Sijia, another new Chinese Au Pair

Sijia is 25 years old and arrived about 2 weeks ago in Bucks County, where she replaced the former au pair Hui. Her buddy is Ling and she will help her during the first time as an aupair.

I think the aupair program is a good exchange program.It combines a few aspects such as improving my English, learning about another/western culture and the work with kids.

In my free time, I like to read books, listen to pop music, like Maroon 5, Katy Perry or Bruno Mars., or to watch some movies. But I also like playing badminton.

Optimistic, interesting and easygoing – that’s how Sijia would describe herself.

If I had one wish it would be that my mum can live one hundred years, because I love her very much.

During her year she wants to visit as much places as possible. Los Angeles and New York City are just two of them.

My favorite way to spend a Saturday is listen to music and reading a book or going out with my friends.

I already met Sijia at our last meeting. And she’s a very nice person and I’m sure she will have a great year! Welcome again to our cluster, Sijia! 🙂

Oksana, a new Au Pair from Ukraine

Oksana arrived in her hostamily in the Philadelphia area about 4 weeks ago. She’s 23 years old and our au pair Yoselin is her buddy, who already helped her a bit during her first weeks as an au pair.
Oksana, who grew up in the most beautiful part of Ukraine surronded by the Carpathian mountains,  graduated from University with a master degree in management. But besides her interests in managerical problems she’s interested in other cultures and languages and loves to work with people from different countries.

The main reason why I decided to become an au pair is that I truly love children. I love to see how differently children see the world, and I am happy to be presented with an opportunity to see their development and contribute to it.

To develop my personality I always tried to do a lot of interesting things. Some of them are traveling, reasing, handcrafting, cookind & baking and learning foreign languages.

Before my arrival in the States it was an eventful time for me. I graduated from University and the second child in my host family was born. The third thing – my godson started walking!

Responsible, creative, open-mineded – three words to describe herself.

The only thing I can wish for, in this very tense situation in Ukraine, is peace for my country and its citizens.

I like to spend my free time with my family and friends. Usually, we go hiking, have BBQ or simply watch our favorite movie together. But one of the most important ways to spend our free time is a volunteer job at the care center for kids with special needs.

Everything happens for a reason. Nothing happens by chance or by means of good luck. That is why we have to believe in ourselves, vreate our own lives and then live it!

I am very good at making life brighter and more colorful by doing things that make other people happier.

I’m persuaded of being able to be a good au pair, because I’ve always loved children and I had a chance to gain experience with children in lots of different areas.

The Au pair program is a unique opportunity to experience first-hand the culture and diversity the United States have to offer. It is an incredible chance to make a difference. To learn and to be able to teach, to experience and share the values.

During her previous trip to the Unites States, she had a great experience visiting New York City, Conneticut and Montana. And this time she believes  Pennsylvania will be the place where she can meet new friends and make some unforgettable memories.

 

Oksana, I welcome you again to our cluster! I’m looking forward to meet you soon! I hope you’ll have a great year in the US and that you can do and see as much as possible.

 

 

Ling, Au Pair from China, the first two weeks being an Au Pair in the USA.

Enjoy the post of my blog guest,  a new Au Pair from China Ling. Ling lives in Philadelphia, she is very active and for a short time made a lot of friends.

Ling’s buddy Monica, the Au Pair from Colombia, who lives in Philadelphia for more than a year, is helping Ling constantly. Several months ago we started Au Pair buddy program as well as other Go Au Pair Agency’s clusters. It became much easier to adjust to life in the USA for new Au Pairs. Here is a proof Ling is in the Color Festival with other Au Pairs from the Philadelphia NJ cluster.

I’m Ling, 26  years old, from China. It’s been 2 weeks since I came here. For a new Aupair and a family who has an Aupair the first time,the first week was hard. However, I guess communication is a very important thing for both Aupair and host family, because that’s how I worked things out. If you don’t know how to do it, you can tell your LAR about your situation, I’m sure she will help you.But also you need a great buddy, like me.  I have Monica, she helps me a lot. Lucky me!

And also I want to share something with you. I got upgraded from economic class to business class during my first journey(from Hong-Kong to Doha to America. Lucky, lucky!

On Friday, we girls had a party, we chat, drink and play games. So my tips for new Aupair is-try to fit in other girls, you will feel less homesick.

Then the first weekend, Monica and I went to outlets for shopping. I bought a lot of things for the fall.

On the second Saturday, a few of us went to the color festival, it was awesome. We had a lot of fun together. But that is another story I would love to share with you.

