by artimageslibrary

Born in 1848 Tiffany (whose father started the Tiffany jewelry store) was a very fine painter but is best known for his work in stained glass. Make your own “stained glass” by following these easy instructions. This is a perfect use for broken crayons. Spread out newspaper and make crayon shavings (a small pencil sharpener is perfect for this). Cover the ironing board with newspaper and sprinkle the crayon shavings on a square of wax paper. Cover with another square of wax paper and more newspaper. Press the paper with a warm iron until the wax of the crayons is melted. These look beautiful hung in the window! Make a frame out of construction paper if you wish.

by drinteam2011

The Super Bowl is the annual American Football championship and a popular time for friends to gather in front of the TV. Each year millions of people watch the game, the half-time show – or just the commercials!  People will be talking about the commercials for days. To learn more about football visit the “Life in the US” section of this website http://aupairinamerica.com/resources/life_in_the_us/football.asp

Note:  This post will remain at the top until our Cultural Fair.  Please scroll down to see new content.

What:     Au Pair in America Central Maryland Cultural Fair
When:    Saturday, February 25, 1-3 pm
Where:   Bowie Library (Large Meeting Room)
15210 Annapolis Road (Rt. 450), Bowie, MD 20715

Local au pairs from countries around the globe, will share their cultures through visual displays, food samples, games and performances.  Children will receive passports and have them stamped as they visit each country.  Admission is free.  If you have any questions, email either the Annapolis counselor  Natasha Wrobel (wrobeln @ comcast.net) [without spaces] or the Columbia counselor Jan Peedin (momagent @ aol.com) [without spaces].   This was a video from a previous Cultural Fair that we had.

Click here to read the post on the Wall Street Journal website

Check out this post on the Wall Street Journal online.

It’s written by reporter, John J. Edwards III and he talks about his thought process in deciding to hire an au pair.

He is planning to post updates as he and his wife continue in the process of becoming a host family.

Traditionally, the groundhog is supposed to wake up on February 2, and come up out of his burrow. If he sees his shadow, he will return to the burrow for six more weeks of winter. If he doesn’t see his shadow, he remains outside and starts his year, because he knows that spring has arrived early. In the U.S., the “official” groundhog is kept in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania and is called “Phil.” Though not based in science, it is a fun US tradition.  The movie, starring Bill Murray is hilarious!

After the decorations are put away, the celebrations are over, the New Year has begun: and the post holiday winter blues are starting to hit you and your host family.  What can you do to get through the long cold winter months happily?

1. Get outside every day with the kids, bundle up and play outside.  Go to the park, take a walk, ride bikes; we have been having an unusually warm winter, so enjoy it!  If it snows, build a snowman, go sledding, have fun outside!
2. Stay on routine with the kids; get up on time, have breakfast, get to the bus stop on time.  Make sure homework is done and everyone gets to their activities on time.  Bedtime routines are important, make sure everyone gets enough sleep and that includes YOU!
3. Register for your classes, and get ready to start learning something new!
4. Call a friend and meet for coffee and conversation if you feel housebound. 
5. Set up a play date with another au pair and her host children (similar ages) and enjoy a day together! 
6. Join a gym with another au pair!
7. Use the library in your town.  Sign the kids up for free programs (talk to host parents about the programs!)  Join the English conversation group, improve your English and meet people!
8. Prepare a Global Awareness presentation for one of your host kids’ classes, ask me for help!
9. Volunteer at a local hospital, school, animal shelter, food bank if you have extra time on your hands and need to do something!  Doing for others is always an answer for the blues!!
10. Come to our new Annapolis cluster group Coffee Klatch on Jan 19th and 30th at the new stand alone Starbucks in Severna Park on Rt 2 and Robinson Road to ask questions or just to chat from 9:30 am until 11:30 am. 

