Tuesday evening, I met with my group of wonderful au pairs from many different countries. I asked them questions about adjusting to life in the U.S. and if they had any advice for the newly-arrived au pairs: :Balance your social life with work," " communication is everything," " try not to speak to your friends [...]
Annika Halder was an au pair with Au Pair in America in 2013. She's recently submitted an updated video of a song she wrote while she was in the U.S. as an au pair. Her goal, at the time, was to support other au pairs who were experiencing homesickness and/or having difficulty adapting to a [...]
“This is so much more than I thought it would be” is a frequent lament of au pairs! Do we ever stop to think about the enormity of being an au pair? No matter how much childcare experience, an au pair has, she’s most probably never worked where she lives, lived with strangers, been “part-of-a [...]
I was recently talking to Karla, a very lovely au pair from Costa Rica. Her English sure sounds fluent to me, her host family and anyone in the community who meets her. "And that's the problem," she said. Her spoken language is good: vocabulary and grammar, but she said that she often can't find a [...]
The summer and early fall are busy seasons for Au Pair in America. Many au pairs from many different countries are arriving in the U.S. It's a time when we can remind ourselves of how important it is to not fall into the "stereotype trap!" When working with people from other countries, we must remember [...]
I had the pleasure of speaking with Justine, Nina and Marie, French au pairs who are currently living in the U.S. with their host families. All three young women arrived in the U.S. with pre-conceived notions of what life and the American people were all about. Let's see what they had to say: Justine heard [...]
Moving to a Different Country by Sophia from Seattle Sophia moved to America from Germany in 5th grade. Moving to a different country is always difficult. Often kids don’t know the language very well and the culture is always different. Even simple things like national sports aren’t always known by people from different countries. When [...]
Time flies and more often than not, our au pairs tell us that they can't believe how quickly their year in the U.S. (or two years) has flown by. Feelings about going home are often mixed and in some cases, the prospect of ending a life-changing experience brings anxiety and dismay. Our host families may [...]