A couple years ago when I spent a semester studying in Florence, Italy, I introduced people to an old Italian expression that sort of explains the Italian way of life: “il dolce far niente,” literally meaning “the sweetness of doing nothing” or “delicious idleness.” It is the absence of chaos and busy work; it is being still long enough for life to refuel you and show you what is important. For anyone living in America, you know it’s quite difficult to achieve this delicious idleness because society makes you feel lazy and worthless if you aren’t constantly going like the ever-ready bunny. I had been looking forward to taking that semester in Florence to be still and indulge in this lifestyle, but I never truly embraced it. I didn’t seize life the way I had wanted to, and I don’t think at that point in my life I was truly capable of living that way. I had too many distractions and worries and fears that I had to battle through, and that chaos found me even in Florence.

But my Italian roots are strong, and “il dolce far niente” is finally finding me now, in Australia. Right now, I am working a job that gives me the chance to be a kid again. I have a beautiful house to call my home, two awesome kids who have become my best friends, a pool to lounge around every day, and blue skies and sunshine that epitomize the endless summer. I haven’t been doing a lot, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. I’m not bored. In fact, I’ve never been so content in my life. I keep trying to think back to a time when I was this happy, and I haven’t been able to think of any – besides those carefree days, being five years old and oblivious to the world around me, but those memories are just a blur anyway. Right now, I have nowhere else I want to be, nothing else I would rather be doing.

I find that I have time to do things that are important to my mental well-being, things we tend not to have time for. Getting lost in books, writing hand-written letters to family over seas, sitting and listening to music for more than just background noise, calling friends at home for no other reason than to say “hi, I’m thinking about you.” I have time to meet friends for coffee and sit and talk about things that have meaning. I have time to explore new places and people watch. When I began this job, I was uncomfortable with the fact that I had so much free time and not so much to do. I watched people at home struggling to finish school and find jobs and apartments, and I felt slightly guilty for sitting around and not worrying about what was to come next, not planning on what I was going to do when I stopped running away. But I’ve come to realize that I’m not running away from anything. I think I’m being brave in running towards life, living it the way I want to, letting it refuel me and show me what is important. I should never have to feel guilty for being content. This sweetness of doing nothing makes me feel more alive than ever.

When I first arrived in Brisbane, I started seeing an Aussie guy who lived here. After a few months, things ended really abruptly and unexpectedly. When I told my host family that they shouldn’t expect to see him around the house anymore, Tea turned to me and said, “Liz, if I ever see him walking down the street, I know exactly what I’ll do. I’ll punch him right up the nuts!”

A couple months later, Tea still brings him up every now and then. Like today, when she called me into the bathroom while she was taking a bubble bath…

Tea: So Liz, I was just wondering, how did you break up with Ben?

Liz: Oh you know, I just punched him right in the nuts.

Tea: No you didn’t! How did you really break up with him?

Liz: Well, actually he broke up with me.

Tea: How?

Liz: He basically said, “Liz you suck. I don’t like you.” It was pretty mean and it made me sad.

Tea: Oh yeah. I came in your room and you were crying and I said to myself, yeah Ben must be breaking up with her. I’m sorry, Liz. I tried to help you get a boyfriend by giving him chocolates, but I guess it just didn’t work.

Liz: Thanks, Tea. Do you think you could find me a new boyfriend?

Tea: Oh yeah! I know lots of cute boys. They mostly all live on the Gold Coast.

Liz: All the cute boys live on the Gold Coast?

Tea: Yeah, Liz! All the boys I’ve ever met from the Gold Coast are so cute! You should look for a new boyfriend there.

Liz: Oh well, I’ll have to go there then.

Tea: Yeah. So Liz, did you and Ben ever kiss? Doubt it.

Good advice on getting a boyfriend from a six-year-old.

As an au pair, I’ve surprisingly had very little quality time with my kids. I’m there to tell them to do their homework, brush their teeth, and go to bed, and the weeks are jam-packed with after school dancing, swimming, and gymnastics. By the time the weekend comes, all I want is some peace and quiet and time to hang out with some people my own age. Tea often tells me how “unfun” I am because I’m never around on the weekends – but this one, I finally had the kids all to myself. With my host parents on holiday, I spent the whole weekend “working,” but I could not have had more fun with the kids.

As a special treat, we went to Kingston Park Raceway to ride go-karts this morning. I had expected to just sit and watch Christian and Tea ride around the track a couple times and then go home, but we ended up at the raceway for hours, and I felt like the biggest kid of all. When we walked up to the ticket window, Tea asked me, “What does that say, Liz?” as she pointed to the banner above us. She’s learning to read and is constantly curious about every sign we pass. I read her the banner: “It’s a hell of a day!” She didn’t react to it much, and we set out to the raceway.

