow movie I remember watching once with my Aunt & Uncle when I was babysitting for them. It's super corny, and is generally considered to be a really terrible movie (it has a 14% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes!). One critic said "The characters have no wit or charm, the plot has no conflict or development, nothing happens for any reason." Ouch! Nevertheless, I love watching bad movies, especially when I've had a bad day! This movie also stars the adorable Mark Ruffalo, and was really fun to watch. It's definitely not good, but it's fun.

The Sweetest Thing (2002)

Another bad movie, this was the first "raunchy" movie I ever saw, it was shown on TV one night and I accidentally tuned in. It's again, another fun movie, with a weird romance. But it has 3 girls having fun, and introduced me to the Pina Colada song, so I love it. 

America's Sweethearts (2001)

This movie is another fluffy movie I used to love, it doesn't stand up particularly well to rewatching, but it's nice enough. I love Julia Roberts and would watch whatever she was in, no matter how terrible (same goes for Tom Hanks). Billy Crystal basically is just Billy Crystal, Catherine Zeta-Jones plays a witchy A-lister, and it's all pretty predictable. 

That's all for now! 

Love
Jess

Should I stay or should I go?

Hello Friends!

I have once again proven that I am terrible at keeping up with this blog!

2 weeks ago I made the (fairly major) decision that things were not working out with the family I'm currently working for. Last Thursday I signed the paper work to be officially released to start looking for another family to work for. So I have until next Thursday to find another family.

To be honest, the entire process has been kind of terrifying and has left me feeling very powerless. Making the decision to leave was a fairly stressful process initially, but I feel confident that I made the right choice. I was fairly miserable in the preceding weeks, but have felt much more positive and upbeat since. 

The most frustrating part of the process so far has been that I have very little "power" in the matching process - while host families can search for au pairs freely, using any number of criteria, and can talk to many at once, I, as an au pair, see only one family, and have no ability to search for another - I only get what the agency gives me. Another problem I've found is that if there is a family who I know are not right for me, I have no ability to have them removed from my account - for a host family, they can instantly release any au pair they do not want, but I have to email someone at the agency, and wait for them to take action, which can take a whole day. I have only 14 days to find a new family, so when my days are eaten up with families who do not contact me, it can be kind of frustrating. 

I have, however, been put in contact with a family who I really like. They are still looking at another au pair I believe, but told me they were definitely interested when they emailed me on Monday night. It has not even been 2 full days since I talked to them, but I am already anxious that they have chosen another au pair. 

Regardless, I'm hoping everything will work out. I have approached this matching process quite differently than I approached it when I was first going through it. This time, I've decided that it has to be mutual - the family must like me, and I must like them. I am agreeing to work with them for 8 months, and so I have to feel like I can be happy living and working with them. I will not be content to just go with the first family who asks, unless I really feel that it is a good match.

I realise, for everyone reading this, that this is an incredibly dull topic, so I'm sorry to have rattled on for so long about it.

I am so, so incredibly grateful of how supportive my friends and family have been of me during this difficult time. In particular, my wonderful mum, who has been asking me to consider leaving for a while, has been so, so helpful (as she always is). My wonderful Aunt sent me a lovely email, and my amazing friends Viva & Lauren have both helped me tremendously to stay calm and be positive during this time! My Poppy sent me a lovely letter, which was so nice to receive. And of course, my darling Dad has maintained the steady stream of encouragements he's been sending me on postcards. Receiving mail makes me so, so happy.

I am so, so lucky to have so many incredible people in my life.

I love you all infinitely.

Jess

Books I read: March + April

Hello Friends

I read some really excellent books I'd love to share with you!

This is what Happy Looks Like by Jennifer E. Smith (YA)

This is a book that I'd already previously read & enjoyed, so when I spotted it on the shelves of Barnes & Noble one day when I was feeling like some comfort-reading, I instantly grabbed it! This is a really enjoyable story about two people who develop a friendship after emailing by accident, only for them to subsequently meet and for our heroine, Ellie, to discover the boy she's been emailing all along is a major movie star. Now, it all sounds very cliche (probably because it is) but the way the story is told is super lovely, I really like all the characters, and it ends up feeling very relatable. 

One More Thing: Stories and Other Stories by B.J. Novak

This collection of short stories is the funniest thing I have read in a long, long time. I don't think a book has ever made me laugh out loud this much! B.J. Novak was an actor, writer, director and executive producer for the brilliant TV show The Office (US version) and he is completely amazing. This book is incredibly wry and clever and a little bit sarcastic and I love it so much. Some of the stories are pretty long, and some are incredibly short (one is only a title and 2 lines!). Some of them interweave characters, but for the most part they are all stand alone. I highly recommend this book to absolutely everyone, the great thing about collections of short stories is that if one isn't exactly your style, the next might be. My personal favourite stories were The Market Was Down, Chris Hansen at the Justin Bieber Concert, The Best Thing in the World Awards, and The Something by John Grisham. Basically I could just list them all, that's how much I love this book. 

