“Not all those who wander are lost.” - J.R.R. Tolkien

I love flying. One of my absolute favorite feelings is definitely when the plane takes off and you can feel the tires not touching the ground anymore or the feeling you get when you land and you feel that the tires finally touch the ground. 

In addition to flying, I also love airports. I am actually quite often known as the person who is always late, but when traveling I often make sure to be at the airport long enough to enjoy the atmosphere there - I think quite many of us can agree that it indeed is something very special about it there! The place is full of people leaving, arriving, being sad, being nervous, being excited, being relieved, saying goodbyes, saying hellos, traveling alone, traveling together - so many situations, so many people.

This all probably makes it quite crystal clear that traveling is something that I love, and something that is clearly a big passion of mine. I have been very lucky enough to have had many opportunities to travel, but there are so many places still that have not seen!

To tell the truth, when I was an au pair in the USA, I did not travel as much as I probably was supposed to, or so much I could have. I had one of the best year's of my life, there is no doubt about that. That is why I would like to encourage all of you au pairs, please, do not make the same mistake as I did - make sure that you travel and experience as much as you can. By this I do not mean that you have to keep booking new out-of-state trips every weekend, but also do not be afraid to hop in your car, and experience what you have close by! Living in the USA as an au pair is a unique experience, make sure to take the most of it!

Happy traveling!
-Mari

Hey from Magdalena!

Hi Everyone! My name is Magdalena, I am 24 years old and I have been working for Cultural Care Au Pair for six months now. It’s incredible how time flies, I can still remember my first day at the office as if it was yesterday. I clearly remember the energy and positive atmosphere as soon as I stepped into the office and that is really what I think defines this place.

It has been a great time working at Cultural Care Au Pair, I have gained so much new experience and got to know my wonderful colleagues here at the Stockholm office. It also got me to start thinking how happy I am that I decided to become an au pair after I graduated from high school - otherwise I would never be where I am today.

When I moved abroad to become an au pair I was nearly 19, had just graduated from high school and coming from the country side outside of a small town in Sweden,  I had quite little experience from life. So moving abroad and away from home taught me so many things about myself and about life.

Being an au pair was also really special since I got the opportunity to see a new culture from "the inside" and to create great memories with my host family and my host child. I didn't just make friends for life, but it also opened so many doors for the future, I realized I could do anything or go anywhere. It led me to many other adventures and I really got the taste for living abroad and seeing more of the world. So that lead to me moving again - I lived in Paris for one year, which is a beautiful city and I had such a great time living there.

I think living abroad with a different culture than what you are used to and people having other habits than you may have, is very good for you. You learn so many things about yourself by putting yourself in situations and places you've never been in before.

So during the six years that has passed since I graduated from high school I have had many adventures, journeys and done a lot of different things and I can honestly say that if I hadn't decided to take the step and become an au pair I may never have experienced any of those things. Maybe I would still live in my hometown, who knows? Instead now, I feel grateful for my journey during these years and where it has led me today; having a job where I am able to help others traveling to become an au pair and have their best year filled with memories and new experiences. My goal is to help everyone start their journey and realize that they can also do anything they dream of!

One of the pros of being an au pair - world-wide network!

I absolutely love working for Cultural Care Au Pair. I love that I have the opportunity to help other people to experience the same as I did. Even though it has already been 8 years (gosh I AM OLD!) since I applied to become an au pair in the USA, every time I speak about my experience to a current or a future au pairs I get so excited and happy!

I am originally from Finland, and as most of you know - Finland as a country is not that big. Other Finnish au pairs - they were quite non-existent when I was an au pair myself.. or that is at least how it felt! I was the only Finnish au pair in the entire state of Utah at the time, which of course enabled me really to establish a world-wide network from my other au pair friends! My neighbor was German, my best friend Swedish, my classmate Peruvian, my travel-buddies Brazilian and Colombian, my new friends American... the best part about my au pair experience was definitely widening my network and having connections all over the world!

