Yearly Archives: 2016

How To Say Happy New Year Around the World

One of the really cool things about working for Au Pair in America is that you get to meet fascinating women from all over the world.  Here’s a list with over 30 ways of saying Happy New Year!  May 2017 be a Happy New Year to you!

Language Happy New Year!
Afrikaans Voorspoedige nuwe jaar
Arabic Kul ‘am wa antum bikhair
Basque Urte Berri on
Bengali Shuvo noboborsho
Chinese (Cantonese) Sun nien fai lok
Chinese (Mandarin) Xin nian yu kuai
Czech Stastny Novy Rok
Danish Godt NytÅr
Dutch Gelukkig nieuwjaar
Esperanto Bonan Novjaron
Finnish Onnellista uutta vuotta
French Bonne année
German Ein glückliches neues Jahr
Greek Eutychismenos o kainourgios chronos
Hawaiian Hauoli Makahiki hou
Hebrew Shana Tova
Hungarian Boldog uj evet
Indonesian (Bahasa) Selamat Tahun Baru
Italian Felice Anno Nuovo or Buon anno
Japanese Akemashite Omedetou Gozaimasu
Korean Sehe Bokmanee Bateuseyo
Laotian (Hmong) Nyob Zoo Xyoo Tshiab
Latin Felix sit annus novus
Nigerian (Hausa) Barka da sabuwar shekara
Norwegian Godt Nytt År
Philippines (Tagalog) Manigong Bagong Taon
Polish Szczesliwego Nowego Roku
Romanian La Multi Ani si Un An Nou Fericit
Samoan Ia manuia le Tausaga Fou
Spanish Feliz año nuevo
Swahili Heri za Mwaka Mpya
Swedish Gott Nytt År
Thai Sawatdee Pi Mai
Vietnamese Chuc mung nam moi
Welsh Blwyddyn Newydd Dda

Building Friendships & Cultural Exchange

Recently one of my au pairs shared with me some special thoughts about her year and the friendships she made with other au pairs in the cluster. She also shared about the impact of cultural exchange with au pairs from lots of different countries.  During her time in the US, Isabelle was friends with a very diverse group of young women from countries such as Germany, Austria, South Korea, France, Spain, South Africa, the UK, etc.

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“The friends you make become your family! I loved how fast you became friends since neither one of you know anybody in the beginning and were strangers to the area and even the country! You understand each others situations. We are all far away from family, friends and everything we know. I mean, not often would I go to a strangers house, pick this someone up in my car and go to a restaurant or similar without even thinking twice about who this person could be? All I know is that we are both au pairs and that kind of makes us good friends even before meeting up. What worked the absolute best for me when I got a bit of homesickness was to spend time together and come out and do stuff with friends! The best medicine!

I might add that I’ve also learned a lot about other countries through the new friends I’ve made. You don’t come to America and just learn about the American culture but also about other countries cultures! I haven’t been home for very long but I hope to be able to travel to a lot of countries one day and visit with my friends!”

-Isabelle, from Sweden

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is a public holiday celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November every year in johnny-flickrthe United States. It started as a harvest festival and has been celebrated nationally on and off since 1789. The most important part of Thanksgiving for American families is to spend family time together. Here are some fun facts about this special holiday:

· The first Thanksgiving was held in the autumn of 1621 and included 50 Pilgrims and 90 Wampanoag Indians and lasted three days.

· The first Thanksgiving was eaten with spoons and knives — but no forks! Forks weren’t even introduced to the Pilgrims until 10 years later and weren’t a popular utensil until the 18th century

· Thanksgiving is the reason for TV dinners! In 1953, Swanson had so much extra turkey (260 tons) that a salesman told them they should package it onto aluminum trays with other sides like sweet potatoes — and the first TV dinner was invented

· Presidential pardon of a turkey: Each year, the president pardons a turkey and spares it from being eaten for Thanksgiving dinner. The first turkey pardon ceremony started with President Truman in 1947. President Obama pardoned a 45-pound turkey named Courage, who has flown to Disneyland and served as Grand Marshal of the park’s Thanksgiving Day parade!

