One of the key elements of the Au Pair in America program is the relationships that develop between all members of the exchange—au pairs, host parents and their children, and Community Counselors. These relationships often extend far beyond the time that the au pair spends in America. In many cases, they span continents and last a lifetime!
We recently received a lovely note from Verena, a former au pair from Austria who participated on the program in 2011/2012 and had a wonderful experience with her host family in Potomac, Maryland. When her time as an au pair came to an end, her sister Jasmin joined the program as an au pair and took Verena’s place with the same family.
Verena and Jasmin recently reunited with their Community Counselor, Victoria, in Austria, and Verena shared with us an account of their reunion:
“Our community counselor was Victoria and she was great; she took really good care of us during the hardest time we’d ever experienced (our host dad died from stomach cancer in November of 2012). Other than that, we loved our time as au pairs and are still in touch with our host family (who visited us in Salzburg last summer) too.
Today Victoria Paton has visited Vienna, capital city of our home country, Austria. Although we are from Salzburg, which is 3 hours away from Vienna, my sister Jasmin and I drove to Vienna and spent a lovely morning with her.
Below are some pictures from our nice trip through the snowy city doing some sightseeing and having Glühwein at the Christmas market. It was amazing seeing Victoria again and catching up with her after five years.”
Thank you, Verena, for sharing your experience, and for showing us the lasting impact of your cultural exchange experience with Au Pair in America!
To learn more about the Au Pair in America program, please visit our website.
