I recently heard from Diana, a host mom on Long Island. Her family has had au pairs for her twin girls for many years-Diana sees this experience as a great way to bring new langauges to her children. In Diana's words: "After 4 years of German aupairs, we felt the German language was well grounded [...]
The holidays are a perfect time to share traditions. Most Au Pair in America clusters celebrate with a holiday party, sharing recipes, gift exchanges, stories from home. This year, my cluster made gingerbread houses. As we were decorating them, we exchanged holiday traditions learning about celebrations in Germany, Hungary, Sweden, Thailand (for New Year's) and [...]
Cindy Klose, a German au pair living in Rhode Island, recently visited a 5th grade classroom to share her holiday traditions with the children. Initally, Cindy was nervous, not knowing what to expect, wondering how the children would respond to her, questioning, "did I have enough to share with them?" She was happy to report [...]
In 2003, Au Pair in America partnered with the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund to provide a scholarship for a deserving young woman to come to the United States on the program. A team of community counselors, our South African agent, Symonne Wilson, and Jean Quinn, Deputy Director, went to Johannesburg to interview several final candidates [...]
I always tell newly-arrived au pairs how brave they are to cross an ocean (or two) to live in the U.S. as an au pair. I remind them of their determination and strength when they're feeling somewhat vulnerable, alone and afraid. "How many people do you know," I ask, " who are willing to travel to [...]
As I was searching on the internet for interesting holidays, I stumbled on October as "Family History Month." Given that my family, as are many of my friends and colleagues, were from different parts of the world, I decided to do a little research and find out as much as I could about my ancestors. [...]
I recently hosted a cluster meeting at my home that was a Bon Voyage for one of my au pairs and a" welcome to America" for the new arrivals. Of course, the new arrivals were a little nervous, quieter than the other girls, standing back to observe. My au pair who was returning to Germany [...]
Au Pair in America was happy to welcome more than 600 au pairs from around the world in July and August. It's a wonder that so many matches are successful given the challenges of cultural differences and a difficult adjustment that many au pairs experience. It's important to remember several points during the initial stages of [...]