Tag Archives: cluster meeting

Laser Tag November Cluster Meeting

November 4, 2013 – 8:33 am

Last Sunday we met to play laser tag at our November cluster meeting.

In between fun games we had time to talk , chat, eat and discuss our quarterly safety agenda: Driving with kids in the car

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Ramona from Germany who is an Educare aupair won an I love Boston T-shirt for sending in the best carved Halloween pumpkin she discovered in her neighorhood in South End in Boston downtown

Ramona from Germany who is an Educare aupair won an I love Boston T-shirt for sending in the most original carved Halloween pumpkin picture she discovered in her neigborhood in South End in Boston downtown

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Diana from Spain who just started her year as an aupair in Brookline and Katja from Germany, who is an Educare aupair who is extending a second year with her hostfamily

Franzi from Germany who just arrived in Boston downtown with Sina and Annika who are from Germany as well

Franzi, Sina and Annika from Germany. Franzi just arrived in Boston Beacon Hill last week.

Esther and Ramona from Germany with Catrin from Sweden who started her year as an aupair in the South End in Boston downtown

During the meeting we discussed the upcoming meetings, holidays and introduced all new aupairs to our cluster.

More pictures you can view at Laser tag 2013

October cluster meeting: Making apple crisp together

October 6, 2013 – 7:43 pm

Last Sunday we met at my house to do an apple crisp together. Many new aupairs arrived and they had a chance to make friends and get information on education and our Boston cluster in general.

Judith D from Austria, Emily from the UK, Clemence from France, Esther from Germany and Anna R from Austria

Judith D from Austria, Emily from the UK, Clemence from France, Esther from Germany and Anna K from Austria

Jessica W, Ramona, Rebecca and Anna R from Germany busy peeling apples

Jessica W, Ramona, Rebecca F and Anna R from Germany busy peeling apples

Clemence from France arrived in our cluster and resides in Back Bay

Lea from France and Nora from Germany live in the Chestnut Hill neighborhood together

Angelique from Germany, Anna from Austria, Rebekka and Marisa from Germany

Angelique from Germany, Anna K from Austria, Rebekka and Marisa from Germany

Esther from Germany, Korina from Croatia, Clemence from France are in the standart aupair program. Anna R and Ramona from Germany are in the Educare program

Judith H, Anna K and Kate T from Austria, Lea from France and Michaela and Nora from Germany

All aupairs in the standart aupair program and in the extraordinaire program need to get 6 credits during the first year as an aupair to fullfill the education part of the program. An Educare aupair will need to get 12 credits during this time.

In the Educare aupair program are: Ramona, Rebecca F, and Anna R from Germany and Kate from Austria.

Korina from Croatia got her certificate for reaching the required 6 credits on the education part. She spend one whole year with a hostfamily in the South End in Boston and will go back home this week. She gave information on her experience of being an aupair to all others.

Sophie and Laura G from Germany, Pieta from Finnland, Judith H from Germany, Christina from Denmark, Kristina and Jessica W from Germany and Emily from the UK.

Laura G and Judith H from Germany, Anna K from Austria as well as Emily from the UK are in the Extraordinair aupair program which means they have a special qualification and experience in the field of childcare already before they started their year as an aupair.Being a preschool teacher, a midwife or a nurse would give them such a special qualification.

Linda from Germany was one of the winners in our fall competition to submit their bucket list on what they want to archive and experience during their aupair year. Congratulations to Linda from Germany who resides in Beacon Hill in Boston.

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View more pix at : October cluster meeting 2013

Holiday Party with the Boston Cluster

December 8, 2012 – 11:24 am

This year we celebrated with our Boston cluster together the upcoming Holidays at our December cluster meeting at the counselors home.

We enjoyed a potluck dinner where each aupair brought a prepared home made dish of their home country to share with us. This was a very special international buffet and we all had a blast to try so many delicious dishes and desserts.

To experience a typical American tradition we did a gift exchange : Yankee swap

For our agenda of the meeting we had “Help Children Cope with Stress: Tips for the Holiday Season” and “Ideas for Christmas and Chanukah Activities with Kids”.

Anita from Germany who is already in her second year as an aupair in Boston

Franzi, Linda and Lara from Germany

Jessica, Jacki and Amy from South Africa

Laura, Katja, Judith, Kristina, Kim, Birgit and Anika from Germany

Soy, Nat, Por and a friend of Medford all from Thailand except me on the left

Soy, Nat, Por and a friend aupair of Medford. All from Thailand except me on the left

Nina from Austria, Anita from Germany and Erika from Brazil. Erika just finished her extension time and will fly back to Brazil next week.

Beatriz from Brazil who just arrived in the US to start her year as an aupair

Violetta from Germany, Maria from Mexico, Dany from Ecuador and Ari from Spain. Violetta and Maria just arrived a few days ago in the USA

Violetta from Germany, Maria from Spain, Dany from Ecuador and Ari from Spain. Violetta and Maria just arrived a few days ago in the USA

Me with Franzi and Isa from Germany who became best buddies

Victoria , Lovisa and Caroline from Sweden who also became best buddies

Michelle from Germany and Korina from Croatia

Vanessa and Dennisse from Mexico. Dennisse just started her second year in Boston

Vanessa from Brazil and Dennisse from Mexico. Dennisse just started her second year in Boston

Beatriz and Erika from Brazil. Both aupairs are in the same hostfamily. Erika who will fly home next week helped Beatriz to adjust to her new host family.