Sunday December 11th was the International Holiday party for the Annapolis cluster of Au Pair in America.  Each au pair brought a cookie or sweet  from her home country to share and all girls went home with a bag of treats from all over the world!  Girls from Germany, Brazil, Ukraine and Thailand joined in the festivities.  Each au pair brought a wrapped gift for the gift exchange.  The gifts were placed under the tree as the au pairs arrived.  We learned about each others customs and traditions and got to know each other a bit more!   The Thai girls educated us on their New Year traditions as this is the big holiday that is celebrated in their home country.  Later we gathered around the tree for the gift exchange, numbers were drawn to determine who went 1, 2, 3 and so on.  Natasha Wrobel, Annapolis Community Counselor, handed out Christmas mugs for hot chocolate to keep warm over the upcoming winter months. 

We also had the pleasure and honor of having a Federal Marshall visit with us to give the au pairs a safety briefing and practical tips when they are out with their host families children, out on the town alone or out with friends.  It was very educational and informative. 

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all!    

The next UCLA APIA Advantage Course will run from February 6 – June 11. Registration is already open atwww.uclaextension.edu/aupairs

The cost of the class is $500 and it satisfies the education requirement for au pairs or half the requirement for EduCare companions.

This 19-week course, specifically designed for au pairs who are required to continue their education as a part of their experience in the U.S., is offered in a blended format–partially a media-rich, self-paced online environment and partially an instructor-led, cohort-based model.

The interdisciplinary course of study includes:

• U.S. History: Eras 1-5 (up to Civil War and Reconstruction), including mini-modules on economics and geography
• English-language study, including weekly reading and writing exercises
• Arts in the U.S., including virtual field trips and activities reflective of historical eras studied by participants
• U.S. literature: the readings which reflect the eras studied in the U.S. history module
• Career counseling and interest inventories to determine future directions for the participants.

Participants read lessons, write, share resources, network with one another, and collaborate on special projects, as well as explore web links, play games, and take virtual field trips, all designed to further their understanding of U.S. culture.

The Community Involvement segment of the program takes the au pairs into face-to-face contact with the community. Au pairs will relate these experiences to their academic coursework in American Studies Online.

For further information call (310) 206-6671 or email online@uclaextension.edu

Thanksgiving in the United States is celebrated on the 4th Thursday in November.  It is often thought of as a particularly American holiday because of the story of the Pilgrims and the Indians.  You will find, however, that most cultures, religions, and/or countries have some kind of a holiday that involves giving thanks.  Many of them are associated with harvest time.  Some of them are still celebrated as separate holidays. 

In ancient times the Hebrews had a feast at which they gave thanks to God for their harvest.  It was called Sukkot and Jews still celebrate it today.  The ancient Greeks had a harvest festival in honor of Demeter, the goddess of the harvest.  They brought gifts of honey, fruit and grain to her shrines.  The Romans honored Ceres, the goddess who protected their crops.  They called it the festival of Cerelia, and that is where the word “cereal” is derived.  For hundreds of years the Chinese have celebrated a festival of the harvest moon.  This brightest moon of the year shines on the 15th day of the 8th month of the Chinese lunar calendar.  The festival is called the Mid-Autumn Festival.  The Vietnamese call this festival Tet Trung Thu.  Koreans celebrate it as Chu-Sok.  People in Southern India celebrate at least 2 harvest festivals, Onam in the fall and Pongal in the midwinter.  Onam is a harvest festival associated with the legendary King Mahabalia.  Pongol is the celebration of the rice harvest, the biggest festival of the year.  In England, the thanksgiving celebration was called Harvest Home.  It took place when the last field was harvested and the crops were brought safely to the barns.  Thanksgiving has also been celebrated in Canada for a long time.  It probably began many years before the Pilgrims landed in America. 

So when the Pilgrims did land in their new home on December 21, 1620, they already knew about the ceremonies of thanksgiving.  They had, of course, come from England and were familiar with the custom of giving thanks after the harvest.  So, one year later, after a year of terrible hardship and frighteningly little success, Governor William Bradford proclaimed the first day of Thanksgiving in the Plymouth Colony.  This was the feast day that many think of when we hear “the first Thanksgiving.”  It was the one shared with the Indians, who had helped the Pilgrims and introduced them to the native foods and strange farming practices of the New World.

A small group from the Annapolis cluster met on Friday night to paint their own pottery at Xpress It Studio in Crofton on Rt. 3 to make a mug for themself or a gift for a friend.