Au pairs came together on a cold and darkening evening to dance the chills away, have fun, and get some exercise in the process! We saw several techniques that au pairs brought from their own dancing styles to incorporate into the traditional Line Dancing steps. With master instruction from an experienced cowgirl, everyone was dancing in no time at all! Check out our photos on photobucket!
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Celebrating International Adventures at Barefoot Books!
Vennesa telling Tales from Namibia
This weekend Barefoot Books invited our au pairs to participate in their International Fair to launch their new Atlas. It was a beautiful weekend in New England and families and children drifted in throughout the day. Our Mexican au pairs, Ana and Elisa, started the morning off with Mexican stories and making flags. They also got to enjoy a belly dancer who stopped by to entertain the children.
After lunch Venessa from Namibia shared some stories from her country. She added to the fun by dressing in a traditional native dress! In the craft room Susan and her friend, both from the Czech Republic helped the children decorate eggs and look at pictures of beautiful Prague. Later some African drummers and dancers helped the children dance to the beat of their music!
Apple Picking in October
Taste Testing!
Macoun, Macintosh, Granny Smith. What are they? They’re all tasty and all picked by many of the au pairs attending Patti and Melinda’s October cluster meeting! Under sunny skies and a very brisk wind, au pairs enjoyed cider and apple cider donuts together while we greeted several new au pairs. We then said goodbye to Alicia Cornellisen and Franzi Goerisch who shared their advice about having a great experience this year.
Then it was into the apple orchards for those who wanted to try their hands at picking. And pick they did, as you can see from the photos! Bites were taken and bags were filled to overflowing with the apples that they had reached high for! Some au pairs decided to skip the orchard and they retreated inside to enjoy the gift shop and various samples. As both activities were wrapping up, a huge rain cloud overhead burst, the winds began to blow harder, and we all ran for cover.
Luckily, the apple picking was pretty much done! Now the pie baking begins!
September Cluster Meeting
Launching
Paddling on the Concord River
On a beautiful and warm September day, a large group of energetic au pairs rowed on the Concord River to the historic North Bridge. Most boats showed excellent technique, with only a few going around in circles and hitting the first stone bridge on the way before getting under it successfully. One of our au pairs biked over 8 miles to get to the meeting and then biked from the boathouse up to the North Bridge for the meeting. Everyone arrived safely and tying up at the dock, the boaters were admired by the tourists from around the world who were watching from the North Bridge.
After enjoying an energy snack of brownies and lemonade in a beautiful and peaceful field, we remembered 9-11 and its significance in our lives regardless of where we are from. Although many au pairs did not remember the specifics of the day, others had vivid memories of hearing the news.
Soon it was time to get back into the boats and fight a very strong current to get back to the boathouse. It was not easy and there were some panicky moments as one or two of the boats were pulled backwards, actually hitting the stately North Bridge or gliding uncontrollably into the woods on the riverside! Finally, all boats rounded the oxbow in the river with only one signaling distress. Eventually, Kevin of the Boat House took the rescue boat out to rescue these paddlers. It was quite exciting and as these tired au pairs motored back to the boathouse with their canoe in tow, it was clear that they had enjoyed the whole adventure! They joined the other au pairs who had already returned to the boathouse to share a few more minutes together before getting ready to start the week of a busy au pair.
Summer Evenings
At the batting cage!
Our end of summer cluster meeting was held at Kimballs Farm. It was a perfect evening for ice cream and a perfect time to discuss classes and fall plans. The meeting was to include practice (or try for the first time) golf, but a distant rumble of thunder and lightning changed the venue to the batting cages. Amazing how many balls connected to the bats!!! Way to go girls!
More pictures here -> Cluster Pics
Cultural Fair at Boston Children’s Museum
May 1st was a day of cultural education and fun, sponsored by Au Pair in America at the Boston Children’s Museum. Over the course of the afternoon, hundreds of enthusiastic children and parents toured the exhibition, received earth and skin friendly tattoos, had their faces painted with country flags, and chatted with au pairs representing countries from around the world.
The Au Pair in America Cultural Fair was truly a multi-modal event.
Traditional dance in authentic costume highlighted the presentation by Thailand while the German au pairs entertained visitors with traditional German spring egg craft and painting. South African au pairs proudly painted their country’s flag on little and big smiling faces alike, while a colorful and tempting piñata dangled overt the Mexico booth. Au pairs from many other countries served as international teachers of the culture and beauty of their homelands as well. Photos of this great event are available on our cluster photos link below.
Cultural Fair April 30th
- 2010 Cultural Fair
Boston Children’s Museum
11:00am – 2:00pm
On April 30th Au Pair in America will be hosting their 2011 Cultural Fair at the Boston Children’s Museum.
Au Pairs from many of the countries Au Pair in America recruits from will be bringing our worlds together with fun activities, maps, music, flags and much more!
Sometime soon au pairs will be receiving an email inviting them to participate. Please take a moment to look at last years photos below. We hope to make this years event the best ever!!
February Skating on the Frog Pond
Lacing up!
Under a bright blue sky and a warm winter sun, au pairs came out of hibernation today to enjoy ice skating at the Frog Pond on the Boston Common. Along with many other New Englanders young and old, our au pairs strapped on borrowed or rented ice skates and gracefully glided around the pond while gazing at the cityscape surrounding them. The golden dome of the State House, which is just a stone’s throw away, glistened in the background and park benches surrounding the Frog Pond were filled with interested spectators enjoying the activities on the ice.
Enthusiastic au pairs came out to practice what was either a new sport for them or one that they had not practiced in quite a while. They hooked arms as they laughed their way through the throngs of other skaters. We hope that this will be the first of many visits to the Frog Pond for these skating au pairs and those that were unable to attend will give it a try at another time. Check out our photos of the skaters!
January Snow Tubes Fly
Nashoba Valley Snow Tubing
On a cold and dark January night, several local clusters gathered to snow tube down Nashoba Mountain. Six clusters met in the toasty lodge for winter treats and hot drinks provided by their counselors before beginning an evening on the slopes. After group tickets were bought, the fun began! With old friends and new, au pairs bundled up and picked out their tubes. The music was loud; the squeals of delight were as well! Everyone had a wonderful time and most were already planning a repeat visit as they drove off.
Holiday Partying with the Au Pairs!
“Ho! Ho! Ho!” were the operative words for close to one hundred au pairs at our multi-cluster holiday pot luck dinner party this past week. Held at the historic Concord Scout House, several Boston area clusters gathered for what has become an annual tradition of good food, good fun, and good cheer.
Santa's visit
For more pictures click -> Holiday Pictures
The evening started with the potluck dinner that reflected the diversity of au pairs that attended. We had appetizers from South Africa, India and Italy, salads from Italy and Colombia, desserts from Germany and Thailand, just to name a few. The community counselors came through with delicious roast ham, lasagnas, and potato casseroles, and our famous Au Pair Punch!
Our special guest, Santa, arrived to circulate and hear what is on our au pairs’ wish lists this year. Peals of laughter and lots of photo opportunities were a part of his extended visit. Then, it was on to the Yankee Swap during which we found out a lot that we did not know about each other, in addition to swapping gifts! It was all in good fun though.
One of the nicest parts of our traditional party is the holiday singing that ends the evening. Each of our many countries’ languages was represented on stage as au pairs gathered together to sing their favorite holiday songs in their native languages to us. This is a wonderful tradition that you can experience now in our YouTube video here on the blog.
Then, after all the festivities, it was time to say, “Happy Holidays to all and to all a good night” as au pairs bundled up and made their way out into the starry December night.