the 2 WEEKS trip - MICHIGAN - Amerykanskie mazury (video)

Hi,

I came back from my trip about 2 weeks ago. Since that time I've been sorting photos and putting together the videos – it's definitely a lot of work. My kids has started going to school so I have plenty of time to do it.

THIS IS HOW IT LOOKED LIKE:

New York, NY - Cheboygan, MI - Chicago, IL - Nashville, TN - Atlanta, GA - New Orleans, LA - Houston, TX - Austin, TX

MICHIGAN!

Me, the Mom and kids got underway exactly at 5.30 AM, August 29^th (the plan was to leave by 5 but it didn't work) – generally, we were supposed to leave a few days before but one of the kids had bday and we didn't pack on time.

The weather was awful, I haven't seen such a bad rain before (in here). It had been a beautiful (sometimes too humid) weather until that day.

I was pretty sure it was going to rain for that 16 hours and the visibility was seriously 0%. The weather was changing as many times as possible like my mind at the ice cream store !!! We could see how we pass the stormy clouds when we couldn't see the road because of the sun (that was kinda funny).

We had some breaks, I was driving through Ohio and Michigan, much less hours than HM. At the beginning I was kind of stressed because the car was packed with 4 other people, dog, suitcases, baggage etc. so driving was a little bit tricky (the weight) – so I was fully responsible for everything what would happen. Trust me, there are many crazy people on the highways. Anyway, we made it !

The HM parents welcomed me really warm (like I was related to them somehow)! I can't remember the time when I was so exhausted...

The view in the morning – enormous windows on the lake, something incredible. Calmness, the rest from problems and considerations – just a leisure – physical and psychological relaxation – I needed it.

Later, there was more people so we had a BQQ along with the 'next door' neighbors (the grandmas have known each other since childhood!) so they're all like a family.

I was only 2 nights in Cheboygan, I was kinda upset that I have to leave but on the other hand I was so excited to begin our crazy 2 weeks journey. My girls went to camp, I packed and I had to say goodbye to everyone. Unfortunately, going from that town to Chicago isn't that easy, there was no buses nor trains nearby. I drove to East Lansing with the HM's cousin and I got the opportunity to visit the University of Michigan State – a college town!

The next morning, the train arrived after 8 AM,

there was no return – I headed off.

Arrived in Chicago after 12 PM (the time zone changes 1 hour back), Martyna and Julia were flying from California and NY.

That was our 1st (mine 2^nd) STOP !

The next note will be about Chicago!

-----------------------------------------------

Hej,

wrocilam z mojej wycieczki jakies 2 tygodnie temu, ciagle sklejam filmiki i sortuje zdjecia itd. duzo z tym roboty. Wiec mam teraz na to czas, bo dzieciaki zaczynaja chodzic do szkoly.

TAK TO WYGLADALO:

New York, NY - Cheboygan, MI - Chicago, IL - Nashville, TN - Atlanta, GA - New Orleans, LA - Houston, TX - Austin, TX

MICHIGAN!

Ja, Mama i dzieciaki wyruszylysmy dokladnie o 5.30, 29 sierpnia (plan byl o 5, ale nie wyszlo) - generalnie mialysmy wyjechac kilka dni wczesniej, ale jedno z dzieci mialo urodziny i nie zdazylismy sie spakowac. 

Pogoda byla dramatyczna, dawno takiego deszczu tutaj nie widzialam akurat wtedy kiedy byly tygodnie duchoty i slonca - trafilysmy na ulewe.

Juz bylam pewna, ze znajac zycie bedziemy tak jechac te 16 godzin, bo widocznosc byla 0% (serio). Okazalo sie jednak, ze pogoda zmieniala sie szybciej niz moje zdanie kiedy kupuje lody!!!

Mozna bylo zauwazyc jak omijamy, niektore chmury pelne deszczu jadac w sloncu!

Bylo kilka stopow, jechalam przez Ohio i Michigan, znacznie mniej niz HM. Na poczatku mialam lekkiego stresa, bo wiadomo auto zapakowane, ciezej sie jedzie i 4 pasazerow - wiec odpowiedzialnosc tez spadla na mnie. Uwierzcie mi, szalencow na drogach nie brakuje :) Ale udalo sie i dojechalysmy.