· Why is Thanksgiving the fourth Thursday in November? President Abe Lincoln said Thanksgiving would be the fourth Thursday in November, but in 1939 President Roosevelt moved it up a week hoping it would help the shopping season during the Depression era. It never caught on and it was changed back two years later

· How did the tradition of watching football on Thanksgiving start? The NFL started the Thanksgiving Classic games in 1920 and since then the Detroit Lions and the Dallas Cowboys have hosted games on Turkey Day. In 2006, a third game was added with different teams hosting

· About 90 % of Americans eat turkey on Thanksgiving Day

· The ‘wishbone’ of the turkey is used in a good luck ritual on Thanksgiving Day.

Photo by: Johnny – Flickr

Thanksgiving – American Experiences

At Thanksgiving, we pause and express gratitude to others.  This year I want to thank all my au pairs and host families for the love and support they give each other every day.  I also thank each au pair for sharing with me and my family about their culture, for demonstrating their bravery for coming from far away places and giving so much to their host families and their friends in America.

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I appreciate the uniqueness of each of you. Your spirits, sense of humor, enthusiasm. It is an honor to be a part of your lives for this time and beyond. I love the relationships that have developed that last after an au pair returns home. I am thankful for the warm, caring host families in Southern Maryland who welcome some of the most wonderful young women into their homes and entrust the care of their children to them.  Host families who inspire, encourage, celebrate, cultivate and share their culture and customs. Host families that embrace each new au pair as a unique and special person. Host families that encourage an au pair to share her culture and customs and incorporate it to their family life. It is a beautiful thing to witness.

“The people-to-people ties and transfer of knowledge achieved through international education builds and sustains a more democratic, secure, and prosperous world that benefits the entire global community. International education and exchange is vital to our diplomacy efforts and establishes lasting ties between individuals today that translate into stronger relations between nations tomorrow.” -Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs, Evan Ryan

Some thoughts from au pairs current and departed about Thanksgiving:

“I didn’t know that thanksgiving was such a big holiday before I spent my year there. It was a really nice day. We started off with breakfast, cooking and baking in our pajamas and then we got ready and we were all dressed really chic and went off to my host mums part of the family in DC. There we had a lovely dinner with everything you can imagine! Everybody also had to say for what he or she is thankful, we were around forty people and it was so nice to hear about everybody.”

thanksgiving-dinner-plate-c-chan‘I was super curious on Thanksgiving and what it was like. It felt like something truly American and I had never tasted turkey or pumpkin pie before (which I had learnt you ate a lot of during Thanksgiving) since we went to Chicago and I got to meet a huge part of my hm’s family that was also something I really looked forward to! So the whole holiday was all food, food and some more food! And ALL kinds of pies! I believe there might have been around 7-8 different pies. I had a great thanksgiving!”

“Thanksgiving was actually one of my most favorite holidays in the states. We went to Ohio to spent it with family. Watching Macy’s parade while cooking the dinner and baking some pie. After eating the fantastic food watching some football and then of course some Black Friday shopping it was amazing!!”

“I really enjoyed Thanksgiving with my host family. It was as I imagined! So much food to try. Everyone got dressed up and shared what they were thankful for. It was so warm and special. The next day we began to prepare for Christmas. It was magical.” johnny-flickr

“I am really excited to be with the whole family. To see everyone gathered around the table. I am so happy thinking about the foods, some I have never tried. I am curious about pumpkin pie. I want to cheer football too and maybe shop on Black Friday!”

“I am looking forward to experiencing the traditions. All the family coming, sharing good things and food….my host mom says there will be so much food!”

I wish each and every one of you a Happy Thanksgiving!

Photos by: Loren Kerns – Flickr, Cynthia Chan, Johnny – Flickr

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American Experiences – Navy vs Tulsa Football Game!

15049940_10209475440234218_1080918765_nThis past weekend APIA clusters from around the DC area gathered at the Naval Academy in Annapolis for a football game – Navy vs Tulsa. Navy won 42 – 40. For many of the girls, it was their very first football game! Here are the thoughts of four young women who were at their very first game!

