I will never go hungry as an au pair!

Some call it the most important meal of the day, some just skip it and go straight to lunch but I must say, skipping breakfast is like staying home on Black Friday AND that would NEVER happen!

Breakfast, yes the meal I love the most and USA has all the options for each taste!

My host family, love them very much but I will never understand their breakfast routines --the mom never had time and ran out of the door before I had even started working, the dad, he usually just ate a granola bar (a energy bar) and a cup of hot chocolate, very strange to this day, but as long as it satisfied his belly right?

In my family back home we always have breakfast together so this was a BIG culture shock, I came to realize that this is something I can show them, something from my very ow culture - so I took on this project and decided to introduce my passion for breakfast to the four kids. I actually many times used the breakfast as a way to get them all out of their beds fast!

Many days I made them pancakes, waffles, hot cereal or bacon. Yes it took some time but what I really like about breakfast is not the fact the lovely food but the time to spend with the family together before the day starts.

I would often sit with the children when they were eating and ask them what their day would be like. My six-year-old girl would tell me about the boyfriends, it was always 5 different boys in her school at the same time.  I often was left feeling like my own dating game was kind of boring compared to hers!

My best tips for great places in the USA are:

• Crape Escape- Sacramento, CA
• I.H.O.P (International house of pancakes) Located all over the U.S.A!
• Starbucks for awesome coffee and great bagels
• Dennis Dining for cheap and great eggs
• Peeta bread café, really good sandwiches!

Enjoy your breakfast time!

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

To see my host family again- felt like yesterday

You say that your real friends and family will be there through everything. When I left the US after my time as an au pair, there were a lot of tears and mixed feelings. When leaving Sweden I knew my family and friends still would be there waiting when I got back. Leaving the US was not quite the same. I didn’t know if I would see them again and for sure not when I would see them again.

Now, almost five years later I went to visit them. I was worried. Would the children remember me (they had 3 au pairs after me and one who extended)? Would my host parents welcome me or would I be someone in the way of their Halloween? Did they really want me to come and stay with them in their house?

When my very best friend in the US came out from the car at the train station waiting for me, all of above worries disappeared. She drove me to what used to be my home for a year. When getting out of the car I saw a big banner above the front door (next to all Halloween decorations). It said “Welcome back Jenny”. It was made by the family and contained a lot of drawings, and for me; that meant everything.

The whole weekend was great. The children I got to know once again and my host parents and my friends, well, it felt like I was there yesterday. I can't even describe the feeling. It was not the same. It was a weird feeling. Many of my American friends is now out of college and no longer in the neighborhood, and the dog that I loved got sick a while ago and passed away. I felt sad I didn’t get to meet everyone, but it also made me feel so thankful. That I got to know all of them and how they have made me love my time as an au pair more than I could ever have realized.

 

Shopping in the USA!

A while ago I went for our fall business meeting in Boston. As always it’s great to see colleagues from all over the world and talk about the upcoming year in the pink-blue world of Cultural Care Au Pair.

I spent two extra days in Boston before going home, where I got to see friends. It’s always lovely to come there, and I am lucky to have a job that allows me to travel to places I love.

I had decided before I left that I would start my Christmas shopping. I love bringing home gifts from the USA that is hard to find here in Sweden + that would be so much more expensive to buy here. I spent basically 1,5 full days shopping and ended up buying a ton of stuff – for myself…. The last few hours I pulled myself together and went to buy a few gifts that I intended to give to my father, brother in law and possibly my boyfriend.

Two weeks after I had come home, my boyfriend found the pile of things intended for Christmas and said “Oh, who is this for, I love this” and of course I couldn’t resist and gave it all to him.

So, I am back on square zero in terms of Christmas gifts, my closet is full of clothes for myself and the bank account is a little emptier than it was before. Why does it sound familiar? Because it’s what usually happens every time I go to the USA. And I love it.

Happy Christmas shopping,
Victoria

Greetings from Isabella in Connecticut!

Why did you decide to become an au pair?
I wanted to travel and work in the USA, and since I love children I thought this was the perfect combination for me. I also wanted to improve my English skills, develop myself and also have an opportunity to experience the real American culture.

