Tag Archives: cluster meeting

International Festival Was Wonderful!

October 4, 2009 – 3:15 pm

We had a wonderful time at the 2009 City of Bowie International Festival. We were in our usual location right on the water and despite the forecast calling for rain, it turned out to be a perfect day for an outdoor festival. This is our 4th year signing on to provide free children’s activities. The initial estimates were that we had 800-900 children participating this year!

I think the festival gets better and better every year. We were fortunate to be near enough to the stage to see and hear some of the performances. They were amazing.

This year we had au pairs participating representing, Costa Rica, China, Germany, South Africa and Thailand.

Here are some photos…

Kattia from Costa Rica & Lizzie from Germany taking a break to pose for a photo

Little from Thailand showing the children how to write their name in Thai.

Ayanda from South Africa playing a map and geography game with a child.

Kattia from Costa Rica helping the children color some mariposas (butterflies)

Kattia & Lizzie having fun with with the children.

Lily from China and Laya from Thailand

Lebo from South Africa helping the children color butterflies & Lizzie from Germany playing a map and flag game.

Here are all of my International Festival Super Stars who gave their time on a Saturday afternoon to share their culture with children and help us fulfill our motto, “We Bring the World Together.”

Ayanda from South Africa

Little from Thailand

Kattia from Costa Rica

Lily from China

Lizzie from Germany

Laya & Kate from Thailand

Lebo from South Africa

Michaela from Germany

Verona from South Africa

Here is one more photo of Little in her beautiful traditional Thai dress.

Little in her Thai dress

Naval Academy Football Game

September 27, 2009 – 2:10 pm

Together with Terry Bellus’ cluster from Virginia, we attended a Naval Academy American Football game yesterday.

Here are a few pictures from the game and the brave ladies who stayed even though it was a rainy day.

Thatia & Little cheering on the team

The Naval Academy Band performing at half time

Kerstin & a friend watching the game

Little & Thatia trying to stay dry

Naval Academy vs. Western Kentucky

September Coffee Meeting

September 14, 2009 – 1:16 am

We had a great cluster meeting last night at the Ikea cafe. The newest arrivals to the cluster got to meet some other au pairs. Everyone selected a duck in my first ever Duck of Choice Meeting.

We also discussed the seasonal flu, H1N1 and tips on how to stay healthy over the winter months. That may not sound like fun, but neither is getting sick. So, it’s better to discuss it now and learn ways to stay healthy than to get sick.

We had our quarterly Cluster Super Stars prize drawing. The big prize, a Washington, DC theme gift basket was won by Ayanda. It was her first cluster meeting and a lucky day for her. Wearing her Au Pair in America T-shirt must have brought her good luck!

Here is a picture of her with her prize.

Here’s how the Cluster Super Stars Program works…

Every time you participate in cluster events, you will earn tickets that will go into a drawing for a prize once a quarter (every 3 months.) Drawings will be held at the coffee meetings in March, June, September and December. You must be present at the meeting where I do the drawing to win.

Here is how you earn tickets:
Attend a Cluster Meeting – 1 ticket
Call or Email a New Au Pair – 1 ticket

Wear your APIA T-shirt to a Cluster Meeting or Event – 1 ticket
Participate in a Cluster Volunteer Event – 3 tickets
Do a Global Awareness Presentation – 3 tickets
At Cluster Meetings, there will sometimes be chances to earn extra tickets.

The more tickets you earn, the more chances you have to win the prize. All of the Cluster Super Stars Prizes will have a value of $20-$60.