I am still in touch with some of my connections, and this is one tip I want to give to all of you current au pairs: do not let go of these connections! Embrace the international network you have and take full use of it! There is always someone who knows one... and at least you have a place to stay wherever you go in the world! Luckily in today's day and age it is so easy to stay in touch!

Best,
Mari

Greetings from our Program Director Dorte!

Hello Nordics, My name is Dorte Ellegaard Strobel and I am so excited to be a part of our Cultural Care Au Pair team here in the United States.  

Let me share with a little bit about myself. I was born and raised in Denmark. I grew up in a great family in a very small country town. When I was 24 years old (after I attended Odense University, where I  received  my degree in Business) I decided I wanted to be an AU PAIR!

I came to the USA in 1991 as an au pair and had a wonderful year with my host family and four children (yes four children!) age 2, 10 11 and 13! It was a wonderful family and we are still in contact. During my au pair year, I met my husband which made my mom and dad very sad. After dating for 6 months my year was over and I returned back to Denmark. I stayed in Denmark for 8 months, but in 1993 made the move to the USA.   Ron and I have now been married for 21 years, and we live outside Chicago, Illinois.

We are blessed with two wonderful boys, Karsten (18) and Torben (11), Karsten is graduating High school this  year, he has a dream of attending University in Denmark (that made a moms heart very proud!).

I became involved with Cultural Care Au Pair in 1994 as a LCC and simply just loved interacting with both au pairs and host families. I have meet so many great people during the years. After over 12 years as an LCC, I was asked to join Cultural Care Au Pair full time, first I joined the placement team in where I did both transitions and overseas matching. A few years later I was promoted to a Program Director.

Anyone that knows me, knows that I  take great pride in my association with Cultural Care Au Pair, a company with high values and dedication to providing great personal service. I believe our program is an excellent opportunity for both the Host Family and the Au Pair.

Being an au pair is one of the best things I ever did, and I think I am a clear example of  cultural exchange building long term relationships :)

Best,

Dorte

I am a two-time grand-au pair now!

Every au pair has a little different view on how old children they want to work with as au pairs - and to tell the truth, I honestly think every age has it's own pros and cons. With younger children you get to witness many milestones and get to teach them a lot new things and be there to see their development. When I was an au pair for the second time I actually was taking care of a boy who had just turned 2 years, and it indeed was fun to see how he grew from a little toddler to a small boy.  During my first year as an au pair, my host family consisted of 4 children and the oldest one was a teenage girl. Many au pairs are a bit doubtful when it comes to being an au pair for teenagers, but I can very warmly recommend it -- you are often close in age and usually the responsibilities are a bit different when it comes to taking care of younger children. Often the relationship that gets built between you two will be more sisterly/brotherly and they will of course remember you in the future!

In the beginning of course it was hard - my host child was very attached to her previous au pair, and it took time for us to build a relationship. As there were 3 younger children in the family, I spent most of my time taking care of them and not too much with the teenager. Our one-on-one time was always in the afternoons when I picked her up from school and we would drive home. Slowly but surely these drives would become the part that both of us were looking most forward to during the day. That would be the time of the day we could gossip about boys, plan our next shopping trip, plan which movies to watch, talk about her school days and teachers and so much more. During my year as her au pair, we definitely grew and inseparable bond and we continued to stay in touch and keep that bond strong. The other children in the family well still fairly young after I left so I did stay in touch with them through the parents in the family but with the oldest child we kept in touch. Few years ago she reached out to me and told that she was expecting her first baby, and now she is currently expecting her second baby! I like to call myself now a "double-grand au pair"! Even though we do not keep in touch always that often, I am still happy to have become part of their lives and follow both my host-kid's (not that she is that much of a child anymore haha) and her family's life!

One of my absolute favorite part about going as an au pair definitely was the fact, that you create relationships that last for life.