What child care experience did you have before you became an au pair?
I worked as a dancing instructor for kids and I babysat children for my relatives and friends.

How did you choose your host family and how did you know this was the right match for you?
When we talked, everything felt so natural and simple! I could see myself living with them. I talked to their former au pair and after that I knew that it was the right match for me.

How did you feel after the first weeks after arrival to the USA?
It was a mix of feelings and emotions. I remember that I was homesick sometimes but it didn't stop me from continuing. Everything was still new so it was a mix between homesickness and excitement.

What helped you during this process?
I met friends really quick and that helped me a lot. Also my attitude helped - I stayed positive and was flexible and accepted all the differences. My family and friends back home also helped and supported me when they knew I needed it.

What advice would you give to a friend who wants to become an au pair?
Be open-minded, flexible and think positive - even when it might be hard. Don't give up when you feel homesick, because it will get better. Travel as much as possible and trust yourself. Enjoy your time before it's over and SMILE!

Stars and stripes

 

 

I love sharing stories with friends and family, au pairs and colleagues, about the various festivities that I had the chance to celerate during my time in the states. This Friday is a special day for our beloved Americans, namely 4th of July (Independence Day for the USA), and here's how I experienced the celebrations:

 

Let's start out with how I shared this with my hostchildren. My oldest hostchild made sure to teach me the "must know facts" and I remember the two of us reading a textbook stating the historic facts. My youngest hostchild, still at pre-school, brought back coloring templates and other arts and crafts that we kept busy with. I think this is a great example on one of the many times I shared, a true learning experience and cultural exchange, with the two of them.

 

The actual day of July 4th I was fortunate enough to spend with my American friends. On the agenda was bar-b-queing, while enjoying the company of good friends, live music and the Californian sun shining on us in Dolores Park in downtown San Francisco.

You will often hear how Americans come across as somewhat patriotic, at least more so than what most of us Northern Europeans are used to. In my oppinion and to my delight, this was very much true during the occasion of 4th of July. Everyone was dressed in patterns of stars and stripes, shimering in blue, white and red. Singing about the waving flag. As the sun started to set behind the hills of San Fran, we changed locations and soon found ourselves on a rooftop, overlooking the Golden Gate to the left and the Bay Bridge to the right. From here we had the perfect view while watching the enormous firework display. And yes, it's one of those very special moments, that I will forever remember, and smile when I do.

 

With this being said, I want to encourage you all, to take the opportuniy to take part in, learn from and celebrate the festivities that comes as part of your au pair experience in the States.

All the best,

Amy

Meet the Pink Team: Brittany from the Training School!

Pink is the colour for Cultural Care Au Pair and we all are happy to be part of this world-wide pink team! We thought it would be interesting for you to hear some stories from our Pink Team-members from all around the world - let's start this with Brittany!

Brittany is one of those from Cultural Care who all of our au pairs who travel to the USA will meet or have already met at our Training School. We asked some questions from her from her Brittany and how she ended up working at the Training School!

What is your pink story?After I completed university, I was finishing up an internship at Disneyland Resort in California in the Fall of 2011 when I came across a job opening at the Cultural Care Au Pair Training School. I saw this job as an opportunity to put both my customer service experience and experience traveling/living abroad to good use. I have now been here for almost two years, and each week continues to be as interesting as the last.

What is your current role?I am currently a School Operations Manager. I work to welcome the Au Pairs at the beginning of the week, serve as a resource for them throughout their time with us and help them arrive safely to their host families at the end of the week. I love working with the Training School team to ensure each Au Pair’s first week in the United States is as easy, fun, and exciting as possible.

What would your advice to the Au Pairs be?I encourage each Au Pair to use their week at the Training School to their advantage. The week is a perfect chance to get to know Au Pairs from all over the world (and hopefully make long-lasting friends), learn valuable information from your teachers, practice your English, and ask any questions you may have about your time here in the United States. Your time at the Training School is just the beginning of the amazing, exciting year to come!

Hello from Malin!

Happy Thursday!