Dziadkowie przywitali jak zawsze cieplo i jakbysmy byli rodzina! Dawno nie bylam tak zmeczona..

Widok z rana - wielkie okna na jezioro, cos cudownego. Spokoj, brak problemow, przemyslen po prostu odpoczynek psychiczny jak i fizyczny - brakowalo mi tego.

Potem zebralo sie wiecej rodziny i mielismy BBQ wraz z sasiadami mieszkajacymi obok (babcie znaja sie od szkolnych lat!) wiec sasiedzi praktycznie jak rodzina.

W Cheboygan bylam tylko 2 noce, z jednej strony zalowalam, ze juz musze opuscic to miejsce, a z drugiej bylam gotowa na nasza 2 tygodniowa przygode!!!

Moje dziewczyny pojechaly na campa, pozegnalam sie ze wszystkim, musialam sie spakowac i ruszac. Niestety przedostanie sie z Michigan do Chicago nie bylo takie latwe, nie jezdzily zadne autobusy czy pociagi w poblizu. Pojechalam z kuzynem HM do East Lansing, przy okazji zwiedzajac the University of Michigan State - studenckie miasteczko !

Pociag nastepnego dnia z rana po 8:00,

nie bylo powrotu - wyjechalam.

Chicago po 12:00, Martyna i Julia lecialy z Californii i NY.

To byl nasz pierwszy (moj drugi) stop!

Nastepny wpis o Chicago !

xx,

M.

YOUTUBE VIDEO MICHIGAN !

CHECK THIS OUT

Breathe in the ocean

Hi, that was a busy time..

• I've just started my driving license course, 
• signed up for another classes,
• Niagara Falls trip,
• insurance problems - I'm gonna write a post about an American healthcare!!
• working on videos and photos
• and trying to organize my life

Sometimes you need to take a break from the busy World. 

Just forget about 

the problems, 

the past,

and try to start everything again.

Do not push yourself,

breathe in the ocean and enjoy the moment.

Find the confidence in yourself to get up and move your life forward.

I'm finally happy.

/ somewhere in Greenwich, CT

Polish -> 

Czasami musisz odpoczac od zabieganego swiata,

 po prostu zapomniec o problemach, przeszlosci i sprobowac wszystkiego na nowo.

Nie naciskaj na siebie, wdychaj powietrze oceanu i ciesz sie chwila.

Znajdz w sobie pewnosc siebie i odwage, aby wstac i isc przez zycie.

Nareszcie jestem szczesliwa.

/gdzies w Greenwich, CT 

Have a great day everyone.

Mine is pretty nice today ☺

xx,

M.

TOEFL? answers to all your questions - click!

 Hi everybody,
I hate being sick (soooo I'm gonna write a post about these American Healthcare costs,appointments etc. - for example you can even pay for a blood test OVER 1000$ - not everywhere but it happens ) it's kinda hard to find a doctor or clinic which provides your insurance...

Okay, so let's talk about better things today,

some of you have heard about TOEFL and don't even know - what does it mean?

TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language)

it shows your ability to understand and use English at the university level. It's also important if you want to study in an English - speaking country. 

The test consists of:

• listening
• reading
• speaking
• writing

What's more, people takes this test for various reasons such as:

-learners who just want to track their progress,

-scholarships,

-certification,

-applying for visas etc.

If you're interested in studying abroad (anywhere) for example UK, Sweden, Denmark, Australia or even Japan you should start preparing for this test soon because more than 9,000 colleges, universities and other institutions accept TOEFL scores - in over 130 countries!

Many of you keep asking me...

How to learn ?

It's a lot of hard work - you'll have to expand your vocabulary by for example reading books, newspapers, websites (translate unknown words), using Apps on your phone - I've found some interesting on Apple Store : Synonyms, TOEFL vocabulary, TOEFL Words (unfortunately, you have to pay for some capabilities),

learn all of the grammar tenses (I don't even know how many we have), 

really important - listening - you can watch movies, TV shows, travel to English - countries for vacations, speak and listen to the native person.