“The new girl” at Stockholm office!

Here I am! Annimaija, 28 years old and I come from Finland. I have been working at Cultural Care Au Pair for three weeks now. To be part of this Pink team is so much fun with all tasks and days that are so different from each other and the team here is just great!

Some weeks ago I was still working in the hotel and restaurant business as a concierge and helped people from “Matti Meikäläinen” to Lady Gaga to be happy while staying at our hotel and make sure they will get memories for their life. My motto is: never say never and be open minded because you can make all “impossible” things possible if you really want to! 

At Cultural Care Au Pair I work with helping people from Finland and Copenhagen to become an  au pair to the USA. My job is to help YOU to get the most fantastic work experience with children in the new country with a new culture. I really want you to be able to enjoy and learn as much as possible during your au pair time!

P.S: I’ve also been working as an au pair in a foreign country. I will tell you more about it next time… 

Being there for your au pair friends!

You are going to be making a lot of friends during your time as an au pair. Most likely a good portion of those are going to be au pairs. During your time you will also experience difficulties with your host family, just like you do with your family back at home. It can be small things or big things, but you will find yourself needing to problem solve. Good problem solving skills are something we expect from all our au pairs.

You might also find yourself in a position where you aren’t the one in need of advice, but the one being asked for it. What do you do when your friend is having problems with their host family? What do you say? How can you help them in the best possible way?

Listen

Sometimes the only thing you are looking for when you have a problem is a sympathetic ear to listen to you. Let your friend vent, let them get all their cards on the table as we say in the USA. After I listen to someone’s problem, I like to repeat it back to them in a concise summary.  “Ok, so let me see if I understand right, you are saying that…” This helps a lot because sometimes when you hear your own problem said out loud by someone else you get a whole new perspective.

Another thing that you rarely do when you have a problem yourself is to look at the other side’s point of view. This can be sensitive, since your friend probably wants you to be on their side. BUT this can often lead to, once again, a new perspective. Wonder what their host parents are thinking? Well, actually think about it. How does the problem look like from their side? It is rare that someone will give in 100%, so most likely the problem will be resolved by meeting in the middle. Helping your friend think up a solution that benefits both sides will help them be prepared when they actually confront the problem.

Encourage Action

Take charge of the problem! If you let problems fester, they build up. I think that is something that everyone knows, but it is so easy to push stuff aside so it is something that we rarely do. It’s pretty rare for a problem to just disappear. The first step is to admit that there is a problem, which your friend has done by talking to you. The next step is to communicate. Their host family might not even be aware there is a problem or what their au pairs point of view. Encourage your friend to sit down and speak with their host parents. We always want our au pairs to try and resolve the problem on their own first and being the first to take the step shows character.

When its time to involve Cultural Care Au Pair

It is vital for you to know when you should involve Cultural Care Au Pair. As I mentioned above, we do want to see our au pairs and host families communicate. But sometimes it is important to involve us. If the problem has to do with safety, it’s important that your friend gets help straight away. That means theirs, the host kids, or host parents physical safety.  Also, know your rights as an au pair. They are all written in the different materials that you have received before going to the USA. Is your friend or their host family breaking the rules then it is important that we are able to help them get back on the correct path. You can contact your LCC, our Boston office, or even your home country office. Even if it’s just for advice, we are glad to be of assistance! We do not read minds just yet, so you do need to be the one to take the first step.

Be the support your friend needs. No one goes into the au pair program expecting to end it early or even to have problems. Also, it’s rare for an au pair to go into the program having any friends. This means our au pairs usually develop tight friendships quickly with people they do not know very well. But, with that said, you are all experiencing the same thing. It is you, not their friends or parents back home that can best relate to the problem at hand. So use your own experiences, our tips and your best intuition to be a problem solving superstar!

Being an au pair totally changed my career plans!

