Category Archives: Fun Things We Do

Boston area au pairs join Walk For Hunger

Au Pair in America Team

Au Pair in America Team

On Sunday, May 6,  Team Au Pair in America was among the estimated 41,000 walkers that joined the annual Walk for Hunger in Boston to help raise money for the hungry  in Massachusetts.

We met at Park Street Station.    From there, the group dispersed into smaller groups.   We walked various distances, and  many on the team proudly finished 20 miles.

Congratulations to all of you au pairs who contributed to this fantastic event!

For more photos go to Walk for Hunger and Walk for Hunger 1

Au Pair in America Au Pairs visit Fenway Park

Red Sox Tour 2012

This month,  our Boston area au pairs had the chance to join a group tour at Fenway Park.  Under bright blue skies and perfect temperatures, 64 au pairs, host parents and children headed off with a knowledgeable and loud guide. They were entertained and educated about the history of the ballpark as well as that of the Red Sox (originally known as the Red Stockings!)

Au Pair Breakfast

The breakfast crew

The breakfast crew

Due to popular demand, our April cluster meeting took place at my house for breakfast.  My au pairs seem to really enjoy sitting around the table and talk.   At this time of the year there is a lot of talk about the end of the au pair year.  Au Pairs who arrived over the summer months are now making plans to travel before they leave and to make flight arrangements for their trip home.  There are always very mixed feelings about going back, and it’s nice to acknowledge those.  We said good-bye to Tatjana who will leave us at the end of the month.

For more photos from our breakfast visit Breakfast photos

Au Pairs visit Prudential Center Skywalk

This month, we met another Boston area cluster for a visit to the Prudential Center Skywalk.  Au pairs enjoyed the view from the 50th floor despite the fact that it was cloudy. Au pairs also learned a lot about Boston by using the audio tour device and reading up on Boston facts.

Afterwards, we walked over to Vapiano restaurant in the theater district.   Counselors distributed a handout about spring activities, including child safety reminders.   Each quarter, counselors hold a childcare/safety meeting with au pairs in an effort to ensure good quality childcare for their host families.

View from the top

View from the top

For more photos of our meeting, go to Skywalk 2012.

Maple Sugaring Tour

Au Pairs with Guides

Au Pairs with Guides

Last weekend, Au Pair in America offered a Maple Sugaring Tour at the Belmont Habitat for their Boston area au pairs.   In addition to monthly cluster meetings, these monthly regional events give au pairs the chance to participate in culturally relevant activities.  Maple Sugaring is an experience very unique to this area, and au pairs in the area are very lucky to be able to experience this as part of their cultural exchange.

Examining the sugar maple

Examining the sugar maple

Two experienced Habitat guides,  Ann and Sandy, gave us a wonderful tour.    Au Pairs learned about the characteristics of a sugar maple in order to differentiate it from other trees and other types of maples.    (branching pattern, leaf pattern, shape and color of buds)   We visited a tapped maple tree and learned that the flow of sap is very close to the outer bark of the tree and its flow gets activated every year in the early months for about 6 weeks, when starch that is stored in the roots converts back to sugar that gets transported up the tree in order to feed the buds.    This is brought about by cold nights and warmer days.

Taste Test

Taste Test

We tasted the sap right from the tree, and experienced the transformation of the very slightly sweetened liquid into a syrup that is much sweeter by boiling it in the Habitat’s kitchen.   The ration of boiling sap into syrup is 40:1!  We also compared that natural syrup to the Aunt Jemima kind and noticed how different the two taste.    Upon reading the ingredient list of Aunt Jemima, we concluded that there is nothing natural about the product and has nothing to do with the maple sap.  Our tour guides also spoke about the different grades of maple syrup and we found out that the darker the syrup, the later in the season it was harvested and the more maple taste it will have.

Tasting our own syrup

Tasting our own syrup

The Habitat also has a sugar shack that is not in use any more.   This is where the maple sap traditionally gets converted into syrup.   Our tour guides showed us the evaporator machine that the farmer used when it was still functional.