There's some more resources online that I'm gonna share with you:

• http://www.toeflgoanywhere.org/toefl-practice
• http://www.grammarbank.com/toefl-pbt-practice.html
• http://esl.about.com/od/printablequizzesforclass/a/toefl_structure_practice_quiz.html

MORE SOON - keep visiting my website.

How much does it actually cost?

It depends on a country - visit the website https://www.ets.org/bin/getprogram.cgi?test=toefl (for more information)

In the USA it costs around 200$.

If you're considering studying abroad - this is the first step to make your educational success come true!

There's some valuable benefits that I've noticed so far:

1. International experience by studying and living in a foreign country. You'll see new places and meet fascinating people - its traditions, and its culture. In addition, you will become more responsible, confident or independent. 
2. You can be fluent in English - remember, you'll talk this language all the time.
3. That's a chance to experience a different style of education.
4. Broaden your worldview - you can improve your skills, gain interests and be inspired by others success stories.
5. Life experience once learned never forgotten - if you really wanna try it - do it. You don't want to regret something you didn't do - life's too short.

Photos taken last year, Oct 2015

To sum up, you know more about TOEFL, the next thing I'm gonna talk about is:

SAT (Scholastic Assessment Test) 

Stay warm peeps,

M.

---

Gifts for the Host Family! Au Pair in America AIFS

Hi,

when you find your perfect family and confirm perfect match - everybody starts thinking about gifts for the host family!
First thing after my first dinner with the Host Family I gave them presents - they were pretty a bit surprised !
Trust me, it's not that easy - firstly, I was looking for polish souvenirs then I wanted to buy something connected to their hobbies and fav sports, after that I decided to buy these things:

 

Cups for Host Parents (on the other side there are their names),

it means - the best american mum and dad!

 Some sweets for them!

The most popular things in Poland!

 The cookbook was for the Host Parents, the other one is poems (for LCC) - written by Wislawa Szymborska - this book is really special because everything's translated! 

Boxes for jewellery (for the girls!) with DIY homemade bracelets by me - with their names on it - (I put it inside) - they loved it!

Anyway, I ordered it online - it was the worst decision ever, it was huge and half of my suitcase was filled with presents... I was glad they liked that!!!

 This money box and DIY bracelet made by me was for the host family's previous au pair - she was with me for 10 days to show me everything and help me get used to the daily routine and my 'new life'.

At the end of this post, I wanted to show something sweet and cute!
My French friend got a package from the host family (at the orientation) there was for example this:

HOMEMADE DELICIOUS MINI TINY CUPCAKES !

Yesterday it was such a long day, I'll write about it tomorrow it was a little disaster in the kitchen...

See ya,
xx
M.

The gifts in the process...

Helloooooo everybody,

as I mentioned before my daily routine consists of  'most important tasks'.
It's just something you need or want to be done each day, when you achieve these goals you'll feel totally productive.
Each day, I prepare to my adventure - it means I do something everyday to make my dreams come true - it's such an amazing feeling.

Talking about the flight...

2 days ago 

(it was exactly 17 days before the departure) I got the message about my flight details,

• it's DIRECTLY from Warsaw to NYC
• fortunately, it's not in the morning - my flight is at 5.20 pm
• I'll arrive with another Polish girl - I'm glad, I'm not going alone

What's more, yesterday was a really busy day,

I was at the dentist's just to check if everything's fine (and of course IT IS!), I was at the bank and I opened a foreign currency account - which is so important to have it before opening the American account and after all, I had some teaching English classes with kids.

What's best, I bought my wonderful Wittchen suitcase - everyone recommends the material ones, that's why I got it.

Lemme show you then,

Today, I started making bracelets for the girls (with their names!) that I'll take care of, it seems to be an incredible thing  -  long-lasting, handmade and memorable gift! Additionally, each girl will get the box for jewellery filled with Polish sweets - I'll show you soon peeps!

But everything can't be perfect, I ordered these boxes online and I was sure it was half of the actual size, just a little disappointment - 

less space in my suitcase  =  less clothes to bring with me...

all in all, there're always some advantages, more sweets for the girls!

Today's song:

Tomorrow, me and my friend are going at the stable - it's Sunday - I'm taking some time to relax and recharge my batteries for the next (busy) week.