In 2009, I moved abroad to become an au pair in the USA and took care of three wonderful children (5, 7 and 9 years old). I started off my year as an au pair in Los Angeles, and after 10 amazing months together with my host family I had an opportunity to move with my host family across the USA to Cape Cod, approximately two hours outside of Boston, Massachusetts. When working as an au pair you really get the chance of exploring and living in the American culture, which is such an amazing part of our au pair program! Luckily, I had the chance to experience both the American culture on the West Coast as well as on the East Coast.

 

 

I have always loved spending time with children and when working as an au pair I truly got the opportunity to work with children full-time. Besides loving to work with children I learned a lot during my time as an au pair. I quickly realized that there was no day like the other when working as an au pair. Typical day at work with my host children usually took place in the playground, at the soccer field, baseball field, at the beach or just hang around at home doing homework or playing together.

During the last two years I have been working as a recruitment leader in Jönköping and Skövde region in Sweden (meaning that Malin is responsible for holding information meetings of our program as well as interviewing au pairs). Today, I’m currently one of the summer staff at the Stockholm office, if you call in and we get a chance to talk, don’t hesitate to ask any further questions about my time as an au pair. I love inspiring others to become an au pair in the USA since I believe it is one of the greatest things I have accomplished so far.

 

 

In the end of July I will be visiting my host family for the second time after my return back to Sweden, I’m super excited to see them again!

I hope you get a chance to look further into working as an au pair in the USA & I wish you an amazing rest of the summer!

Best wishes,

Malin

Happy Mother's Day!

“A mother is a person who, seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people, promptly announces she never did care for pie.” — Tenneva Jordan

This coming Sunday Mother’s Day will be celebrated all around the world in several countries. For many of us the older you get, the more you start realizing and appreciating your mom – and also once you move away from your mom, you realize her value more and more! While being an au pair, many of us build a great relationship also with our host moms as well. With Mother’s Day just around the corner, we wanted to dedicate this blog post to wonderful mothers and host mothers that we have and tell why they are the best! I asked a bit around the office what we think, and here are our results – please do not forget to share your own with us as well!

My mom is the best because…

• She always seems to know what I need -  I don’t even have to say anything and she knows 
• Hearing her voice always feels like coming home, no matter where in the world I am
• She is always there for me & everyone else around her
• She is loving, fun, caring and just a wonderful person
• She always want the best for me and my family – and is willing to over & above to make sure we receive it
• She is very patient and never judges anyone
• She is always there to support me, even though, there are many times she might have disagreed from what I think is best. I love my mom!
• She is always there for me!
• She is always very supportive

My host mom is the best because (or maybe even a host grandma!)…

• She took care of me like her real daughter
• She always made sure I felt home, did not feel lost or homesick and she really made me feel like part of the family
• She has a great sense of humor
• During my year as an au pair my host mom really took me in. I have so many laughs and jokes that I still carry with me. She made me feel like I was a family member.
• She is big inspiration for me and wonderful mother!
• She always shows her appericiation for people around her

Let's show some extra love for Mothers all around the world this weekend!

Explore a new city, country and culture…

Before I went to America I did not know so much about the country. I had an idea about how the life would be and how it would look like. The first time I went there, I went as a tourist, and I really liked everything, and wanted to know more. So for me it was a fantastic experience to get the opportunity to live in the USA and get to know new a new city, country and culture!

I lived in Boston, which I did not know so much about. But I found out that it is a fantastic city, with lots of young people (due to all the universities), there is good shopping, cozy areas, lovely food and many parks and beaches.  I found friends from all over the USA and got to know lots of amazing new places and cities I never heard about before. I learned that the Americans a very open and straightforward and I celebrated “new” holidays and I tried food I did not know existed. I also learned a lot about myself and how it is to live in another country. 

To be an au pair gives you an amazing opportunity to explore America, American cities and the culture!

Adapting to the culture

Hi all,

As an au pair you are going to experience a whole new environment and culture when you move to the United States. Everything in there is done a bit differently than you are used to do in your home country and in the beginning you might want to question certain things – why do they do things like that? Why can’t they do it like I do it in my home country? Those questions are part of the adapting process when moving to a new culture, and believe me – soon you will feel more comfortable in your new surroundings and start to think why I ever did things so differently in my own country.