Our new Au Pair Jenny from Germany

It’s time for the first interview of my blog Au Pair mission: Philadelphia, PA.
Around two weeks ago one of our new Au Pairs arrived in Philadelphia: Jenny from Germany. Her buddy is Carmen from South Africa. She will help Jenny with her first steps in the US. As every new Au Pair Jenny answered some questions in an interview for us.

Hi, I’m Jenny, 24 years old and come from the black forest in southern Germany.

I want to be an Au Pair to explore another culture and to develop my personality.
In my free time I love to play soccer and hang out with my friends.

The best event during the last month was the women soccer game Germany vs. Slovakia, which I watched with a friend of mine in Mannheim. After the game two national players came to us and we talked and took pictures.

Adjectives, which describe me the best are happy and kind.

If I had one free wish it would be a life without war and illness.

Besides the US I would like to visit New Zealand, Canada and Sweden.

Two good things I can do quite good are being a good friend/listener and drawing.

I expect to learn new things about other cultures  as an Au Pair here in the States and I see it as a “life experiment”. On top of that I hope to have a great relationship with my hos family and to meet new friends.

Thanks Jenny for answering all the questions! I think it’s gonna be a great year for you. It’s your first time in the US, so enjoy the life here, I really enjoyed my time so far.

I’m looking forward to meeting you soon – in person!

An Au Pair means on par or equal to.

People are often confused about the word Au Pair. The Google search for the word “au pair” shows that people often misspell  this world  as “au par”, “au paire”, “opair”, “au per”

Many people think that au pair means a nanny.  An Au Pair doesn’t mean a nanny at all.

The word “au pair“ is a French term, which means “on par” or “equal to, “ denoting living on an equal basis in a reciprocal, caring relationship between the host family and the children. An au pair will typically be a young woman and sometimes a young man from a foreign country who chooses to help look after the children of a host family and provide light housekeeping. The au pair is given room and board and is typically paid a weekly “pocket-money” salary. Au pairs generally stay with their host family for one year.

 Go Au Pair recruits Au Pairs from over 60 different countries, and very popular in the USA are Argentine,  Brazilian, Chinese, Colombian, French, South Korean, Mexican, Russian, Salvadorian, South African, Thai and Ukrainian Au Pairs.

According to Wikipedia , an au pair (plural: au pairs) is a domestic assistant from a foreign country working for, and living as part of, a host family. Typically, au pairs take on a share of the family’s responsibility for childcare as well as some housework, and receive a small monetary allowance for personal use. Au pair schemes are subject to government restrictions which specify an age range usually from late teens to mid to late twenties.

Every year thousands of young people from all over the world consider becoming au pairs.  These enthusiastic unique individuals come to the United States  leaving behind the familiarity of their homeland, their parents, siblings and close friends. They start a special journey in their young  years and become a part of a host family as an equal member of the family helping with childcare , studying and traveling. Usually it is very far away from their real home.

Go Au Pair at the FRUA picnic

Au Pairs from Go Au Pair cluster from Philadelphia, Bucks County and close NJ recently volunteered for adoptive families at the FRUA picnic, at Limerick Community Park,  PA. 

The adopted children of FRUA‘s families come from all former Soviet bloc countries and republics, including Russia, Ukraine and many more.  FRUA believes that every child deserves a forever family and celebrates the rich heritage of our children’s birth countries.

Several Au Pairs were from Russia and Ukraine. Au Pairs  entertained the children, played games, taught them words in Russian, made crafts and had fun together.  We brought Russian toys and a lot of Russian food. Everyone asked questions about Russian culture and heritage. Although many children forgot their native Russian language, they were thrill to learn several words again,  like “Thank you” – “Spasibo”, or “See you later “- ” Poka”.

Go Au Pair helped make this picnic very special. The agency sent Au Pairs very  pretty T-shirts with their logo. All the Au Pairs were thrilled to wear this  fancy T-shirt and they looked amazing in it. The Agency also gave a huge $1000 discount off  the program fees for any family who had attended this picnic.

Volunteering is a great way to help the community around us. It also has many positive benefits for Au Pairs! They got a chance to meet new people, made friends and got to know American life better through volunteering.

This picnic was a great success, Au Pairs made many children and parents very happy at FRUA picnic!  The FRUA families were so glad to have us. They said to us again and again:” Thank you very much for coming,  you made this day very special. Please, come again, we are looking forward to seeing you at our Christmas party!”

“Thank you.”  “See you later”.  

SPASIBO! POKA!