I'm falling asleep, g'night then,

xxx,

M.

Memories last forever !

Hi everyone,

I'm one of those people who strives to be productive during 'days off'.
 So, I always schedule my month to not waste the time and I'm pretty sure this makes me even happier when I have things done (ticked) - so try it, you won't regret it ☑ .

Anyway, today I'm completely rested. I was cooking a dinner...yes, of course it was delicious!!! I went for a walk (because the weather FORTUNATELY is great). What's more, I organized some things connected with the flight to the US and I sold some of my things that I haven't been using for a long time for example horseback riding stuff. I had an accident on November 3rd 2011, it was a long time ago but shortly, I fell down during gallop and I nearly lost my consciousness. 

(the last ride - these 2 photos were took right before the accident)

I was too shocked, after all I just started to cry but there wasn't any pain. Then, me and my friend went for a walk with horses like nothing happened. When I came home I couldn't move my arm so we immediately went to the nearest hospital but they told me to go to the emergency in another town (30 mins by car) - it was insane.

All in all, I broke my collarbone and I was recovering at home for over 1 month, I totally stopped horseback riding but I still wholeheartedly love these animals.

I'm organizing files etc. on my computer and I want to share with you some of my memorable photos:

Tomorrow is going to be a busy day - as always !!!
Just some shopping before my departure to New York, it's ONLY 3 weeks left!

Tumblr inspiration.

Hope you're having a good evening,

xx,
M.

nutrition and healthy drinking - some fresh green juice!

Exactly!
Just stay healthy and be motivated!

I've just decided to write a quick note (it's almost 12.30am) and share with you my recipe for a delicious green juice. 

• 1  (green!) apple
• 1 pear
• half celery
• half cucumber
• some ginger - not too much
• some parsley (if you like)

This one cup gives you a lot of power - try it!
Apple and pear juice are sweet so when we combine it with some vegetables it becomes a really tasty drink in your free time during the day.

Geeez, now is the last step, my juicer is a nightmare to clean!

More recipes soon!

 Anyway, enjoy your meal and have a good night peeps.

I'm working on the #2 Vlog,

let me know if you have any ideas for my next videos, 

nightnight.

Isn't it (SOOOO) true?!?

xx,

M.

News! #1 vlog Martinity-preparing to the flight- Au Pair in America

Hi!

NEWS,NEWS,NEWS!

I'm going on October 4th!

My wonderful Host Family asked me to participate in the AAA Driving Course which includes classes about safe driving, tips and helps drivers to acclimate to American roads - so it means I'm arriving 1 day before the Orientation.

Some detailed informations about:

AAA Driving Course - CLICK HERE

Orientation and the Training School - CLICK HERE

Another NEWS!

I went to Warsaw on September 1st (yes,my birthday!) and I had the Visa appointment at the American Embassy on September 2nd.

What's more?!?!

VISA APPROVED ♥

To be honest, I didn't expect anything but the whole security process was just easy.
Everyone was sooooo polite, it was amazing - just a little surprise.

So the security check, showing some documents, checking my fingerprints etc. were really quick then I had to wait almost 1 hour for my interview.
The room was so crowded (nearly full!) and I saw the information 'max. 270 people' - a bit funny sooooo I was waiting and talking with random people (there were around 50 peeps before me).

After that I was finally called on my interview. 

I was so nervous, you can't even imagine it.
All in all, I was talking to the kindest consul ever, our conversation was fine and everything went well.

If you're preparing to the Visa process you would expect some question connected with:

• your plans in the United States and when you come back
• your experience
• place where you'll be living etc.

So honestly, everything's just easy!

Instead of my meeting at the American Embassy I had a great time - just having fun (and some unexpected adventures) with my friend and meeting new people ☺ I love Warsaw - it's such an amazing place with foreigners from all around the world!

NOW,

I'm looking for a resistant suitcase and some appropriate gifts for my Host Family.

See my first Vlog for Polish people - it's just an introduction.

I did my best.

I'm waiting for your opinions and suggestions, maybe I'll have to change something or try to do it better next time.

Hope you like it!

see ya soon,

xoxoxox,

M.