I have been moving several times to a new culture within past few years, the latest one was just four months ago when I moved to Stockholm to start working here at the Cultural Care Au Pair Stockholm office for the Scandinavian au pair team. I have also been living in Germany and in Dubai and I have seen very radical differences compared to Finnish culture. As I come from Finland I thought “Sweden is not going to be so different, it’s just the neighbor country of Finland”. But as soon as I moved here, Stockholm, I realized that even here some things are done differently than in Finland.

First weeks at the office were very exhausting for me. I learned many new things and new ways to work. Even the fact that I had to learn how do I get to work and where can I find the closest grocery story to me made me tired. After work when I got home I was always very tired and usually went to sleep straight after eating the dinner. As an au pair your first weeks will be full of learning new things and it’s no wonder if you are super tired after your work shift is over. You might think before you move to another culture that you can’t get tired just because of learning new things but believe me – you can, and it’s totally fine. My tip for all the new au pairs is to give 100 % focus on the new things you will have to learn in your host family, new culture and surroundings and after you have done that: eat, sleep and collect some energy for the next day!

I wish all of you a nice and relaxing weekend, I hope the weather is spoiling you and you will get a lot of energy for the next week!

Sunny wishes from Stockholm,
Jenni

Working at the Au Pair Training School

Before I started working full-time at our office, I spent 5 months working at our Training School on Long Island, New York. Our training school is the place where ALL of our au pairs spent their first 5 days in the USA before traveling to their host families. Cultural Care Au Pair has their own offices in over 20 countries all over the world and almost every week a group of these au pairs travel to the training school to get ready for their next big adventure - international atmosphere and many new friends are guaranteed! The school is located at the St. John's University campus, and the campus is the home for our au pairs during the first week!

All the au pairs arrive to the school usually either on Sunday or Monday, and then Tuesday, Wednesday as well as part of Thursday are spent studying hard. The au pairs are divided into different classes based on the state or the area of where your host family lives, so you can make friends already from day one with people that might be leaving close to you for the rest of your time. The topics of the classes are wide variety - but of course related to children! You will be studying for example health & nutrition, common illnesses, safety, being a rolemodel etc. All au pairs also participate into a course on CPR and first aid provided to us by American Red Cross.

Thursday afternoon is probably the time that most of the au pairs are looking forward to a lot - once the Red Cross-training is over, all the au pairs will be headed to NEW YORK CITY! The buses are filled with more and more excited au pairs as they start to head over to the city - the place that most of the au pairs have only before seen in TV or movies! Once we arrive to the city, first there will be a city tour by our great tour guides, and then everyone will have some free time in the city. The tour will include for example the following places - a ferry past the Statue of Liberty, Central Park, all the famous (and oh so expensive) boutiques on 5th Avenue, Times Square, Battery Park, 9/11 Memorial - and the list continues! Once Thursday shifts towards its end, there are busloads of nervous au pairs since the next day they will be meeting their host families!

Au pair school is definitely a great start for your au pair adventure - you spend your first days in a very international atmosphere and together you get ready for the challenges and adventures your upcoming time as an au pair has to offer! Working at the au pair school has definitely been one of my favorite jobs so far.

My favorite moments with this job? Easy to pick! My favorite moment was often Friday mornings and seeing au pairs so nervous and excited to meet their host families - some of them still had a full day of traveling ahead, and some could wait for the host families to pick them up from the school. Many of the au pairs were complete strangers on Monday, and by Friday they had turned to be close friends and already planning the next visit to see each other! For most of the au pairs this is the first time they visit the USA and see New York City - on Thursday when we head out to the city and after crossing a bridge, you can see the NYC skyline open up in front of us, and you start to hear how excited all the au pairs are - that was definitely my favorite moment. I also loved to be part of their first days in the USA and being able to support them for this experience! Once again we can see how much becoming an au pair will give you and how it will help you to "have the world at your fingertips".
läheisemmän ja kuten englanniksi sanotaan ”you’ll have the world right at your fingertips”.