We interviewed our recruitment leader Susanna from Finland, who has been interviewing and coaching our applicants for over two years, and even before that she has started her "career" with Cultural Care Au Pair in Massachusetts! Susanna is currently studying to become a teacher, and now she tells how going as an au pair totally changed her career plans!

1. Why did you decide to work with children?
Actually, I swore from early age that I would be anything else except a primary school teacher, since my mother is a primary school teacher. But then, my little brother and sister were born and from that on I just started to work with children; as a nanny, a group leader in camps, an au pair! And then when it came time to apply to an university, I found myself applying to study to be a primary school teacher, and only that, since nothing else was closer to my heart. Before I started studying I spent a year as an au pair in Boston, MA, USA and that year made clear to me that I had made the right decision to study especially in Intercultural Teacher Education.

 2.  What would your advice be to someone thinking about a career working with children?
Get experience! It does not matter what the experience is, but just get to know children and their world and interact with them. When working with children, and especially teaching, you are never ready. You learn everyday about yourself and the children. And enjoy the company of children, they are so much more fun than adults are most of the time! 

 3.Having experience as a babysitter and then transitioning into working full-time with children, what would you say is the biggest difference in interacting with the children?As a babysitter I was there to take care of the children and have fun with them, and make sure their day went well, upbringing them in small situations and discussions. Now I am interacting all the time with 15 or more children and going through quite big discussions with them. I find myself now somehow being more on the background and giving the children more space to talk and ponder on those big questions and trying to help them to think for themselves rather than just telling them what to do. With over 10 years of experience from children I would strongly advice everyone to listen to them with your mind open. Usually children think outside of the box, and we adults have hard time understanding them!

 4.  What do you see as the benefit for kids in having an au pair?
There are plenty! First of all, from very young age onwards children get to experience closely someone from a different culture and practice interacting with that someone. Further in life we interact daily with people from different cultures, so I think it is very valuable for children to already notice that people are different depending from the culture and also with a culture. I think children also gain a lot of confidence from au pairs since they usually speak English as a second language and children get the chance to be "teachers" for the au pair. And of course, one close caring adult in a child's life is always great.

5.How can au pairs best help their host children prepare for school?
Listen to the children and make sure they feel good - school days are often full of different situations that  might be troubling children afterwards and they can have an effect to how the child feels about school. School is so much more than just doing exercises in class and learning from the teacher. Before the school day, make sure they have all they need for school and go through the day with them, this helps the child to be confident and if they forget something, this is when they usually remember it. After the school day, pay interest to the child's day: ask what they did, who did they play with and what do they have for homework, and what did they learn? This will help the children do way better in school and motivate them too!

 6. What do you think the benefits are for young kids in being exposed to different cultures early on?Chidlhood is the time to get educated for the upcoming life, so what could be a better practise to interact with people from different cultures than living with an au pair? Since in the modern day world we are required to be global and interculturally competetive, it is more than good to start from young to practise communication skills and also reflect on one's own culture. When children are exposed to different cultures from early on, I believe, that they become less judgemental when it comes to other cultures and learn from early on to appreciate the differences and richness of different cultures!

Happy Holidays from Cultural Care Au Pair!

