New Life — Las Vegas

Ophelia’s Diary.

Today I just got my flight ticket to my new host family from Go Au Pair. Only one and a half months left, then I will flight to Las Vegas! I am so excited about this.

My new host family is very lovely. They have three wonderful children. All of them are super cute.

Most of the time I will take care of the angel baby and the cute little toddler girl.

Next week I am going to visit Las Vegas again. I will go to visit my new host family, meet the lovely host children in person. Maybe going to visit an Au Pair who lives there too. She is a Chinese Au Pair from Go Au Pair. We have been talked for quite a while. Now we are very good friends.

So glad I already have some good friends  in Las Vegas before I move there. For sure my second Au Pair year will be even more wonderful!

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2 AM Flood Warning in Philly

Ophelia’s Diary.

I just spent a very special night with my host family. Our building was attacked by flood at 2am in the morning! This is the most special night for me since I have been an Au Pair in Philadelphia.

It has been raining a lot recently. We live just nearby the river. Around 2am when everyone was in dreaming, the alarm was turned on suddenly! Then I heard my host kid was crying.

I was wondering what happened, my host family knocked my door, we got out of the building quickly. Then we saw what just happened, endless water was surrounding us.

We waited outside until 3am, everything seemed ok, it started raining again. We are lucky nothing serious really happened. This emergency warning makes me appreciate my wonderful Au Pair life here even more. Thankfully I can still sit here tell you what’s going on.

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Happy Easter 2014!

Ophelia’s Diary.

Even though I have been an Au Pair in Philadelphia almost 10 months, there are still a lot new things there waiting for me to explore. I just had my first Easter as an Au Pair!

Easter is a new holiday for my host child Theo as well. Theo and I had a good Friday together.

I prepared a little basket for him, he likes it a lot!

I attended an Easter party with Au Pair Adriana’s host family.

People performed the stories about Jesus there. After the performance, children started looking for the Easter eggs.

The host prepared two thousands eggs totally!

This was such a big festival!

On Easter Sunday, we song in the choir of the Chinese Gospel Church. This was my first time to attend a choir. In China, only people who can sing really very well have the chance to sing in the choir.

America is really a great place where people have enough freedom to enjoy their life best.

I love being an Au Pair in America!

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How to fill an Au Pair’s income tax?

Ophelia’s Diary.

I just finished my Au Pair income taxes. At first, I felt it was so hard to fill out the tax form, but as I already got it done- it’s super easy now. So I would like to share my experience with other Au Pairs.

Then you won’t have problems with you tax return!

First calculate how much stipend you made during 2013. A 1040NR-­EZ form need to be submitted before April 15, 2014. You don’t need a W­ 2 form from your host family.

Here is a link that will tell you how to fill out your 1040NR­-EZ tax form step by step. You will find how much taxes you own using the instruction chart.

After you finish the form, print it out, sign your name and date. You can put a payment (check) together with the tax form in an envelope and then mail it. Or you can use free software tax service and pay online. I mailed the payment with my tax form. You can find the mail address at 1040NR­-EZ form instructions. When you mail it, make sure you get a Certified Mail Receipt, it will be a proof shows that you do mail your taxes form before April 15, 2014.

Good luck with your tax return!

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Hiking 20 miles in Hawaii

Ophelia’s Diary.

Do you enjoy a natural beauty? Have you ever hiked 20 miles in two days? Can you imagine how cute the Nene is in the mountain? I experienced all of these in Haleakala, Hawaii with my host dad.

We started around 10 am. The weather was hot, just wearing a shirt was enough. It was my first time walking in the desert. Everywhere was dark gray sand. A few green plants stood up. At this moment, you can truly feel how miraculous life is.

As we continued walking, the weather changed quickly, so did the scenery. Sometimes it rained, sometimes it’s very cold.

We saw four seasons landscape during our journey.

We got to the cabin before dark. So we had time to settle down and cook dinner.

When the night drew on, we had time to enjoy the full sky stars peacefully. Then I sat down start to think life could as amazing as…

Even thought I like hiking a lot.

Hiking 20 miles was still a big challenge for me.

After I did it, I was so proud of myself. From then on, no matter what kind of difficulties I meet in my life, I will never shrink back.

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From Alaska to Hawaii.

Ophelia’s Diary.

After Christmas, I left Alaska and traveled to Hawaii with my host family.

Before I started my trips, all my friends told me like this, “ Ophelia, I have never been in Alaska or Hawaii, you are so lucky!” I know I am super lucky to be an Au Pair. Your life experience can be as great as mine if you choose to be an Au Pair. Also, I am a lucky Au Pair, because I chose Go Au Pair agency and Go Au Pair helped me find an amazing family.

