Au Pair Chatter

A post by special guest blogger, Alex from Austria:

Countdown calender – Adventkalender

Tomorrow finally the Christmas countdown starts!
To make it sweeter, funnier and not that long for kids, we in Austria (guess so in Germany too) have an “Adventkalender.”  That is a calender with 24 little gifts (mostly sweets) and you can open one number every day till the 24th of December!

I always love that and my mom still buys one for me, so I want to share that tradition with my hostchild!

The easiest way is to go to the shop and buy a ready made one with small little chocolate treats, but of course it is more fun for the kids to get a homemade one! I did that this year and it was fun for me too!

• I bought some sweets and small presents like a pen, warm socks, a cd or a toy (–> go to dollar tree, you can find cute stuff there and just for $1 ) and wrapped them into paper.
• Then write the 24 numbers on the little gifts.
• You can also make a number 25, but we in Austria open our presents on the 24th.
• I pinned my packages on a big carton that we can hang the calender on the wall and decorated it!

I made a Christmas tree with all the packages under it and some stars, but you can make something else too. Maybe a snowman and the gifts all look like snowflakes or what about the crib with mary and the baby and the stars are the gifts.. Whatever you want! – be creative and make an awesome Adventkalender!

It is very easy and it does not take very long and I guess it is a really nice gift for my little girl!

Try it too, I bet the kids love it
Have fun and Frohe Weihnachten (Merry Christmas)
Alex

The Folklife Festival will take place June 30-July 4 and July 7-11.

The Annual Smithsonian Folklife Festival is an international exhibition of living cultural heritage.  Attracting more than one million visitors yearly, the two-week long celebration is the largest annual cultural event in the United States.

This year’s festival will celebrate Rhythm & Blues Music in the U.S., the 50th Anniversary of the Peace Corps and the traditions of Colombia.

The Festival is held outdoors on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., between the Smithsonian museums. There is no admission charge. Visitors should dress for hot and humid weather. Parking around the Mall is extremely limited, so visitors are advised to use Metrorail. The Smithsonian station (Mall exit) is at the Festival site. Federal Triangle and National Archives stations are close by. For general Smithsonian visitor information, call 202.633.1000.

Festival hours are 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., with special events taking place most evenings.

I highly recommend that you visit their website to plan your visit http://www.festival.si.edu/

In celebration of the 25th Anniversary of Au Pair in America and the beginning of legal au pair programs in America, we will be hosting a Regional Cultural Fair. 

When: April 9th, 2011, 1:00 to 3:00 pm

Where: Spanish Ballroom at Glen Echo Park 
               7300 MacArthur Boulevard, Glen Echo, MD 

Who’s Invited: This is a free family event and open to the public.

All of the clusters in the DC/MD/VA area will be participating. We expect to have au pairs representing over 35 different countries. Anyone interested in learning about other cultures and the Au Pair in America program are invited. For more information, email me at cicaupair @ aol.com

It changes all of the time, but here is a word cloud showing the countries currently represented in our cluster.

I have been working on lots of things in preparation for our 25th Anniversary Cultural Fair (coming up this Saturday.)  I made this word cloud for a display board representing our cluster.

1. Make friends with au pairs from other countries. You will be forced to speak English together and you will have the side benefit of learning about their cultures. We even have a few native  English-speaking au pairs in our cluster. In addition to being really cool ladies, speaking with them would be a great way to improve your English!
2. Check out the  International Club of DC  for great activities and opportunities to interact.
3. Check out Meet Up  to find activity groups for any interest.  There are groups getting together for sports, book clubs and even ones to improve their English.
4. Look for activities and classes through the local Parks & Recreation Departments. These will not count toward your education requirement, but they are a great way to try something new and meet people.   
5. Look for clubs and activities through your community college.

American Institute For Foreign Study has a great educational program called Global Awareness. Global Awareness is designed to promote multi-cultural understanding and appreciation in elementary and middle school classrooms.  Au pairs volunteer in classrooms and other community settings, sharing their culture and language.

There was recently a Global Awareness competition where au pairs were encouraged to share ideas for games and activities from their homeland. Prizes were awarded for the best submissions. 

We have a winner in our cluster…

Flor from Guatemala!

Anyone who know Flor will probably not be surprised to hear that she won. She is a wonderful cultural embassador and a lot of fun to be around.   Congratulations, Flor!

February 3, 2011 marks the beginning of the Chinese New Year.  Also known as the Lunar New Year or Spring Festival is the most important traditional Chinese holiday.   2011 is the Year of the Rabbit in the Chinese Zodiac.

Here are some links to learn more and find some related activities for kids:

Chinese New Year Info and Activities

Chinese New Year Crafts

Chinese New Year Printables

We had a wonderful time at the 2009 City of Bowie International Festival.  We were in our usual location right on the water and despite the forecast calling for rain, it turned out to be a perfect day for an outdoor festival.   This is our 4th year signing on to provide free children’s activities.  The initial estimates were that we had 800-900 children participating this year!

I think the festival gets better and better every year.  We were fortunate to be near enough to the stage to see and hear some of the performances.   They were amazing.

This year we had au pairs participating representing, Costa Rica, China, Germany, South Africa and Thailand.

Here are some photos…

Kattia from Costa Rica & Lizzie from Germany taking a break to pose for a photo

Little from Thailand showing the children how to write their name in Thai.

Ayanda from South Africa playing a map and geography game with a child.

Kattia from Costa Rica helping the children color some mariposas (butterflies)

Kattia & Lizzie having fun with with the children.

Lily from China and Laya from Thailand

Lebo from South Africa helping the children color butterflies & Lizzie from Germany playing a map and flag game.

Here are all of my International Festival Super Stars who gave their time on a Saturday afternoon to share their culture with children and help us fulfill our motto, “We Bring the World Together.”

Ayanda from South Africa

Little from Thailand

Kattia from Costa Rica

Lily from China

Lizzie from Germany

Laya & Kate from Thailand

Lebo from South Africa

Michaela from Germany

Verona from South Africa

Here is one more photo of Little in her beautiful traditional Thai dress.

Little in her Thai dress

Here is a great article about an Au Pair in America EduCare Companion from Australia named Amy Hart.

It talks about her experiences here in the U.S. as well as the volunteer work she has done in her community.

A Year of Learning and Giving

In today’s Wall Street Journal there is a great article about Au Pair in America.  It discusses the increase in Western European au pairs in the past year.

Origins of Au Pairs Becomes Barometer in Labor Market

“As job opportunities shrink in Europe, the minimum $132.64 per week, plus room, board and tuition reimbursement that the au pair program guarantees looks increasingly appealing. A desire for adventure and what some call the “Obama factor” also is a lure for young Europeans, says Ms. Ferry. In March, nearly half of all of Au Pair in America’s applications came from Western Europe, compared with about a third in the same period last year.”

The British au pair and her host family featured in the article are in a nearby cluster in Northern VA.