I was an au pair in Salt Lake City, Utah few years back. One of my favorite memories from my time as an au pair was absolutely the holiday season and everything that was happening around that time. My host mom’s favorite holiday actually was Christmas and it was a really exciting to be part of the Christmas preparations with her! In the USA they often start preparing and decorating right after Thanksgiving- sometimes even well before that! We decorated the Christmas tree on Thanksgiving, hanged up all the Christmas lights and started listening to Christmas music well ahead of Christmas. One of my favorites about that Christmas time (and to be honest, one of the parts that caused most stress) was buying presents for everyone in the family. The happiness I got when seeing everyone opening their presents and liking them was definitely worth all the stress!
My Christmas as an au pair was very special to me in a many different ways. This was the first Christmas that I did not spend at home; it was the first Christmas that I spent far away from my own family and everything familiar to me. Christmas Eve felt more like a normal day – both of my host parents actually worked that day! The TV did not show the same Christmas programs and we did not eat the same food for Christmas dinner – back at home Santa Claus always pays a visit at the end of Christmas Eve, but this time I did not get to meet him! Even though there were a lot of traditions and things that I was used to missing from my first ever Christmas in the USA, I actually got to experience many new ones and learned a lot of new traditions. My American Christmas with my host family was and still is definitely one of my favorite Christmases ever! There was so much new I got to see and experience and also a lot that I took back home with me. This is one of my favorite things about going as an au pair – you give a lot, but you also will receive so much. You learn to appreciate things you have not appreciated before. You will open your eyes to new things and you will leave back home being more rich with everything you have experienced.
One of my favorite moments from my “Au pair-Christmas” was the morning of Christmas Day. Me and my host family had gathered around the Christmas tree in the crack of the dawn (or so it felt since the children got up as early as they could so that they could open the presents). We gathered around the tree to open the presents together and after that we ate Christmas breakfast together. My host family had even bought me some really nice presents and at that moment I really felt that I have two families – one back at home and one in the USA. That is the way I feel even after all of these years.

Hopefully all of you will have a nice Christmas, happy Hanukkah or happy Holidays!

Mari at Cultural Care Au Pair

 

It was nice to meet you!

This time of the year is always one of my favorite time of the year - yes, Christmas is coming and it also means that my birthday is coming... but that is not what I am talking about: it is the fair season, that's what I am talking about! We have just finished touring fairs in Sweden and Finland, and in January we'll be heading to Denmark. I can't wait!

What is so special about fairs? Let me tell you why I love being at fairs and representing us so much: I sit at the office everyday from Monday through Friday and spend a lot of time calling and e-mailing with our future au pairs, helping and guiding them through the process. I love the moments when you get to experience the au pairs getting excited when they are finally done with their application and have been selected to be part of our program, when they have just spoken to their first match even though they were super-nervous and especially when the host family and the au pair have said yes to each other - and so many other moments! But now we get to my favorite part - lot of the contact we have is mainly over phone or e-mail... but at the fairs we actually get to meet all of you lovely people face to face! I love how at fairs we can inspire others, especially people who had not even heard of our program before! I get to stand there for hours, talk about my own great experience and encourage others to apply to experience the same! Thank you everyone who came and said hi to us at the fairs - it was so nice seeing you!

Sharing is caring!

As some of you may know from previous blog entries, I am the resident American here at the Cultural Care office. In truth I am Swedish American, with Swedish parents who moved to the USA just a few years before I was born there.  This didn’t make me too different, as mostly everyone in the USA come from somewhere else, whether it’s themselves or a few generations back. But Americans tend to be very passionate about their heritage and cling to what makes them unique… this taught me to always be very patriotic growing up!

The time of the year that I must say I identified most with my Swedish heritage was the Christmas holidays. This was the culmination of a lot of traditions that are rather unique, especially since I was the only swede in my group of friends.  My friends were always really curious about our traditions so my family always included everyone in our celebrations. We would explain how to make glögg, why we ate pickled fish, and especially why we were allowed to open our presents a day earlier. It was always fun to try to explain because, from the beginning, we didn’t really know the why. My parents, having grown up in Sweden, hadn’t really bothered with the reasoning behind what we did very much. I don’t think many people do, some just follow tradition with little knowledge of the reasoning behind it. Now that their children were asking, they had to find out! I remember looking everything up, calling my grandparents, and then figuring out how to explain it in English. We learned quite a bit!

So for those of you spending your holiday season in the USA, be prepared to share! Sharing your culture and traditions is a huge part of being an au pair. But my personal tip is to also take the time to understand how to explain your traditions as well. Especially kids ask A LOT of questions and you do not want to leave them hanging! You might even learn some more about yourself during the process!