The Avery Shaw Experiment by Kelly Oram (YA)

This book is one of a few I bought intending to read them on my flight back to Philadelphia on my Kindle - I deliberately bought lighthearted, romantic YA, so that's what the next few books are! I really enjoyed this book, despite the fact that it is very cliche. Avery Shaw's best friend and lifelong love has recently decided he needs a break from being her friend, so she decides she needs to go through the 7 stages of grief to fully accept this, and she is helped by his attractive, charming older brother. The chapters alternate between Avery & Grayson (the older brother)'s perspectives, and was really fun to read. I liked how realistically it dealt with everyone's emotions, though I highly doubt anyone could ever be as clueless as Avery is. 

Solving for ex by Leigh Ann Kopans (YA)

This book is a modern day retelling of the Jane Austen novel Mansfield Park. I've never read Mansfield Park before, but I loved the last Austen modernisation I read (Epic Fail by Claire LeZebnik). Unfortunately I just don't think the Mansfield Park storyline is for me, and I found the way this author wrote the ending to be very, very abrupt, but overall it was still enjoyable. I found some of the antics hard to believe, but this was still a quick, easy read.

The Trouble with Flirting by Claire LaZebnik (YA)

Another lighthearted, romantic YA novel! I enjoyed this book, about a girl who goes to work at a theatre camp sewing costumes with her aunt, only to discover her childhood crush is there. But there's also another dude to starts showing interest in her, but is he being sincere? blahblahblah. This book was fun, and I read it in one sitting, but I found some of the characters completely unrelatable and ridiculous. 

Veronica Mars: The Thousand Dollar Tan Line by Rob Thomas and Jennifer Graham

I'm going to come straight out and say it - I loved this book. I adore the TV series more than anything (Veronica is my hero and she basically inspired me to care less about stupid people in high school), and I helped fund the movie that recently came out! This book follows on from where the movie ends, and while I found the movie to be quite disappointing, this book makes up for it. The dialogue has always been what's made Veronica Mars such a wonderful show, and the dialogue is what makes the book so great. The characters all 'sound' spot on throughout the book, and as I was reading I could hear them in my head. It's so fun to have the story continuing! The great thing about this book is that you don't need to have seen the show or movie to understand what's going on. I just realised I haven't even said what the story's about AT ALL haha. Veronica is back in her hometown, and is called upon to solve a crime! A college student visiting on Spring break has gone missing, and it's up to Veronica to find out what happened! I found the crimes a little messy, and there wasn't really any way to put the clues together until Veronica did her big reveal, but I still really enjoyed this book. I can't wait for the next one! 

two boys kissing by David Leivthan

David Levithan is one of my favourite authors. Everything of his that I have read, I have loved, and his novel Boy Meets Boy is one of my top 5 favourite books. So it's safe to say I went into this novel expecting to love it. I found it kind of difficult to get into originally, because it's written from an unusual perspective. This book is narrated by the generation of gay men who died from AIDS, as they look down on the gay teenagers of the present. Like I said - very unusual. But it also makes this book unique and so, so insightful. You, as the reader, are offered a window into the lives of a handful of teenagers, while being shown why these lives are so important. The gay rights movement has come a long, long way in the last few decades, and being gay is becoming, in most parts of the world, much more accepted (I wish there was a different word I could use here. Celebrated? Suddenly it's not a big deal at all and we all just get used to the idea that some people are straight and some people are gay and some people identify as all sorts of other things, and it's not a big deal? I guess accepted is better than tolerated.) But this book is still hugely important. One of my favourite quotes from this book is "Just because it's better now doesn't mean that it's always good." People are still bullied and beaten and killed for being gay. Or for being perceived as gay. And that's why I think it is so important that everyone reads this book. Every parents and every teenager in particular, because nothing else will help you to understand why acceptance and love are so important, for everyone, but especially for teenagers who feel they are risking something by coming out. 

This subjects covered in this book are obviously ones I'm very passionate about, so I'm sorry if I'm coming on too strong. The book centres around two boys planning to achieve the World Record for the longest kiss. The book flits from character to character, showing how they interact, how their lives are the same and different. Some of their families are fully accepting, some deliberately ignorant. The story that hurt the most to read was of the boy who was kicked out of his home when his family found out. The other amazing thing about this book is that it shows the lives of all these people without ever feeling preachy, or like it is pushing a message down your throat. It is just telling these characters stories. This book also features a trans character, which is so wonderful, because no other mainstream novel I've read has so much as mentioned a trans character. 

(Full disclosure: I read this book at 8am in a Starbucks in New York City and ended up quietly weeping in the corner. David Levithan is amazing. This book is, at times, confronting (and honest), so if you're looking for something less likely to make you sad and/or mad, I highly, highly recommend Boy Meets Boy, or Will Grayson, Will Grayson, by David Levithan and John Green).

So yes. I'm sorry this is so long. Read this book. If you are a parent, you need to read this book. If you are a teenager, you need to read this book. But I believe that if you are a human being, you should read this book. It will help you to feel empathy if you need help with that. And it will give you insight. And it will hopefully help everyone to be more accepting of everyone around them, whoever they are.  

(Trigger Warning & Spoiler Alert: This book discusses one character's suicide attempt, various character's being taunted and having things thrown at them, and one character being physically beaten).

