Yearly Archives: 2016

Holiday & Vacation Reminders

With Memorial Day almost here, I wanted to remind everyone about program rules on holidays and vacations.

Holidays

  • Host families are NOT REQUIRED to give au pairs any specific holidays.
  • Each host family will make different arrangements on holidays, some au pairs will be off and others will be required to work.
  • Au pairs should NOT make plans for holidays without checking with your host family FIRST.

luggage maliasVacation

  • Au pair earns 2 weeks of paid vacation during the course of her year.
  • The host family can pick a week and the au pair can pick a week, if an agreement is not reached.
  • All vacation should be preplanned (at least 4 weeks in advance.)
  • All au pair’s friends and/or family visits/vacations should be pre-approved prior to purchasing a ticket.
  • If an au pair travels with their host family, it should be discussed UP FRONT whether this is the au pair’s vacation or if she is working.
  • If an au pair travels with the host family to work, the host family is required to pay for her transportation, lodging and meals.

Important: An au pair MUST have her DS2019 signed PRIOR to her departure from the US. More information about this can be found by selecting the Resources tab on the top of this page and looking under “Travel Links for Au Pairs.”

Drive-In Movies

Have you ever been to a drive-in movie? Drive-in movies are outdoor theaters where the movie is projected on a large screen and you watch from your car. There were once over 4,000 drive-in theaters in the U.S., now only a few hundred remain.

One of those still operating is right here in Maryland, in the Baltimore area.  Bengies Drive-In has been in business since 1956.  It is about an hour drive from most parts of our cluster, but since they are the only one left in the entire state of Maryland, that doesn’t sound so far.

Bengies

Click here to visit the website

I have been taking my kids to drive-in movies at Bengie’s for the past few years and we love it.

The drive-in is only open Spring-Fall.

Drive-In Movie Tips for First Timers:

  1. You pay one price whether you stay for 1, 2 or all 3 movies. *Cash only for admission*
  2. You may stay in your car or bring chairs to sit in in front of your parking space.
  3. If you go in the summer and plan to sit outside, bring insect repellent spray or bug bracelets.
  4. If you go in the fall when the weather is cool, bring blankets.
  5. You cannot bring in outside food or drinks, unless you purchase an outside food permit. I recommend you buy your snacks there. They have some interesting options that you don’t see at a regular movie concession stand and that’s part of the full experience.
  6. Before you go, read the information on their website about headlights. You need to know how to disable your headlights when you are inside the movie.
  7. You also need to figure out how to turn your vehicle to the “accessory setting” with your key. This will allow you to listen to the movie without draining your battery. VERY IMPORTANT
  8. There is a note on their website about how to enter their address with GPS.  There address is listed as “Middle River”not Baltimore on GPS.

If you give it a try, let me know how you like it!

Outdoor Movies in DC Area

17724871620_62f5c46ae0_zIf you are looking to enjoy a movie outdoors this summer, there are lots of local options to consider.

DC Outdoor Films website offers a very comprehensive list which includes locations in DC, Maryland and Virginia.

 

Here are a few popular ones:

Golden Cinema Series
Golden Triange BID offers outdoor movies Friday nights through July.

Movies on the Potomac
National Harbor offers movies on Sunday nights through September 29.

Screen on the Green 
Outdoor movies on the National Mall in DC

Drive-In Movie 
Don’t forget about Bengie’s Drive-in Movie Theater in the Baltimore area. It’s a good hour drive from most of our cluster, but well worth it for the experience if you’ve never been to a drive-in movie. Check out my blog post about Bengie’s Drive-in.

Privacy, Personal Information & The Internet

It’s a good idea to carefully consider what you post online. This will help protect your privacy and safety as well as that of your host familyIt is important to respect your host family’s privacy and not share personal details and information.  This applies to all kinds of situations, including: personal conversations, email and social websites.

For your own safety, it is a good idea to be careful what personal information you share about yourself as well. You should not be giving out information like your telephone number and address to people you don’t know.

Once you post something on the internet (even if you later delete it), it can show up elsewhere.  Unless you have specific permission from the host family, you should not post pictures of them, their children or their home on the internet.

If you have a blog or website where you post in your native language, remember there is translation software.  So, even if you say it in your native language, be sure it is not something you will regret.