If you have any questions about the training school, do not hesitate to contact me!
Best,
Mari from the office

Min första Super Bowl i USA

Jag tänkte dela med mig om min Super Bowl weekend i New York 2013. Det var en helg full av fest, amerikanerna älskar Super Bowl och är typiskt firat med vänner och familj på BBQ fester. Man dekorerar gärna hem och mat med sin favorit teams färger och logga!

Jag började den stora dagen ute hos min kompis på Long Island. Där har dom som tradition ett stort välgörenhetsevent på stranden som kallas "Polar Bear Swim". Det hela går ut på att man ska skänka pengar och bada. Kom ihåg att detta äger rum den 3 februari och det var ca 1+ grad i vattnet, alltså sjukt kallt!!!!

Men detta var det roliga och även om jag frös i timmar efteråt, det var en folkfest och ett minne jag sent kommer glömma! 

Senare åkte jag hem till min amerikanska vän Mike, han var värd för en stor BBQ fest dagen till ära. Eftersom det var första gången som jag såg spelet så tyckte mina tuffa amerikanska killkompisar som själva har spelat amerikanskfotboll, att det var väldigt kul att försöka få mig att förstå vad som hände på planen, detta gick sådär måste jag erkänna. Jag var mest imponerad över Beyoncés grymma framträdande i halvlek. 

Detta var verkligen en av mina favoritdagar under min tid i USA. Jag kände mig så glad över det liv jag lyckats skapa i New York. Jag kommer ihåg att jag på kvällen tänkte ”wow, vilken dag” innan jag skulle somna då jag hade gjort ett galet äventyr på morgonen som gav mig smeknamnet ”The Swedish Wiking” och att sedan vara en självklar del i gänget med mina kompisar för att fira denna stora dag tillsammans med amerikanerna. And at last, jag hade lite koll, det blev seger för Baltimore över San Francisco!

Elin

Konserter och den ljuva känslan

 

Vart man än befinner sig i Världen finns det alltid en grym konsert att gå på. I USA var jag på allt från konserter i små källare till större festivaler med flera band. När jag vidare befann mig i Thailand var det mer liveband på jazzbarer och nykomlingar på de thailändska diskona som gällde.

 

Även här hemma i Sverige befinner jag mig gärna då och då i ett hav av åskådare. Min absoluta favorit är Håkan Hellström. Han är någon jag hört att vissa inte tycker om. Vilket självklart inte spelar mig någon roll. Jag får i alla fall rysningar, hoppar upp och ner som en sexåring på studsmatta och sjunger med som om att jag står hemma i duschen. Ikväll är det tid att se och lyssna till en artist som jag inte är allt för bekant med. Det blir en helkväll med en god vän och kollega med ljuv musik från Ellie Golding här i Stockholm. Att en av hennes låtar sedan ”är min och min sambos” kommer förmodligen göra det hela ännu bättre.  

Musik över huvud taget, även då det bara är mina högtalare och jag, är något som jag gärna lägger tid på, egentligen under alla omständigheter. Om jag är glad så blir jag ännu gladare och känner jag mig nere kan musiken, gärna tillsammans med en löprunda, vara något som absolut gör susen.

Vi får helt enkelt se om fredagens konsert lever upp till den där fantastiska känslan som jag uppenbarligen förväntar mig.

 

Hej! Med dagens all teknik finns det många sätt att nå ut och få fram sitt budskap. Även om vi på Cultural Care syns i en del sammanhäng tycker vi det är skoj att nå ut till nya tjejer och killar som är sugna på att åka som au pair. I tisdags delade vi i teamet upp oss i tre olika lag, och vi hade som mål att besöka så många gymnasieskor i Stockholms region som möjligt. Vi pratade med elever, syvs och lärare och berättade om vilken fantastiskt bra ide det är att åka som au pair. Jag själv åkte efter studenten, och tyckte det var perfekt med en tid utomlands efter all tid i skolan i Sverige. Jag försökte tänka tillbaka till hur jag själv kom i kontakt med Cultural Care från början, och vill minnas att jag var så simpel så att jag googlade och anmälde mig på första bästa au pairmöte i min hemstad. Blev lite nyfiken på att veta hur ni kom i kontakt med oss? Var det kanske någon som nappde efter att ha sett en snygg rosa affisch i korridoren på er gymnasieskola? Lämna gärna en liten kommentar :)

Bästa hälsingar Madeleine

Roadtrips! alltid lika roligt!