Are you ready to explore Hawaii together with me, now? We went to the island called Maui. During that time, President Obama was in Hawaii too. Unfortunately, we were on different islands.

Every morning, you can see whales in the water. 

Laying on the beach, listening to the lap of the waves against the seashores. Or just have a nap after you get out of the swimming pool. Life is lazy here.

The most amazing things I saw was the rainbow. We even saw a double rainbow!

I am sure the rainbow impressed Theo too. At such a young age, Theo could experience this  great thing, it was so good for him. I hope his life can be as colorful as the rainbow in the future.

Hawaii is a place after you come, you don’t want to leave anymore.

I am looking forward to coming back to Hawaii one day.

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My first Christmas in the US with Ice and Snow!

Ophelia’s Diary.

It was  my first Au Pair‘s Christmas being far away from my family in China, and I had  my first Christmas in a world of ice and snow -in Alaska. My host family is originally from Alaska, so we came there together before the holiday.

I got a lot of gifts from my host family. Especially, from a grandma, she gave me a lot of scarves, bags and chocolates. Also, I got a kindle from her, this will help me improve my reading and writing abilities a lot.

After Christmas dinner, we built gingerbread house together. I was in a group with Sam. We built very pretty house. Our house won the second.

My host parents won the first! Their house showed how lovely this family is. I am glad I can live with this No.1 family.

Another interesting story in Alaska was I made a good friend whose name is Maggie. She is grandma’s dog.

Maggie is so sweet, every time when I saw her, I couldn’t help giving her a big hug. I had a two hours long walk with grandma and Maggie. We all enjoyed the pretty view of this snow world.

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Au Pair’s wonderful Thanksgiving in Houston

Ophelia’s Diary.

As an Au Pair, I have one week’s vacation during Thanksgiving.
My friends in Houston invited me to celebrate Thanksgiving with them. The Peters is a big family with four kids. I knew them in China. This family is very nice, they helped me adapted my Au Pair life in Philadelphia a lot.

This was my first Thanksgiving. I was so excited about it. We had a very big meal. First time I saw how turkey was cooked.

Just pies, we had five! 

During the dinner, we talked a lot. They asked me a lot interesting questions about my Au Pair life and Chinese culture.

Also, I went to entertainment places with kids.

I love these four kids so much, they bring endless happiness to my life.

We played pool, bowling, mini golf together. We went biking and exploring a wetland too.
They youngest one is so cute, he always said,” I love you, Ophelia. Would you like to sleep with me tonight?” He is just three years old!

Can you imagine that I met a Chinese friend in Houston who is also an Au Pair. We used to go to the same college and the same church. We were so glad to meet each other. Even though we just had a very short time to get together, we really appreciated it.

There were so many people I need to thank during this special holiday.

Thank the Peters family who invited me to Houston; thank Go Au Pair and my host family help me have a great life experience in the US; thank my family in China suppose me being an Au Pair. Of course, I should never forget thank God who gives me this wonderful life!

Read more stories from Ophelia’s Diary.

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Au Pair’s awesome class

Ophelia’s Diary.

Education is an important part of the Au Pair program. As an Au Pair in America, I received $500 educational allowance from my host family. This gives me a great chance to experience American’s education.

My host family and a Local Area Representative (LAR) helped me find a nice school — International House of Philadelphia.

Now I take English class there. My classmates are from different counties such as Brazil, Japan, Turkey, Peru, France and so on. I can learn not just English but different countries’ culture in my class.

I have studied there almost two months. And my English does improve a lot during this time.

Au Pairs must complete 6 credit hours or 72 classroom hours during the program year and may complete any course -it does not have to be an English language class.

Next semester, I will take some accounting classes. Learning the tax system of America should be very helpful and interesting.

Read more stories from Ophelia’s Diary.

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Go Au Pair Abroad

Do you know that if you are young and a U.S. citizen, you can participate in Go Au Pair Abroad and live with a Host Family, learn about another country, culture and language while providing child care.

Go Au Pair agency currently sends Au Pairs to the following countries:

• Australia
• Austria
• China
• France
• Germany
• Netherlands
• Norway
• New Zealand
• South Africa
• Turkey

Not all countries have official Au Pair programs. An Au Pair can still travel to such countries and be an Au Pair if a host family is available as a sponsor.

The International Au Pair Association (IAPA)  protects the rights of au pairs and host families from many countries. IAPA promotes Au Pairs program and helps with information Au Pairs and host families,” IAPA is the leading global trade association for organisations active in all aspects of au pair and cultural exchange programs. IAPA has more than 170 member organisations active in 45 countries worldwide.”

If you love children and would like to travel,
if you want to get out of your comfort zone and live a more exciting life,
if you dream to experience another culture in full and learn another language,
and if you are looking forward to gaining once in a lifetime experiences–Go Au Pair Abroad,

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