All things go, all things go

Since this is my first post I suppose it would be best for me to start this story from the very beginning. I have never been one for chronology, despite my love for history, and to be honest I am not particularly fond of writing "beginnings". However, I am going to try my very best to write this story as it goes along and one could always use a good ol' "Once upon a time..."

Here it goes:

Once upon a time there was a girl who was not exactly sure what she wanted to do with her life. She knew what she should do:
(a) find a respectable job
(b) go to graduate school
(c) find a respectable man to marry and settle down
(d) all of the above
But she was not satisfied with following what society wants everyone to believe is acceptable. She wanted to follow her heart, head, or a combination thereof. She knew she was interested in going to graduate school at some point but until she was certain which field would suit her best she decided to take some time off to consider the big life questions she knew she would have to face whether she wanted to or not. So, she decided to do the only thing she was certain she wanted at this point in her life - to live in Europe. The best means for her to do so (without the stress of finding a random job overseas, filling out messy paperwork, or paying extreme amounts of money) was to live with a family as an au pair. It is important, before this tale goes any further, for the reader to understand what an au pair is exactly. Let us consult Wikipedia: "An au pair (plural: au pairs) is a foreign-national domestic assistant working for, and living as part of, a host family. Typically, au pairs take on a share of the family's responsibility for childcare as well as some housework, and receive a small monetary allowance for personal use.
The title comes from the French term au pair, meaning "on a par" or "equal to", indicating that the relationship is intended to be one of equals: the au pair is intended to become a member of the family, albeit a temporary one, rather than a domestic servant."

For our heroine this was precisely the opportunity for which she was looking. Although she did not have enough money scattered about to pay for the fees an au pair agency requires, she was able to create profiles on various au pair placement websites. Within a week she was already in contact via email with families in Italy, France, Sweden, and the UK. As she began to learn more and more about each family she began to understand what she was looking for in a host family and began narrowing her choices. Still, she did not feel she was well-suited for some of the families or countries. Nor did she feel that "magic click" with any of the parents. Until she received a voicemail one day while in class. A family with two children from the Netherlands had looked at her profile and were so interested that they called her up on the phone to introduce themselves. This made a great impression on her because writing an email, though time consuming, is not entirely personal. Dialing a phone and paying fees to call someone overseas takes much more effort and care. She set up a phone date with the Dutch family and during that first conversation she felt giddy with possibility. This was the right family for her and she was the right girl for them.

And that is the beginning of the story. For now. Don't worry, I will not be writing in the third person like this. It is simply for dramatic effect.