-          Why does Santa come to your door while ours goes down the chimney?

-          Why do you leave porridge for Santa and we leave cookies?

-          Why, oh why, do you pickle fish!?

Remember, most of these questions can be turned around, so don’t be afraid to ask your host family about their own traditions! You and your host kids might have a chance to learn a lot this holiday season!

Happy Holidays!

Camilla 

Hej from Milja at the office!

 

 

Hello there!

My name is Milja and I’m the new intern at Cultural Care Au Pair in Stockholm. My first week has been very hectic but so fun and interesting! I couldn’t have found a better place to do my internship at. The best has been to get to know all the lovely ladies here at the office, and now I’m officially a member of the pink team! And, pink is my favorite color. Pink makes me happy!

I’ve never been an Au Pair, but I would love to go! And after this week my interest has just grown bigger! I love kids and I love to travel and I would love to live abroad. I lived in Africa when I was younger for three years, and it was a great experience thou that I don’t remember that much. But I think that it made a part of me to who I am today. I also think that going as an Au Pair to now for example US would make you look at the world in a different way and everybody would grow in themselves.

I hope everybody had a lovely Halloween!

Take care,

Milja

Snack time!

Something I learned pretty quickly caring for children on a daily basis was: Always bring snacks! (and water and Band-Aid, and extra socks etc.)

Before my time in the US I worked out a lot and the only snacks I was used to were fruits, and a bottle of water, basically. While in the US I still worked out a lot, still ate my fruits, but except from that a whole lot of other snacks as well.

I always had something with me for the children to snack on, even if it was only a shorter car ride, just in case they got hungry. That also meant that if they did want a snack, I could not be without.

After my time in the US, I do not leave my apartment without an extra snack in my purse, since I never know when I will need it.  And if I for some reason forget, you can believe I’ll be starving way before lunch.  

My favorite snack in the US (Please use Google to find out if you don’t know what I’m talking about) was:          

1.       Gogurt (yoghurt in winter and ice cream in summer)      

2.       Diet Coke (fitted perfectly in my cars cup holder)             

3.       JIF- peanut butter                                                                          

4.       Doritos (the red bag)                                                                    

5.       Beef Jerky (all different kinds)                  

What do you snack on?

Have a great one!

/Jenny, the snacker

Why should you extend your au pair-time? Well, why not?

"Going as an au pair to the USA does not always need to be going away for 12 months - we hope you are well aware of the fact that if you are enjoying your time in the USA, it does not have to stop there - you can extend with 6, 9 or 12 months, and you can choose if you want to extend with your host family or if you want to find another host family - maybe in another part of USA?

Here you can read few examples from our au pairs who extended, why they decided to do it and why they think it was one of the best decisions they ever made!

"My best advice will be to just do it. Don't think to much about it, just jump into it and do it! It's most likely gonna be the year of your life, and you won't regret it! It can be scary to think that you have to be away from everything you know for that long, but times fly by. When I started looking for Au Pair opportunities I was looking at things that was 6 or 9 months, but then decided to go with Cultural Care, and I ended up being there for 21 months, and didn't want to go home again!"

- Majken

 

 

"I am currently in my 6-month extension. I had not considered extending until my host family asked me to. They needed me for 6 more months and I have thought through before saying yes. I have tried looking at the pros and the cons but I only had pros! I could still go back to college after I came back, I could enjoy San Francisco for 6 more months as we had just moved there, I could improve my English even more and also travel more, discover more. My family was the kindest possible so this was a no-brainer.

I really don’t regret my choice: I would have never been ready to leave after a year! It goes by way too fast. The extension has been an opportunity to bond even more with my host family and leaving them will be very hard. I think a year and a half was the perfect duration for me."

- Caroline

 

"Becoming an au pair had been obvious for a long time but it took me months to decide about the extension. Since I arrived, the days have been passing by and one morning, I got up and realized I have been here for 6 months and was crossing to the other half of the adventure.

