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/

 

I'm so happy I extended!

Hi all current and future au pairs!

When you first start to think about traveling as an au pair, one year might seems like a long time, but as most of the au pairs say, it goes by so quickly! I often say that it's only one month of of each, like one January, one February, one March etc, and with the USA and all their holidays and seasons, you would want to experience everything. Luckily, if you feel than one year just isn't enough, you have the opportunity to extend - an au pair experience doesn't to be 12 months, it can be 18, 21 or even 24 months! I'm so happy that my au pair experience was 22 awesome months!

The reason I extended wasn't just that I enjoyed my time as an au pair in my host family (I extended with the same family, but you also have the possibility to exchange with another family) - I wanted to explore more of the USA, and the longer you stay the more time you've got to travel, meet new people and to explore new places. I was living in NYC with my host family and it took me about a year to find my favorite spots in the Big Apple. During my second year I really took the advantage of having one weekend per month just to travel - you get pretty far in the USA with just a bus ride! Me and my friends were able to visit Boston, Washington D.C and Philadelphia, and we did even few longer trips to places like to Miami and Las Vegas. The best thing about extending was of course, to get to know my host family even more, and see the development my host kids did during two years - being part of that is something I truly cherish.

I hope that everyone that becomes an au pair will consider the opportunity to extend, it was one of my best decisions ever!

Best regards,

Madeleine

If you want to read more experiences about extending, you can read it here:
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/
Estonia: http://culturalcare.ee/uudised-ja-pakkumised/au-pair-kaks-aasta/

 

 

 

 

Förlänga eller inte förlänga?

Är du en av dem som velar som jag gjorde kring det här med att förlänga din tid i USA? Är du under dina sista månader, kanske redan har önskat en flygtid hem, men ändå tänker att du kanske skulle vilja förlänga med 6 månader eller så?

Jag minns så väl hur mina tankar gick. Hur jag kände att jag inte var klar med livet i USA, hur det fanns mer jag ville upptäcka, men hur jag samtidigt längtade hem efter att ha mitt eget, skaffa egen lägenhet och ta hand om mig själv. Min värdfamilj ville att jag skulle stanna, även om de fullt ut respekterade ifall jag inte ville.

Såhär snart 10 år senare så inser jag att valet egentligen var ganska enkelt. USA är en ”once in a lifetime experience”. Även om du åker tillbaka till USA av andra anledningar senare så är ditt au pair-år en unik tid. Att ha egen lägenhet kommer du hinna. Typ hela resten av ditt liv. Kanske delar du den med en vän, eller en egen familj så småningom, men den kommer fortfarande vara din egen.

Studier hinner du med. Vad spelar ett år eller ett halvår för roll – det kommer knappast att påverka din förmåga att ta till dig studierna, eller möjligheten att få jobb. Möjligen bara till det positiva, eftersom du under tiden i USA skaffat dig erfarenhet som andra inte har.

De vänner där hemma som finns kvar efter ditt år i USA, kommer särkerligen finnas kvar även om du råkar vara borta i 18 eller 24 månader. Och finns de inte kvar alls är de troligen inga vänner du ändå hade behållit i det långa loppet. Saknar de dig och tjatar om att du ska komma hem så kan du ge dem en deal – när din förlängningstid är över kan hela kompisgänget komma över och ni kan göra en roadtrip tillsammans på din resemånad (så gjorde för övrigt jag och mina vänner). Meddelar du dem redan nu så hinner de börja ladda shoppingkontot för USA J

Det är så lätt att vara efterklok, men i retrospekt så verkar det som att all logik säger att valet var enkelt. Ta vara på chansen – den kommer inte igen, medan livet här hemma rullar på i vanlig takt och kommer att göra så även om 6, 9 eller 12 månader.

 Lycka till med dina planer och hör av dig om du vill veta mer om möjligheten att förlänga eller bolla tankar i största allmänhet

/Victoria