I helgen så var jag och min familj på roadtrip. Vi skulle upp i de djupa skogarna i Jämtland för att gå på bröllop. Över 70 mil på vardera håll blev färden så det tog ett tag. Vi hade hyrt en minibuss så vi var 9 ungdomar i en buss och föräldrarna i 2 personbilar. Vi stannade på vägen och åt och badade, det var jättemysigt!

Jag älskar roadtrips! När jag hade min 13e månad i USA så hade jag bokat in mig på en TrekkAmerica-resa. Resan innebar att man mötte upp andra som också bokat in sig på samma resa och sedan reste vi tillsammans under den tiden.  Jag hade valt att resa LA - san Diego - Sonoran Dessert - Death Valley - Grand Canyon – San Fransisco - Las Vegas – LA. Resan varade  i 16 dagar, i en minibuss. Under resans gång så bodde vi i allt från tält till fina hotell. Vi var 10 stycken från alla världens hörn. Det var så roligt att lära känna alla och uppleva allt roligt tillsammans. Vi red med cowboys och drev in boskap, vi bodde med indianer i tipis, vandrade i Gran Canyon, flög helikopter över Las Vegas och firade kinesiskt nyår i San Fransisco. Det var verkligen en resa att minnas! 

Jag undrar vart min nästa roadtrip ska bli! J

Ha det så bra!

Carro

Min " amerikanska farfar"

Jag tänkte att jag skulle dela med mig av en liten historia från mitt år som au pair. Under mitt au pair år i USA så fick jag inte bara vänner för livet utan jag fick även en ”amerikansk farfar” för livet.

Jag hade alltid vetat innan jag åkte som au pair att jag hade avlägsna norska släktingar på min pappas sida i USA men när jag hade varit i Boston ett tag letade min farfar fram namn och adresser på dem. Min farfar hade för sig att de bodde någonstans på östkusten men jag blev glatt överraskad när jag insåg att de fanns i Bostonområdet. När min storebror var och hälsade på mig så bestämde vi oss för att försöka söka upp dem.  Vi satte oss i bilen med karta och adresser i famnen och började jakten efter våra släktingar.  Det knackades dörr lite här och var men det visade sig vara gamla adresser och grannarna kände inte till namnen vi frågade efter.  Tills slut bestämde vi oss för att ge upp letandet och bege oss hemåt men svängde inom den sista adressen. Jag hade inga förhoppningar alls när jag stannade bilen utanför huset. Tyvärr var ingen hemma, men dock väcktes hoppet igen när jag såg namnskylten på dörren snyggt prytt med vårt norska släktnamn!

Någon vecka senare gjorde jag ett nytt försök. Jag ringde på dörren och tillslut öppnade en gammal man. Han tittade på mig lite barskt som om han var rädd för att jag sålde ”Girl scout cookies”.  Jag sa ”Hej jag tror du är kusin med min farmor". Jag tror faktiskt det var kärlek vid första ögonkast, för som denna man sken upp och vilken lång bamsekram jag fick. ”Du är här, vi har väntat på dig” svarade han.  Han bjöd genast in mig och berättade att de hade hört talas om det fanne en ”norsk” släkting någonstans i USA. Han pratade glatt om livet, om familjen, om Norge och om våra gemensamma släktingar. Sen den dagen blev han min extra farfar i USA! Jag blev inbjuden till varje söndagslunch med hans döttrar, varav den ena dottern visade sig bo bara två minuter ifrån där jag bodde. Jag passerade henne hus varje dag! Min extra farfar tog med mig på segeltur , vilket blev en dag jag aldrig kommer glömma! Han blev ett otroligt stöd under den resterande tiden som au pair och vi fick en väldigt fin vänskap som jag än idag uppskattar!

