Allison, a Community Counselor in Indianapolis, shared this great cultural exchange success story about a French au pair who was able to live out a dream experience thanks to her host family in Indiana.
Moana, one of the au pair’s in my cluster, had a strong desire to see and experience an American prom up close. She recently started her extension year with the same family and had been talking about prom since she arrived.
Maura, Moana’s host mom, said it was one of those iconic events that Moana wanted to experience, so she reached out to a family member that works at her old high school and arranged for Moana to chaperone the prom this year. Maura had all of her old prom dresses from her high school days and let Moana try them all on to select one to wear for the night.
Maura wearing the dress at her high school prom!
Here in her own words, Moana shares what this experience meant to her:
When My Teenage Dreams Came True!
My name is Moana. I am an au pair from France, and I have been with my lovely host family for more than one year.
Since the beginning, I said to my host family that I always dreamed about going to an American prom. In France, we watch a lot of American movies. Some include this famous party at the end of the school year, where everyone is beautiful and full of romance. Of course while watching this, you are dreaming, and you want to live that, too!
One weekend, we visited my host mom’s family in Ohio. She had a call from her cousin who was telling her that she was going to chaperone at a prom the next day. My host mom asked if I could go with her, because of course she knew that was one of my dreams. She said yes, and I had the enormous chance to go to a prom!
Everybody knows that we need a beautiful dress for that special day! So my host mom pulled out the dresses she wore for her own proms! It was really exciting to try them all one by one. She even showed me her pictures with these dresses on! It was funny and made her remember a lot of memories!
The night of the prom, I could not believe my eyes! This was EXACTLY like in movies! Beautiful dresses, the dancing, the queen and the king of the prom—all was perfect! ?
I feel so lucky to have had the chance to live this unique experience. It’s one more thing which does not make me regret my decision to become an au pair! It’s the best choice of my life. Thank you, Au Pair in America!
Learn how you can find culturally enriching child care for your family AND provide a fantastic American experience for an au pair like Moana.
