Monthly Archives: January 2013

How to get your Georgia Driver's License

Au pair Information

How to Obtain a Georgia Driver’s License

In July of 2012 the State of Georgia passed new laws regarding Driver’s License for au pairs. The new law resulted from the federal requirements of the Real ID Act. All non US citizens who are present in the state for more than thirty days are required to obtain a Class C Driver’s License. The exam, including a road’s test will be needed. Please refer to www.dds.ga.gov for a copy of the driver’s manual and access to a practice test.  A program verification letter obtain through the community counselor is also needed.

All locations of the DDS do not offer a first issuance of the license. Check the website to find a location closest to you. All are open Tuesday – Friday 8:00-6:00 and Saturday 8:00 am – 12 noon.

These are the locations close to our cluster that are the least busy. Sandy Springs and Norcross locations are noted to be very busy with long waiting times.

Canton right off 575 behind library- Brown Industrial Parkway, Suite 200 Canton GA. 30114

Cumming 400 Aquatic Circle Cumming GA. 30040

Marietta North Cobb 2800 Canton Rd Piedmont Village Shopping Center Marietta GA. 30066

Class C Driver’s License220

Basic Requirements

  1. Applicant must be at least 18 years old.
  2. Pass Knowledge Exam.
  3. Pass Road Skills Test.
  4. Pass Vision Exam.

Documents Required

  1. Documentation showing your identity, residential address, full social security number ( An au pair must be in the USA for ten days before a SS# can be requested.), and U.S. citizenship or proof of lawful presence in the United States. Click here for more information.

Two forms of proof of residential address are required.

Recommended:

A bank statement with au pair name and the host family address. The statement must be dated the same month that you are getting your license.

A letter from the au pair insurance company with au pair name and the host family address. This could be a bill, an explanation of benefits regarding a claim or other information. The letter must be the same month that you are getting your license.

A verification letter from APIA (Provided by your community counselor)

Proof of lawful presence in the United States:

Passport

Visa (check your DS-2019 form and make sure the correct dates are listed. If not, contact your counselor. If you are a second year au pair, your new DS-2019 form will be needed showing your extended dates.)

I-94 card

  1. Any out-of-state driver’s license/permit/ID cards must be surrendered.
    1. If the applicant previously was issued a driver’s license/permit/ID card in another state, and that card has been lost or stolen, the applicant must provide a certified copy of his or her driving record or motor vehicle report from the state that issued the card. The MVR must be dated within the last 30 days. The DDS does not accept uncertified copies printed from websites, but a fax may be sent to the DDS directly from the other state agency.

All documents must be in English. See the Translator List to locate an approved document translation company

For confirmation and more information on obtaining a Georgia Driver’s License please go to www.dds.ga.gov

2013 Au Pair Cluster Meetings

Upcoming cluster meetings for 2013

 fun ahead

January – Scavenger Hunt     

February – Make a APIA logo hoodie at Andrea’s house

March – Pedicure party! Get your toes pretty for Spring at Marvelous Nail Salon

April – Touch a Truck Alpharetta Park

May – Andrea’s house  games on the green

June  Send me your ideas for our June cluster meeting.              

July – Laser Light Show Stone Mountain Georgia

August – Bruster’s Bring your own Banana get a one half price Banana Split

September – Shop till you drop North Georgia Premium Outlet Mall

October – Make a Jack O Lantern Andrea’s House.

November – Lighting of the Christmas Tree Atlantic Station

December – Au Pair Christmas/ Holiday Gathering at the View on top Sun Dial Restaurant Atlanta Georgia

I Have a Dream by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

 MLK

Each year on the third Monday of January, schools, federal offices, post office and banks across America close as we celebrate the birth, the life and the dream of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  It is an occasion for joy and celebration for his life and his work toward nonviolent social change in America and the world.

Take the day to visit the Martin Luther King JR Memorial in Atlanta and find out more  about Dr. King and his life. Below is his most famous speech titled I have a dream. This is a beautiful and moving speech.

I Have A Dream Speech:

I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.

Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.

But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. And so we’ve come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.

In a sense we’ve come to our nation’s capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the “unalienable Rights” of “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note, insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked “insufficient funds.”

But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. And so, we’ve come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.

We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of Now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God’s children.

It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro’s legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. And those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. And there will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.

But there is something that I must say to my people, who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice: In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.

The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom.

We cannot walk alone.

And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead.

We cannot turn back.

There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, “When will you be satisfied?” We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the negro’s basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their self-hood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating: “For Whites Only.” We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until “justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream.”¹

I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. And some of you have come from areas where your quest — quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive. Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed.

Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends.

And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.”

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of “interposition” and “nullification” — one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; “and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together.”2

This is our hope, and this is the faith that I go back to the South with.

With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

And this will be the day — this will be the day when all of God’s children will be able to sing with new meaning:

My country ’tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing.

Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrim’s pride,

From every mountainside, let freedom ring!

And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true.

And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.

Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York.

Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania.

Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado.

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.

But not only that:

Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi.

From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when this happens, when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:

                Free at last! Free at last!

                Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!3

Beat Those Winter Blues!

Beating those winter blues! 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? 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!  Even when cold, it is important to get out and get fresh air. 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! Register for your classes, and get ready to start learning something new! Call a friend and meet for coffee and conversation if you feel housebound. Set up a play date with another au pair and her host children (similar ages) and enjoy a day together! Join a gym with another au pair! 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! Prepare a Global Awareness presentation for one of your host kids’ classes, ask me for help! 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!! Come to our next cluster meeting and meet some new friends! And, don’t forget your calendar on the website filled with great ideas and activities to do with your host kids! www.aupairinamerica.com  hit current au pair resources and calendar of the season.

Keep Healthy This Cold and Flu Season

Keep Healthy This Cold and Flu Season!

Here are a few tips that are helpful in keeping yourself and your host children healthy this winter season.

16251243-family-is-lying-on-a-bed-due-to-flu-in-winter

1. Wash your hands often and thoroughly with warm, soapy water. Say your abc song to make sure you are washing long enough!

2. Keep your hands away from your eyes, nose and mouth. Make a habit of never touching your face.

3. Don’t leave your used tissues lying around. Wash your hands after throwing them away. 14424787-woman-with-tissue-and-spray-feels-unwell-with-flu-isolated-on-white

4. Routinely disinfect shared objects at home. Don’t forget the keyboard of computers and the TV remote. Door knobs and stair rails are places to clean as well.

5. Consider getting a flu shot. It is a myth that the shot will make you sick.  The flu shot can prevent most flu infections.

6. Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue on the inside of your arm when you sneeze or cough. Flu germs can travel up to 20 feet very quickly.  11369430-close-up-of-a-man-stifling-a-sneeze-in-his-elbow


7. If you are sick avoid going to crowded places and keep your distance from family members.

8. Get enough rest. Don’t be tempted to stay out late with friends. Let your body have a chance to heal.

9. If a fever last more than three days, see a doctor.

10. Keep cool air circulating and surfaces dry. Germs like moist, warm environments.

flu season