Hoppas ni får en fin helg!

Nina

 

Körsbärsträden i Washington DC

För ett tag sen vandrade jag och en kompis runt på stadens gator i Stockholm och bland annat passerade vi Kungsträdgården där körsbärsträden blommade för fullt. Det var en så otroligt vacker vy! Kanske har ni själva passaerat Kungsträdgården nyligen? Varje gång jag ser ett körsbärsträd tänker jag på Washington DC. Jag var nämligen där på en helgkurs i maj under mitt år som au pair och fick en guidad tur i staden som blommade i vackra rosa körsbärsträd. Jag hade tagit en kvällskurs på Massbay Community Collage i Massachusetts, nära där jag bodde och kursen avslutadades sedan med ett besök i huvudstaden tillsammans med flera andra au pairer. Det var verkligenen lyckad studieresa och jag fick inte bara möjlighet att se träden utan även Vita huset och fler vackra monument såsom Washington monument. Har du möjlighet att åka till Washington DC på våren under ditt au pair år är det verkligen något jag rekommenderar!

Jag önskar dig en trevlig helg!

Nina

Sommaren är här! Så är även studenten!

Hej!

Nu är vi snart i student-tider här i Sverige. Jag kommer ihåg när jag skulle ta studenten, det var sånt hysch pysch hemma, min familj höll på med så mycket hemligheter inför min student. Jag var mest koncentrerad på att hitta rätt klänning till balen, till studenten, till festen och så vidare.  Jag kommer ihåg att några månader innan studenten så började alla att prata om vad de skulle göra efter studenten, endel skulle till Australien och plocka apelsiner och resa, endel skulle till Norge o tjäna pengar och endel skulle studera direkt till hösten igen. Jag visste inte vad jag ville riktigt förens jag fick höra om au pair. Jag åkte på ett informationsmöte i Växjö och blev direkt sugen! Jag hade ingen koll på vad det innebar förens efter mötet men då kände jag att det var det jag skulle göra. Så jag började med ansökningsprocessen, sökte, blev antagen och fick en familj att prata med några månader efter mötet.

Jag vet att tiden innan man ska ta studenten är ganska skrämmande, man ska ut i den ”riktiga” världen med jobb, bostad, studier, eget ansvar med mera. Men det gäller att hitta det man själv är sugen på att göra. Även om alla ens kompisar ska studera så kanske man själv vill ta en liten paus.

Så fundera på vad just du vill göra efter studenten och om du har frågor och funderingar kring au pair i USA, slå oss en pling på 08 587 930 10 så hjälper vi dig gärna!

Ha det nu så roligt på studenten så kanske vi hörs av här i sommar!

PS. Sommaren är här och då blir jag sugen på jordgubbstårta, mums! Det åt ajg på min student. DS.

Soliga hälsningar Carro

Värdhund, det bästa som finns!

Hej!

Häromdagen såg jag på Facebook att min värdfamilj hade lagt upp en bild på min ”värdhund”.  Vi skaffade honom under året när jag var i USA och vi döpte honom till mitt efternamn, Maxwell Kirschon. Jag hade aldrig haft en hund tidigare och jag kom verkligen honom nära.  Jag tyckte det var så mysigt att ha honom som sällskap på mina dagspromenader och att ha honom att gosa med när det kändes lite motigt när jag saknade min familj i Sverige.  Jag upplevde att hunden i familjen bidrog med så mycket glädje och det var lätt att vara pedagogisk med barnen när det gäller att vara snäll mot andra och visa omtänksamhet.

Han kommer alltid ha en speciell plats i mitt hjärta. Min värdmamma brukar skriva till mig om en uppdatering från Maxwells liv, det värmer mig lika mycket varje gång om att höra vad han har varit med om. Han är lika viktig som alla andra familjemedlemmar. Jag är så tacksam för att jag har fått bo med en värdfamilj som haft en hund, då jag själv aldrig haft möjligheten att ha det hemma i Sverige.

Jag fick en kär vän för livet!

Ta hand om er kära vänner!

Caroline