In the sugar shack

In the sugar shack

At the end of the tour, au pairs answered questions to a quiz to see if they remembered what they learned throughout the tour.   We were then rewarded by ice-cream that we covered with Maple Syrup, cranberries and maple cookies.

Yummy!

Yummy!

For more photos of our maple sugaring tour please visit maple sugaring 2012

Boston area au pairs go snowtubing

Nashoba Valley Snowtubing

Nashoba Valley Snowtubing

This month, our au pair cluster met 3 others for snowtubing at Nashoba Valley.   Some au pairs had never experienced snow and were excited to participate.

With lots of man-made snow and colder temperatures, the conditions for snowtubing were excellent: the slopes were icy and fast and au pairs flew down the hill!  Lots of excited screams!

our cluster

our cluster

Counselors brought a cake and hot chocolate which were welcome by au pairs who came in from the cold.

For more photos of our event please go to snowtubing 2012.

January Meeting

This month we had a snowtubing event planned, but due to un-wintery conditions this week, we postponed it to February.   On short notice, we had a small gathering two days later at my house.   Since the meeting was smaller, we had the chance to talk about a lot of things.  Au pairs had the chance to talk to me one on one about issues that they are dealing with.  We also had a nice talk around the table about au pair topics, including child care, paying taxes,  boyfriends and life with the host family.

Boston Area Au Pairs Celebrate The Holidays

Bettinas au pair group

Bettina's au pair group

Boston area community counselors

On Sunday, we celebrated the holidays with other Boston area au pair clusters at the Scout House in Concord.  Over 150 au pairs participated in the au pair holiday gala.

Counselors supplied holiday music, decorations, main dishes like ham, turkey, lasagna, as well as a holiday punch.  Each au pair was asked to bring food to share from her country.

Au pairs also participated in a gift swap game during which they were asked questions like “Who has visited the Grand Canyon,” or “Who has an American boyfriend?” As you can imagine, there was a lot of laughter involved.

Gift Exchange Game

Gift Exchange Game

As a conclusion to a fun evening, au pairs also split up into country groups to sing traditional holiday songs from their country.   Here are a few samples:

At the end of the evening, the au pairs got together with their counselors and received a gift.

For more photos and videos of our holiday party please go to Holiday Party 2011 and Au Pair Holiday Party 2011

Boston Area Au Pairs Go Country Linedancing

Our Au Pair Cluster

Our Au Pair Cluster

This month, our au pair cluster joined three others and ventured out to Boylston, MA for  country linedancing at Bay Path Barn.

Learning the steps

Learning the steps

Au Pairs lined up in a big hall and followed owner Mary Rinker’s dance step instructions.  Mary first walked everybody through a dance without the music and then we got to practice with music.    It took a little while getting used to the different steps, but it became easier to follow along as time went on.  Dances we learned included the Cotton Eyed Joe, the Mama Maria and the Kick Step.

practicing the steps

practicing the steps

Also part of our meeting this month was a talk about winter driving and cold/flu prevention.   This satisfies the State Department requirement of an quarterly child development/safety meeting.  We also welcomed our newest arrivals who had a chance to connect with the group.

Check out these two videos of au pairs first learning the steps, and then practicing them with a song:

For more photos and videos of our meeting, please go to Country Linedancing

Au Pairs Carve Pumpkins

This week, my au pairs came to my house for a pumpkin carving party.   We enjoyed pumpkin puff pastry, pumpkin tortilla roll-ups, devilish eggs, bloody (hot dog) fingers,  fall-shaped cookies, apple crisp, Halloween candy and a cider punch.

Au pairs had a great time socializing and inspiring each other while carving their pumpkins.

This was a very creative group of au pairs, as you can see from the pumpkin line-up:

At the meeting, the new au pairs had a chance to be welcomed by the others and make connections.   We also said good-bye to Siu from Malaysia who ends her extension year next month.  She was able to share her experience with some of the newer au pairs.

Au pairs had great conversations around the table about their au pair experience and about the existence or non-existence of Halloween in their country.

For more photos from this meeting, please go to Pumpkin Carving.