Monthly Archives: June 2012

Driving-Do you have your state driver's license?

Links to the Department of Motor Vehicles for all states can be found here.

http://aupairinamerica.com/state/index.asp

A US driver’s license is a requirement in some states and it makes a great souvenir!
Illinois does not accept the International Driving Permit.  Once you have your Social Security card, your next adventure is to go to the Department of Motor Vehicles closest to you.

~Drivers moving to Illinois may use their valid driver’s license from their home state or country for 90 days.  There are two parts to getting an Illinois drivers license.  The written test and a road test.  If you are from Germany or France you do not need to take the tests, call your community counselor to get details of what you need to do.  If you have a car accident, you can be asked to pay a deductible of up to $500.  Parking tickets are expensive and are you pay for them, so pay attention to parking restrictions.

Bring your DS 2019, passport, Social Security card, two pieces of mail showing your  address (use the envelope with your Social Security card and mail yourself a letter) driver’s license from your home country and all papers you have received from APIA that have your name on them.

June is National Zoo and Aquarium Month

Kids love animals!  The Chicago area is full of wonderful places to see them.  Brookfield Zoo (www.brookfieldzoo.org) in the Western Suburbs, Shedd Aquarium (www.sheddaquarium.org),  and Lincoln Park Zoo (lpzoo.org) in the city are among the world class places you can visit.    But you can’t do big trips with the kids every day, so younger children might enjoy setting up a pretend zoo with play animals and blocks.  Older siblings can create a map of the zoo’s exhibits and “tickets” for host moms and dads to use while touring the zoo.  And, of course, nothing is more fun than adding the soundtrack (animal sounds!).  The library is full of animal books.  For young ones read Dr. Seuss books like If I Ran the Zoo and older ones will enjoy checking out animal fact books or DVDs like National Geographic’s Blue Planet. Animal fun will go as far as your creativity can take you!