Au Pair Tax Info

At our last Cluster Meeting we discussed taxes. Here are some reminders:

Who is supposed to file taxes? – All au pairs who made $4000 or more in the calendar year (Jan 1 – Dec 31.) Au pairs who made less than $4000, are not required to file a tax return for 2015.

Will all au pairs have to pay something? – No, it depends on when you arrived and how much money you earned last year.

When are 2015 taxes due? – April 15, 2016

Where can I get the tax form? –  1040NR-EZ Form

Where can I get the instruction booklet? – 1040NR-EZ Booklet

Where can I get detailed information on filing my taxes? – APIA Tax Info for Au Pairs

Where can I see a sample au pair tax form? – Sample Completed Tax Form

Where should I mail my tax return form?
Department of the Treasury
Internal Revenue Service
P.O. Box 1303
Charlotte, NC 28201-1303

How do I write a check or money order? – Check here

How do I address an envelope? – Check here

Hints for Success – Homesickness/Culture Shock

heart hand byAlmost everyone experiences culture shock when they come to a completely new environment. Everything is different: the language, the food, and the people.

Here are my Top 5 Tips for
Dealing with Homesickness

1. Make Friends – Don’t wait for other au pairs to reach out to you, reach out to them. There are other lots of new au pairs who are feeling the same way you are right now. Set a goal to reach out to a few of them each day. Some will respond and some will not. Don’t let that discourage you. No one will ever be mad at you for sending them a message to say hello or ask if they want to do something together. Make friends from various countries and you will also get a chance to practice your English skills together.

2. Stay in touch with your home country, but not too much. Skyping or talking on the phone every day with your family and/or friends back home normally makes homesickness worse. Try emailing instead and reduce the Skype and phone calls to once a week, until you feel stronger. It’s much harder seeing the faces and hearing the voices of those you miss.

3. Get out of the house (or your room specifically) – Go to cluster meetings, have coffee or movies with other au pairs, join a gym, go to the library, go for a walk, visit the mall, get a manicure, visit a museum. If someone invites you out, say “yes.” Also, don’t be afraid to do the inviting. If your host family invites you to do things with them, say “yes.” This will help you get to know each other and contribute to your overall happiness.

4. Realize that it definitely gets better – All au pairs experience homesickness and nearly all of them stay and have a successful year (some stay for two years.) So, it must get better, right? Once you get past the initial homesickness, most au pairs report how quickly the year goes by.

5. Make Plans – Create your own Au Pair Bucket List (places you want to go, new foods to try, new things to experience during your year in the U.S.) and start doing them now. Post on our cluster Facebook group to find others who may want to join you on your adventures.

Photo by:  Shimelle Laine (Flickr)

Mardi Gras

3875559477_5590836137Mardi Gras, French for “Fat Tuesday” marks the end of Carnival and the beginning of the Christian fasting of Lent. The biggest Mardi Gras celebration in the US is in New Orleans, Louisiana. Rio de Janeiro in Brazil also has a huge celebration. Find a Brazilian au pair in your cluster and ask her to tell you all about it.

 

Photo: David (Flickr)

Looking for Valentine’s Day Activities?

valentine Clever CupcakesValentine’s Day (February 14) is a time of love, friendship, giving, and caring. Americans use Valentine’s Day as an opportunity to tell friends and family how much they care.  Children usually exchange cards at school.

Are you looking for Valentine’s day activity and craft ideas?

Look no further…  Au Pair in America has a Pinterest pinboard devoted to Valentine’s Day:

APIA Valentine’s Day Pinboard

Photo: Clever Cupcakes (Flickr)

Snow Days are Here!

Looking for ideas to keep the kids busy on a snow day (when they are home from school for winter weather?)

Here is a simple snow day game plan…

  1. Play in the snow. Do you wanna build a snowman? Here’s a great how-to video.
  2. Come inside and warm up with hot chocolate (don’t forget the marshmallows.)
  3. May your own play dough.
  4. Play board games or legos together.
  5. Ever heard of Snow Ice Cream? Great for freshly fallen snow.
  6. Look for more fun things to do on the APIA Pinterest Boards:
  7. Bake cookies together or make some other fun recipe.
  8. Play in the snow again.
  9. Warm up inside taking turns on the Make a Snowflake Website.
  10. Make a blanket fort.

Stay warm & have fun!

Photo: Tony Crider (Flickr)