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

The host child point of view!

My name is Camilla and I am currently the Sales Manager for the Scandinavian office. I am sad to say that I am actually one of the few here at the office that has not been an au pair. BUT, and this is an important but, I am the only one here at the office who can claim to have been a host child with Cultural Care Au Pair!

My parents moved from Sweden to the USA a few years before I was born and until I was eight years old we hosted au pairs in our home. My fondest memories were always having someone extra in the home that loved us and always someone who could spend one on one time with us. Since I have two siblings there was not always time for my parents to sit down and listen to us after having worked a full day. So having the au pair as a back up, whose sole job was to spend time with us, was excellent. It also didn’t hurt that my friends were always jealous, since our 20 something au pairs were always cooler than any parent.

Our au pairs lived in a basement apartment in our home, with their own bedroom of course, as well as bathroom and entrance to the house. I remember the hardest thing when we were younger was understanding what “time off” meant and that our au pair was not always working. For us kids, we didn’t see them as working, I mean, how could being with us be work?! We would sometimes stand outside the au pairs bedroom knocking until she would come play. It took some time for the rules to settle with us J

Today I still actually have contact with most of my former au pairs and actually attended one of their weddings last year. It’s been such a blessing for my family and it really kept our Swedish culture alive!