Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Zoo Boo




Yesterday I went to the Antwerp Zoo with my employer. It made me think of my time back in Oregon, where I have worked as an au pair. One of the au pair activities was Zoo Boo, a special event in the zoo, around Halloween.
This time, we were not in the US, but in Antwerp, Belgium. We took the train to Antwerp and I can tell you: if you are in a wheelchair: you need to plan ahead! You cannot take the train all by yourself, so your assistant gets a free ticket. Nevertheless, the assistant is not sufficient, because by no means can you lift a wheelchair on the train. So you need some strong men and a special device to lift the wheelchair on the train. We needed one in Eeklo, one in Gent-Dampoort and one in Antwerp. Things went smooth all the way. The sun was out, the animals were having the time of their life and we had great fun as well!

It had been a while since I last visited the Zoo. I'm glad we went and it was great to see the tigers, monkeys, fish, reptiles, .. and of course: baby Kai-Mook, the baby elephant that was born earlier this year. I had no idea elephants are being breast-fed until they reach the age of 2. Poor mom.. a 2 year pregnancy and then 2 years of breast feeding.. Wow..respect!

Working as a personal assistant is a special kind of work. You assist your employer whenever they need your help. That can be to help them prepare a meal, wash the dishes, go to the market, enjoy a movie, have a social talk or go out to a concert or the zoo. You need to have a special bond with the person you work for, because you spend quite some time together. It's not like working in a factory or being a clerk. It's different. It's what I like to do. And I believe I'm good at it.


2 comments:

Upje said...

Daar ben ik zeker van, dat je dat bijzinder goed doet, meisje ... En daar mag je trots op zijn!

www.kokenenhogehakken.blogspot.be said...

bedankt Upje! Ik weet zeker dat mijn werkgeefster mij ook waardeert.