We watched Christian tear up his track, and then Tea and I headed to the Kids’ Zone for the kiddie track. I hadn’t ridden go-karts in ages, and even though I had to be Tea’s chauffeur because she’s only 6 and isn’t big enough to drive, I had a blast. On a tiny track filled with kids under 10, I was speeding our kart around the bends and got in trouble for “bumping.” I couldn’t help it. It was just too much fun. We spent the day on the racetrack, playing arcade games, and eating dagwood dogs and chips (otherwise known as corn dogs and fries).

At the end of the day, Tea had enough points to go on one of the rides in the amusement park section. She and I hopped onto Gee Whiz, Australia’s version of Disney’s teacups. I was way more excited than Tea, who is normally very timid when it comes to rides. As we started to spin, I looked over at her face and saw a look of sheer terror in her eyes. She was gripping the handlebar so tight that her knuckles were white, and she was screaming bloody murder. I was so nervous she was going to freak out or throw up on me, or both. Instead, she suddenly yelled out, “Liz, this is a hell of a day, isn’t it?!” and we both busted out laughing. It was so great to be a kid again.

At home, we made breakfast for dinner – homemade pancakes, eggs, and milkshakes – and cuddled on the couch, watching “Where the Wild Things Are.” As I tucked the kids into bed, they couldn’t stop telling me how much they loved me and how much fun they’d had. It warmed my heart. Tea was certainly right – it was a hell of a day. 

Here is the link to watch me skydive. I've had issues with uploading the video directly to the blog - hope this works just as well!

Free Fallin'

I love spontaneity. This weekend I was supposed to be in Melbourne with my host family for the famous horse races, but due to some unfortunate events we had to cancel our trip. Instead of flying down to Melbourne, I called some friends last minute and had some of the most relaxing, fun-filled days I've had in awhile. Saturday morning, Kelsey and I headed to the beach - the perfect way to spend a November day. We drove up to Caloundra on the Sunny Coast and went straight for the water, swimming and floating and riding waves for hours. Afterwards, we laid on our beach towels and took naps, getting our fair share of vitamin D, and headed back towards Brisbane when the sun was almost setting. On the way, we stopped at another coastal suburb closer to home for some dinner. We sat at Doug's Seafood Cafe overlooking the water and devoured huge plates of fish and chips. It was one of the best meals I've had since I've been here. I have to say, there's nothing like stuffing your face with fresh grilled barramundi with the sun setting over the ocean in front of you.

Today, I had planned on meeting up with Kelsey and a couple other nannies, Frances from South Africa and Hayley from England, at a morning market nearby. The market comes to New Farm every Sunday morning and is filled with food, clothing, and souvenir stands. We wandered through the stalls, working up our appetites, and finally treated ourselves to a feast. The four of us sat at a table in the shade, listening to live music, and scheming up some adventures for the next couple of months. I feel like my friends and I do a lot of scheming, coming up with all sorts of ways to spend our time here in Australia and all sorts of adventures to fill our weekends. We hadn't planned much for the afternoon, but as the stalls began to close and the musician packed up his guitar, we decided we didn't want to stop hanging out and go home. So we piled into Kelsey's car to spend the afternoon wine tasting. We drove south and ended up at Mount Tamborine, which is filled with wineries around every bend. At Cedar Creek Estate, we tasted wines and went on a tour of a glow worm cave (a really strange combination, I know). Glow worms are tiny insects only found in Australia and New Zealand, and their butts glow, making the inside of the cave look like a planetarium of stars. After the tour, we sat out by the lake that was filled with ducks and rainbows, hoping to enjoy a nice glass of wine, but instead we found ourselves quickly back on the road as the restaurant was closing. We stopped at another winery that was close to closing time as well, but got a quick free tasting and made friends with the owner who was incredibly interested in the four nannies from all over the world.

Beautiful duck pond

It was such an unexpected, fun day, but one of my favorite parts was the drive home. We drove through winding roads in the mountains and country farm roads filled with goats, cows, chickens, and horses. We pulled over to take in beautiful views of the country, to pet some miniature ponies on a dirt road, and we stopped to let giant lizards and wild kangaroos run and hop across the road in front of us. The four of us sat in silence for almost two hours home, with the windows rolled down, warm breeze blowing, sun setting overhead. Even when we hit the highway with bumper-to-bumper traffic, we were more content than we could ever imagine.

This might just be Heaven