“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

Tips for our au pairs from a teacher!

As an au pair you will find yourself with many different roles; sister, friend, confidant, disciplinarian, and teacher. Becoming a bit of a teacher might be new to many of you. To give you a brief glimpse into the role, we interviewed an elementary school teacher from Wellesley, Massachusetts. See her thoughts on working with kids, au pairs, and what you can do to help your future host kids succeed in school!

1. Why did you decide to work with children?I decided to work with children because I LOVE them...I love to get to know each child's unique personality and to watch them discover the world around them. I get such joy from being a big part of their development and growth. As a kindergarten teacher I am usually their first “real” teacher and someone that they have been really excited to meet for a long long time.

2. What would your advice be to someone thinking about a career working with children?My advice would be to get a lot of experience (babysitting or being a teacher's aide) and, of course, a good solid education. Make sure you are capable of extreme patience, creativity, and organization. These three values will take you really far in the world of teaching and are a good foundation to stand on. Actually these are great no matter what you end up working with!

3. You started as a babysitter in high school and then, after college, transitioned into working full-time with children. What would you say is the biggest difference in interacting with the children? There are a quite a few differences actually! But the biggest I would say is that as a teacher you need to require more respect than a babysitter-it’s really important that the children view you in a different light because you need respect in order to teach.  You should always be warm and approachable, but still respected. Set rules from the beginning and the right expectations and, of course, be consistent! When you teach they need to know to listen and take what you say seriously and give you their attention. Balancing respect and approachability is not the easiest, but it is really important in any sort of childcare work.

4.  What do you see as the benefit for kids in having an au pair?

I think that having another adult to look up to and learn from is important in any setting. A child can never have too many people who care about them and be their role  models. Another big benefit of an au pair is in learning how to establish relationships with other adults outside of the family. This is not something that everyone learns automatically and is an important life skill for anyone!

5. How can au pairs best help their host children prepare for school?

This will depend a lot on the ages of the children, but you can always help in teaching them time management, organization, and responsibility. This will vary, but you can adjust this to fit the children’s needs.  These three skills are all key in helping them learn to do things by themselves. It helps to have these skills as a base so it is not as frightening to take the first step. Au pairs might be a part of the children’s lives as they, for example, have their first day of school, first field trip, or even their first test. If the kids are little, like my kindergartener, involve them in packing their lunches, picking out their clothes for the next day, and setting good routines at home. All of this can help improve their self-esteem, which is such a help at school! 

6.What do you think the benefits are for young kids in being exposed to different cultures early on?

The benefits are endless. Different cultures are something that everyone in the USA experiences on a daily basis, but this usually starts in school. Your child will find him or herself in school surrounded by different backgrounds and cultures-this is life! So having already been initiated to the experience at home is worth its weight in gold. You can teach understanding, tolerance, and respect through simply telling the kids about where in the world you come from.

Do you have any general questions  for our kindergarten teacher? Email us at aupair.se@culturalcare.com and we will forward them along!

 

Travel, explore, experience

“Why do you go away? So that you can come back. So that you can see the place you came from with new eyes and extra colors. And the people there see you differently, too. Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving.”  - Terry Pratchett

When talking to au pairs who are currently applying to become a Cultural Care au pair to the United States, almost all of them mention that one of the biggest reasons they want to become au pairs beyond the reason of wanting to experience USA and to take care of children is that they want to travel and see new places. Au pairs who have returned home often mention how one of the most favorite and memorable part of their time as au pairs in the USA was when they got to travel and see and experience so many different places.

I cannot agree more. I myself was an au pair in Salt Lake City, Utah, which I absolutely loved. During my time I got to travel a lot in the neighbouring states, and even see for example Georgia and travel to Cancun, Mexico! Every state in the USA has their own culture and all of them feel like their own countries. It is definitely true when they say that you learn and see so much when you travel - I truly felt it opened my eyes.

Me going as an au pair is really what got the travel bug to bite me. Ever since returning back home from the USA I have lived abroad and tried to travel whenever I get a chance. Travel opens the world to you - you get to experience new people, cultures, food, language, so much more! Do yourself a favour and go and travel and explore. How about starting it by going as an au pair?