To be honest, I was not ready to come back home. Not ready to leave my American bubble, my incredible host family, my little monsters and my friends from all over the world. The extension then became obvious too.

After talking with my host family, I have chosen a 6-month extension. It allowed me to make the dream last while letting me go back to college after.

The au pair adventure goes by extremely quickly -when you reach the middle, you ask yourself where the time has gone? The extension is a personal choice and I had to make sure it would not compromise my long-term projects but I really chose with my hear, chose to spend a few more months in the most incredible host family."

- Myriam

 

 

"The main reason why I chose to extend my year for another 12 months was because I had such a great time and I didn’t wanted to give that up. I loved the work with my host kids. I had a great and very unique time with my host family. I made so many new friends there and I just simply loved the ‘American way of life’.
I would advise every au pair out there, who is still thinking about extending to just do it.”
- Kathrin

Want to read more? Check our homepage!

Finland: http://culturalcare.fi/uutiset-ja-tarjoukset/au-pair-extendaus/
Sweden: http://culturalcare.se/nyheter-och-erbjudanden/forlanga-din-aupair-tid/
Denmark: http://culturalcare.dk/nyheder-og-tilbud/extend-aupair/

 

The moments that change your life

High School graduation was soon on the horizon and I knew I wanted a change. I had seen a pink poster in the hallway of our school saying something along the lines of “work in the USA as an au pair.” At fist I was not too sure even what an au pair really did but somehow I could not get the pink poster out of my head. At 3:20 p.m. when school was out, I wrote down the number from the poster and once home I called.

That phone call changed my life. I went from being curious to certain that I WANTED and HAD to be an au pair!

I started my application that night and worked really hard on collecting pictures from my daily life. I knew every picture, every finished section, would be one step closer to finding my future family.

The feeling of sending in my application was better than Christmas itself: the exciting feeling that soon my email would show “one unread message” and that message would be from a family matched with me!

 The day finally came and I remember my first interview. The woman’s voice on the other line was calm, nice and warm. She told me about her family, about their life and I could just feel that this match was meant for me!

Six weeks later and I was on the plane going to the USA for the very first time. The butterflies in my stomach kept me awake most of the flight and all I could think of was “I’m glad I made that call.”

-Amanda

Nicoline tells us about what she gained from being an au pair!

When I was 18 and had just finished high school, I decided to take a gap year and work as an au pair in the USA. It was a very sudden decision – but a decision that changed my life.

Not only did I have the time of my life, this year taught me so many things and helped me develop as a person. First of all, my year as an au pair helped me to improve my English! Today I study international business at Copenhagen Business School where the level of English is very advanced. Second, my time in the USA gave me so many memories and a great network! I have kept in contact with most of the people I’ve met during my year and we still have reunions. Thanks to my year abroad, I now know a lot of people around the world and every time I travel to a new city I stay at my friends’ places.

Third, My year as an au pair has taught me that you need to grab every opportunity you have in life and then new doors will open. After having travelled to the USA all by myself for such a long time, without knowing anyone, I now feel like there is nothing I can’t do. After I got back from the USa, I moved to a new city where I did not know anyone to begin with. But from my experience in America I knew that it is only a matter of time before a new place feels like home – and I was right. I am very grateful for this amazing opportunity the au pair program has given me, and I am so happy that I grabbed the chance to move to the US as an au pair, because it definitely changed by life!

- Nicoline

Take the next step in your career, just like Mimmi!

 

In August 2009 I packed my bags and moved to Scarsdale, NY to work as an au pair. I knew I had a big adventure ahead of me, but I never knew how big it would actually turn out to be. And I never knew how much this year would affect my future career, but that I know today.

I have always loved traveling, so working in the Tourism industry has always been the perfect choice for me. I’ve had jobs like ski instructor, tour guiding in the Italian alps, working in different receptions and my last job was as a flight attendant for TUI fly Nordic and now I work for Cultural Care Au Pair! I’m very proud of all of my previous jobs and they have all given me great experiences.

