New York City - my absolute favorite

Every au pair who travels with Cultural Care Au Pair as an au pair to the USA gets the opportunity to experience New York City during their first week in the USA! I know that it is just a short glimpse of the city and that you only get to see the very important sights, and it will definitely leave you hungry for more! I would absolutely recommend all of you au pairs, come back. Come back and experience more of it - there are few places that are as awesome as New York City.

I got the opportunity to work at our training school on Long Island few years ago and one of my favorite parts of the job were definitely spending Thursdays in the city while the au pairs were getting to know the city as well! This gave me an opportunity to explore the city from North to South, from East to West, to see most of the tourist attractions, but also experience the city as any Manhattan native would!

I could go on and write about my favorite spots and my favorite things to do in New York for ages, but I try to keep this short and sweet and as general as possible!

- Central Park. Let me warn you - it is humongous! Keep your fingers crossed for good weather, stroll around (there's a lot to see, make sure to take a look at the map so that you will not just aimlessly wander around - although, nothing wrong with that either). Make sure to eat your lunch picnic-style in the park!

- Highline Park. I guess I just have a thing for parks - Highline Park is built on old old railroad and you get an awesome view of the city! It is definitively something unique and absolutely worth the visit!

- Brooklyn Promenade. Get on the Brooklyn side, get some great ice cream, walk the promenade -- best part of doing it, you get to see the entire Manhattan skyline from the Brooklyn side.

- American Museum of Natural History. So much to see, so much to learn - fun with your friends or your host kids too if you live in the area!

- The Village. One of my favorite areas on Manhattan. Cool shops, cool people, cool cafes - definitely worth to explore in depth... too many things to tip about!

I could go on forever, there are so many things to see and do - I would definitely recommend to see all the touristy things - once again, these things are things you've seen on TV, in the movies, read about them, so you definitely need to experience all of them! Make also sure to get to visit the not so touristy places in the city... there are plenty of them! Stay tuned for more tips!

The view of Central Park from the Top of the Rock.

Times Square.

Being there for your au pair friends!

You are going to be making a lot of friends during your time as an au pair. Most likely a good portion of those are going to be au pairs. During your time you will also experience difficulties with your host family, just like you do with your family back at home. It can be small things or big things, but you will find yourself needing to problem solve. Good problem solving skills are something we expect from all our au pairs.

You might also find yourself in a position where you aren’t the one in need of advice, but the one being asked for it. What do you do when your friend is having problems with their host family? What do you say? How can you help them in the best possible way?

Listen

Sometimes the only thing you are looking for when you have a problem is a sympathetic ear to listen to you. Let your friend vent, let them get all their cards on the table as we say in the USA. After I listen to someone’s problem, I like to repeat it back to them in a concise summary.  “Ok, so let me see if I understand right, you are saying that…” This helps a lot because sometimes when you hear your own problem said out loud by someone else you get a whole new perspective.

Another thing that you rarely do when you have a problem yourself is to look at the other side’s point of view. This can be sensitive, since your friend probably wants you to be on their side. BUT this can often lead to, once again, a new perspective. Wonder what their host parents are thinking? Well, actually think about it. How does the problem look like from their side? It is rare that someone will give in 100%, so most likely the problem will be resolved by meeting in the middle. Helping your friend think up a solution that benefits both sides will help them be prepared when they actually confront the problem.

Encourage Action

Take charge of the problem! If you let problems fester, they build up. I think that is something that everyone knows, but it is so easy to push stuff aside so it is something that we rarely do. It’s pretty rare for a problem to just disappear. The first step is to admit that there is a problem, which your friend has done by talking to you. The next step is to communicate. Their host family might not even be aware there is a problem or what their au pairs point of view. Encourage your friend to sit down and speak with their host parents. We always want our au pairs to try and resolve the problem on their own first and being the first to take the step shows character.

When its time to involve Cultural Care Au Pair

It is vital for you to know when you should involve Cultural Care Au Pair. As I mentioned above, we do want to see our au pairs and host families communicate. But sometimes it is important to involve us. If the problem has to do with safety, it’s important that your friend gets help straight away. That means theirs, the host kids, or host parents physical safety.  Also, know your rights as an au pair. They are all written in the different materials that you have received before going to the USA. Is your friend or their host family breaking the rules then it is important that we are able to help them get back on the correct path. You can contact your LCC, our Boston office, or even your home country office. Even if it’s just for advice, we are glad to be of assistance! We do not read minds just yet, so you do need to be the one to take the first step.

Be the support your friend needs. No one goes into the au pair program expecting to end it early or even to have problems. Also, it’s rare for an au pair to go into the program having any friends. This means our au pairs usually develop tight friendships quickly with people they do not know very well. But, with that said, you are all experiencing the same thing. It is you, not their friends or parents back home that can best relate to the problem at hand. So use your own experiences, our tips and your best intuition to be a problem solving superstar!

Getting over homesickness!

No one goes into the au pair program thinking they will be homesick. I can probably say that the majority of our candidates listen to our preparation workshops thinking that it does not pertain to them at all. The fact is however that we see almost 9 out of 10 au pairs getting homesick. It is something that happens to almost everyone, but of course to varying degrees.

 As we say in a lot of our courses, homesickness can be anything from just a slight longing to full-blown sadness. It can be triggered from anything from spending Christmas eve away from your family to clicking through Facebook pictures of what your friends are doing back home. The most important thing to remember, however severe your homesickness is, is that it is okay. You are allowed to feel homesickness, to feel sad, and, most importantly, to ask for help.

We at Cultural Care Au Pair have over 26 years of experience dealing with this. We have a lot of advice, tips, and tricks to get through those tough times. The majority of us have even been au pairs ourselves and those tips come directly from our own personal experience. Your host family also understands where you are coming from, that you are in a new country, and that you are leaving things behind. Your new au pair friends will also be in the same boat as you and might just be too afraid to be the one to bring it up.

 I personally believe that one of the best ways to get through homesickness is having the right expectations and attitude. Believing in yourself is something that will get you far and will be useful no matter which path you take in life. I do understand that it is easier said than done, but going into your au pair time with the expectation that you WILL have tough times and the attitude that you WILL get through it is the first step to a successful experience.

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!