Holidays away from near and dear ones

For many that travel as au pairs, this means the first Christmas away from near and dear ones.
It can be hard, and we know that many au pairs experience homesickness during the holidays.

If it happens to you, please keep this mind:
* You are not alone. Many au pairs feel this way. It’s normal, and it will get better.
* This is a once in a lifetime experience. Regardless if you are celebrating Hanukkah with your host-family, an American Christmas or not at all – it’s part of the experience. In a year from now, you will look back and remember the holidays as part of an overall developing, exciting, sometimes tough, but life-changing experience.
* It’s only one holiday out of many. Next year you are back to your old routines.
* Stay as active as you can. The more you want to go in to your room and pull the cover over your head – the more you need to push yourself out there.
* Embrace it! Share some of your family’s traditions with your host-family. Maybe the homesickness will feel a bit better.


If not – remember that you have a network of other au pairs that can offer support. You are all in the same boat, and even if you experience the holidays slightly different – you can always support each other. Sometimes it’s better to talk to them – talking to your family back home may increase your homesickness.

Our office is open on December 22nd and 23rd, December 29th and 30th and then on January 2nd and from January 7th it’s open as normal again. Those days you are of course welcome to call an email. Our emergency number in the Boston office is always open.

Enjoy your time and stay warm!
Victoria and the ladies in the Stockholm office

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

 

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