All my employers have told me that the main reason that I actually got the job was because of my traveling experience and my year abroad after finishing high school, and of course my improved English. It tells a lot about a person if they take a year abroad after school. You will learn and experience so much more than someone who would take a job back home.

I would recommend everyone to work as an au pair in America, and not just to have a great time while you’re there, but also to have a great time working for the rest of your life. Go out and get that experience!

-Mimmi

My host-family visiting

A couple of weeks ago I attended my host-family’s au pair reunion. After having hosted 11 au pairs, most of them from Sweden, it was time for them to come visit us.

They had organized a huge party with the former au pairs + all of our husbands and children. It ended up being a party of close to 40 people. I was their last au pair, and that was almost 10 years ago. So for some of the girls it had been several years, and our lives have of course changed a lot.

The 3 host-children are obviously no longer children but young adults, older than most of the women and men that are currently traveling from the Nordic countries to become an au pair.

It was fantastic to meet them again, and even if we have kept in touch via Facebook, emails and post cards, it has been a few years since I visited them. I was nervous to meet them again, but was relieved to feel that there is still a bond. It made me proud to see how the girls have become independent, intelligent young women with both integrity and great social skills. They are just in the beginning of their careers and it warms my heart to see how successful they are.

After the big reunion my host-family spent a week in Sweden and spent time with each of the former au pairs, including me. I think it’s such a wonderful thing that they organized their trip and spent their valuable family vacation with visiting all the au pairs around Sweden.  They had even prepared personal gifts for each one of us.

I am so thankful for my time in their family, and to have that connection on the other side of the world. It’s also a pleasure to know that I get to help others get the same experience by working for Cultural Care Au Pair. When I say the au pair year changed my life – it’s really true. One thing leads to another, and I would not be where I am today, with the experiences I have gained over the years if I hadn’t been lucky enough to have the privilege to spend a year in their family.

/Victoria

To feel at home, even when far away

We go abroad as au pairs because we want to spend time with children, we want to see new things, see new places and get to know new people. We want to leave our “safety box” and leave the daily life we know way to well. At the same time though, when we finally has a place at the other side of the globe, we will at some points miss home.
Different people in my group of au pair friends dealt with homesickness differently of course. Some made a call home, some e-mailed friends and some “liked” pictures and happenings that friends at home posted. This was not my of dealing with the lovely home sickness-visitor. I did not to want to be at home, I just missed it a little bit.
So what I did, was to bring a little of home to me. I took both my au pair friends but also my American friends and with proud I showed them Ikea. Except from eating the classic meatballs I bought, caviar, chocolate and of course salt licorice. Basically everyone loved the chocolate but I, luckily for me, got to keep the salt licorice for myself. 
So, instead of thinking of my friends back home I spend time with my new friends and got the opportunity to show them a little bit of Sweden, and I got to feel a little bit at home, at the same time.

Making friends as an au pair

One of the things I was most worried about before going as an au pair was that I would be without friends. I was heading for my big adventure leaving all my friends behind.  How should I make new friends? Where should I find new friends? What if I was the only au pair in my area? What if nobody liked me? Should I be all alone? Would this make me go back home?

What a waste of time worrying! I realized already at the airport that I that I was not the only one having these concerns. Being in the same situation made it possible for everyone to share a special bound with each other. I met people during had not thought that I would be close to. One of my friends in the US was my host child best friend's grandmother and she was around 65 years old. I looked forward to every Thursday when her grandchild and my host child had their weekly play date. It was a wise lady who taught me lot about life and I could talk with her about my difficulties regarding homesickness and “living at you work”. Even if she was not in my age and not in the same situation in life I really appreciated her for who she was and her qualities.  I made friends for life and I still miss her and our meaningful discussion.