This morning, I said goodbye to my au pair family. The children were playing as usual, and when I told their mother, “I’m leaving now. Thank you so much,” the children and their mother said with their usual “see you later”, perhaps because they didn’t know I was leaving her. (This is really the last time?!) That was my honest feeling. I’m sad that I couldn’t say a proper goodbye to the children, but I hope that the days we spent together will remain somewhere in their hearts. The father drove me to the station, and I gave him a message card with a photo at the end. I’m grateful to him for always being so cheerful and kind. The further the train took me away, I was, and I almost cried.
The owner of the share house where I’ll be staying for a week picked me up at the nearest station. It seems the owner and their children also live there, and they invited me to go to the city for lunch. Since I didn’t have any plans, I decided to go with them. I ate fried chicken at a Japanese restaurant for the first time in a long time. The owner was telling the children, “Eat properly because we don’t want to waste food,” and even asked me to eat a little of what they couldn’t finish. I thought they were a good person who values food. Afterwards, he treated me to coffee, and we all walked around the city. In the evening, they gave me some leftover pasta and told me that a Japanese TV program was on, which made me happy that they were looking out for me. It feels like a good encounter.
I also received a request for a household job after moving to Cairns, so I’m a little relieved that I’ll be able to earn some income.
今日は朝、オーペアファミリーと別れた。子どもたちはいつも通り遊んでいて、ママに「そろそろ行くね。ほんとにありがとう」と伝えると、子どもたちは私がいなくなることを知らないからか、ママも子どもたちも「see you later」といつもの出かける時の挨拶の返事で、（これが最後なのに？！）というのが正直な感情だった。子どもたちとちゃんとしたお別れができなかったのは寂しいけど、この子たちの心のどこかで一緒に過ごした日々が残ってくれていたら嬉しい。パパが駅まで送ってくれて、最後に写真入りメッセージカードを渡した。いつも明るく接してくれたパパには感謝。電車にのって遠ざかるほど寂しくなって泣きそうだった。
今日から１週間お世話になるシェアハウスのオーナーが最寄り駅まで迎えにきてくれた。オーナーとその子どもたちも一緒に住んでいるみたいで、ランチを食べにシティに行くけど一緒に行かないか誘われた。特に予定がなかったので、着いていくことにした。日本食レストランで、久しぶりに唐揚げを食べた。オーナーは子どもたちに「ご飯無駄にしたくないからちゃんと食べて」と教えていて、どうしても食べきれなかったものも私に少し食べてくれないかと頼んできて、食べ物を大事にする方で良い人だなと思った。その後コーヒーを奢ってくれて、みんなでシティを歩いた。夜も残りのパスタをくれたり、日本の番組やってるよと教えてくれたり、気にかけてくれて嬉しかった。いい出会いな気がする。
都市移動後の家事代行のお仕事依頼もきて、なんとか少しでも収入が得られそうなので少し安心。
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