Such a colorful dessert table

Gift exchange: Yankee swap

Our Christmas tree

Singing carols together: Jingle bells....

Small gift from the counselor for the aupairs : Advent calendar

Dennisse from Mexico, Beatriz and Erika from Brazil with Vanessa from Mexico

Dennisse from Mexico, Beatriz, Erika and Vanessa from Brazil

All pictures to view are at Holiday Party 2012 .

November cluster meeting

November 21, 2012 – 12:14 pm

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We had a wonderful evening together at Franzi’s hostparents home in Chestnut Hill. Franzi is from Germany and an Extraordinaire aupair with a special qualification for childcare. She loves the program very much and takes care of two children in schoolage and a baby. Below you see her with the middle child.

Franzi from Germany with the boy she takes care of

A very big thank you goes to the host family of Franzi who offered to host our Nov clustermeeting at their house. Over 30 aupair attended and the cluster created a thank you tree with leaves on branches for the hostfamily.

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Paula from Colombia, Ari from Spain and Dany from Ecuador

Sandra from France, Judith and Isabell from Germany, Paula from Colombia, Franzi from Germany and Amy-Louise from South Africa

Sandra from France, Judith and Isabel from Germany, Paula from Colombia, Franzi from Germany and Amy-Louise from South Africa

Kim and Katja from Germany

Caroline and Victoria from Sweden and Esther from Germany

Leonie from Germany, Charlotte from France and Janet from Germany

Sandra from France and Isabel from Germany

Vanessa from Brazil, Laura from the UK, Amy and Jackie from South Africa

Meeting at the Vapiano restaurant in Boston

July 9, 2012 – 9:23 am

Lisa, Mareike and Linda from Germany who will go home after one year of being an aupair

We got together with a group of aupairs to say good bye’s to many of them who will go back to their home country soon after spending one or two years in Boston as an aupair with their hostfamilies.

We shared many great experiences and new friendships developed easily with new arrivals who came for their first meeting.

Left: Anika form Germany who just arrived in our cluster, Right: Vanessa from Germany who will start her travel month soon after being an aupair for 2 years.

Christina from Germany with her boyfriend Wes from Brazil. She also spend two years as an aupair in Boston. We will miss her !

From left: Maye from Mexico, Susanna from Costa Rica and Candice from South Africa.

For more pictures go to meeting at the Vapiano restaurant 2012.

May Cluster meeting in the Boston Common at Memorial Day weekend

May 27, 2012 – 7:19 pm

With lots of sunshine we had a wonderful clustermeeting at the Boston Common at our Memorial Day weekend.

We celebrated that many of our cluster walked for 20 miles at our regional event the “Walk for Hunger” on May 6 to raise awareness of the hunger in MA.

For some aupairs this was their last cluster meeting and we had to say good byes to them.

We also could welcomed a new arrival from Colombia: Paula who resides in Beacon Hill and loves it already.

From left: Anita from Germany, me, Jessica and Hannah from South Africa

Three aupairs from Austria: Theresa and Sabine are in our Boston cluster with their friend of the Washington cluster here in Boston to visit

We enjoyed the warm temperatures at the Frog Pond in Boston today

We also covered a topic that will soon be important since summer is around the corner: ” How to keep children safe during the summer at the pool”.

Every quarter we will introduce an agenda for children’s safety to our aupairs.

Many aupairs who volunteered at schools or school fairs got rewarded as well with a certificate and everyone who completed their education with 6 credits or the equivalent of hours.

Taking part of the education at an accredited school is part of the aupair childcare program.

For more pictures please go to: Memorial Day cluster meeting at the Boston Common 2012.

Maple Sugering

March 13, 2012 – 2:59 pm

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

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

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

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

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!

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

Snow Tubing in Nashoba Valley

February 10, 2012 – 8:57 am

Maria and Vanessa from Germany and Anna from France

Multiple clusters went yesterday to experience snow tubing in Nashoba Valley together. This was a fun event especially since some aupairs have never done anything like it before.

Laura and Ashleigh from the UK and Katrine from Denmark

The slopes were pretty icy and therefore it was a fast trip down the hill. Everybody had a great time.

Jaqueline, Gabriela and Camilla from Brazil

Jaqueline just arrived a few days ago from Brazil and made already some friends during this cluster event.

This was one of our regional events which we offer to our aupairs in the greater Boston area next to our cluster events.

To see all pix please go to Nashoba Valley snow tubing 2012

January Clustermeeting

January 19, 2012 – 7:36 am

This month we held our monthly cluster meeting at my house after we needed to cancel out snow tubing event in Nashoba Valley due to rain. We will have the snow tubing at another time.