I really like the books I read over the last couple months, and I have lots more books to read!

I'm currently reading Orange is the New Black, One Summer: America 1927, A Sunburned Country and The Art of Fielding!

Lots of Love,

Jess

P.S If you have any book suggestions, pretty please let me know! 

The Girl Who Was Bad At Blogging

Hi Friends! I'm back! 

Sorry about the unexpected break! Things have been kind of weird over the last month or so & I haven't much felt like blogging. I spent 2 weeks back home in Brisbane, which was lovely, but leaving made me really sad, and I found it difficult to get used to being so far away again. But I'm getting there. I'm so blessed to have the wonderful friends and family I do. I get by with a little help from my friends.

This week was my 2nd back in Philly, and it was easier than the first. I've been making an effort to do fun things for myself, but also letting myself take breaks and naps. I LOVE naps. I only had 2 nap days this week (I have to get up at 6am every weekday for my job, so once the kids are on the bus I sometimes go back to sleep at ~8am for a few hours), which is pretty good, considering I REALLY wanted to nap on Friday (but didn't). 

It's really warming up at the moment, last weekend it was 26 degrees! crazyness. Luckily Tuesday & Wednesday were cool & rainy, so I really loved that! If you're ever in a rainy-day situation, I would suggest that the "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" soundtrack is PERFECT for such listening conditions. It features Jose Gonzalez and Junip, as well as some other lovely songs. I've also been loving Ingrid Michaelson's new album Lights Out. So there's that.

I'm going to do my best to keep this blog more up to date with the bits and pieces I get up to, as well as my incredibly astute (I'm sure) observations about life in Philadelphia. I have LOTS of books and movies I want to share with you. 

Lots of love,
Jess

Movies I watched: February

It's no secret that I LOVE watching movies! So I thought I'd give you my thoughts on some that I've watched recently.

The Butler (2013)

I'm cheating with this one, because I actually watched it in January - but I wanted to sneak it in anyway. To be completely honest I didn't love it, but I'm not sure if that's because of the movie itself, or because I watched it on my flight from LAX to JFK, after my 10+ hours travelling from Brisbane! Nevertheless, I didn't find it completely gripping, but the characters were interesting and it was well acted. Maybe I would have enjoyed it more if I knew more about American presidents?

Penelope (2006)

I really loved this movie! It's a modern fairytale type story, and the cast is WONDERFUL: Christina Ricci, James McAvoy, Reese Witherspoon, Peter Dinklage, and Nick Frost all star. While it's not the best movie I've ever seen, it was a really fun movie to curl up and watch on Valentine's Day. I like the story and the soundtrack, which features music from some of my favourite bands, made the movie even more enjoyable to watch. I recommend this one if you like lighthearted movies! I especially like the (somewhat surprising) ending.

The Host (2013)

Another movie I loved! I've been waiting to see this film for quite a while, as I absolutely love the novel it's based on (Yes it's by Stephanie Meyer, no it's not terrible!). This movie was mostly a wonderful adaptation, and I really enjoyed watching it! I think it was really well cast, and I loved all the characters in the movie just as much as I did in the book! This movie does have some scifi elements, so if you're not into that, this may not be for you. I highly recommend reading the book first - it is quite long, but for the most part, doesn't feel that way as you are reading it! (You should just always read the book first. Always.)

That Awkward Moment (2014)

Despite the fact that this movie has been receiving awful reviews, with a Rotten Tomatoes rating of 12% (ouch), I quite enjoyed it! Haha I've been saying that a lot, I guess I'm easily entertained! I think what saved this movie for me was the totally charming cast - the plot was nothing new, and it wasn't particularly funny, but it was easy enough to watch, so I didn't mind it!

About Last Night (2014)

Let's be real: I hated this movie! Despite the fact that it has somehow managed to get 76% on Rotten Tomatoes, it still sucked. Maybe I just didn't enjoy it because I really dislike Kevin Hart, who plays the main character, and don't find him funny at all? It was raunchy for the sake of being raunchy, and didn't really tell a story. I don't think I laughed more than twice, which, for a movie that's supposed to be a comedy, is saying something. Ugh. I want my $12 back!

Thor (2011)

Happened to catch this movie on TV at a friend's house, and found that it stands up to rewatching - Loved it the first time, still like it now! The dialogue's still witty, and plot's still interesting and the cast are still fantastic. Nothing much more to say!

Katy Perry: Part of Me (2012)

I put this movie on Netflix to have something in the background while I wrote some letters, and I ended up getting pretty engrossed haha! It's a fairly typical concert movie, mixing footage of live performances with interviews with fans & friends and 'behind the scenes' footage. The story covers the Part Of Me tour and the simultaneous breakdown of Katy Perry's marriage to Russell Brand, which makes it a little more interesting I guess? Seeing her sob in costume 30 seconds before she bursts onto stage singing was a little heartbreaking, but I still feel like the 'documentary' makers were exploiting it. Oh well, it was still fun to watch and the music is super catchy!

& That's all! Hopefully I'll be on track to finish my 52 movies in 52 weeks project at the end of the year! 11 down, 41 to go!