“I love how Americans make their love for football be more than just a game. Everyone has a team that represents themselves. – their state or their alma mater. Passion, proud, tradition and rivalries are some of the reasons why I got really excited watching a sport that I still don’t know all of the rules, but I wanna dedicate some of my time to learn about. Navy vs Tulsa was my first football game and I can tell how much it’s impressive, their love and being Navy! Once their team got a score, the Navy Academy had to do some push-ups in dedication. They were supporting, singing, dancing and vibrating all the time. During the break, the cheerleaders along with the band got in formation of the USA initials in order to show the proud of being an American.”                 – Brazilian au pair

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“It’s always good to see how Americans come together when it comes down to sport. It’s like for a minute they forget all their differences to enjoy the game. I love the unity.” – South African au pair

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“It’s totally different in my country, they are happy, enjoy the game and sing. In Brazil they just say bad words and fighting. I really liked to watch the game. I hope I can go again! -Brazilian au pair.

“The feeling to be there because the crowd  was really motivated so it was good to see that, how American people enjoy football!”     -Spanish au pair

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Mickey Mouse’s Birthday – Nov. 18th

Mickey Mouse was created in 1928!  Celebrate his birthday with Mickey Mouse pancakes: Follow the directions for mixing on the package. Heat a griddle or frying pan. For each pancake pour batter into pan in a large circle with two smaller circles at the top to make the ears. Cook until pancake is puffy and bubbles. Flip and cook the other side until golden brown. Use chocolate chips for the eyes.

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American Experiences – Spirits of St. Mary’s Haunted Trail

14875285_10209327394813175_1146062187_nWhen your au pairs ask to go to a haunted house or something similar, you put aside your fears and go, right? Some brave young women from Germany and South Africa joined me for a scary evening at the dark, cold fairgrounds. We headed towards our doom, er, walked to the starting point, listening to the screams in the dark near us….

“The haunted house was amazing. It was scary and funny at the time and I was happy I had my friends with me!” – German au pair

“It scared me more than I thought it would!!” – South African au pair

“The haunted trail was a clownie-creepy experience everyone should have!” – German au pair

14872678_10209327549137033_1180568821_n“The haunted trail was an amazing experience for me. I was very scared sometimes and I never did this before. So I was happy that I did it with the group and now I can tick one more thing off my American bucket list.” – German au pair

 

 

Photos: Colin Chan

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Social Media – Unplugged

Phones, tablets, and laptops are wonderful tools to stay connected and informed, but we need to be careful not to let them become distractions from real life interactions and most importantly our responsibilities.

jason-howie-flickrAu Pairs – Imagine for a moment that you went to the hospital and you were in the care of doctors and nurses.  How would you feel if those doctors and nurses who were there to care for you were more interested in texting or using their personal computer than caring for you?  How would that make you feel, about yourself and about them?  Would you think that you were getting good treatment Would you feel like paying the bill?

Life as an au pair, it is a fine balance between employee and family member. You live with your host family and participate with them as a member of the family, but you also have clear responsibilities as a childcare provider. Being a childcare provider is truly one of the most important jobs I can think of, because you are helping to shape our next generation.  What message are you sending them when you would rather interact with a computer than with them? How will they feel about themselves and about you? Children feel as though everything is about them. They will see this as a rejection of them and they will be more likely to act out.

It also poses a safety concern when you are not paying enough attention to the children in your care.  Accidents happen, but when an adult care giver is close by and appropriately supervising the chances of a major injury dramatically reduce.

During work hours, the following would not be considered acceptable:
-Texting
-Talking to friends on the phone
-Chatting with friends online
-Using Skype or FaceTime
-IMing
-Emailing
-Updating your status on Facebook
-Using Snapchat, WhatsApp or any other app or social media site
-Watching videos on YouTube, Netflix, etc.
-Tweeting on Twitter
-Uploading photos on Instagram
-Anything else online unless it is going to approved child sites such as Nickjr.com together with your host children

Think about this — even if you work 45 hours a week, that leaves you 123 hours per week for all of that other stuff, or about 70 hours (if you are getting the recommended 7-8 hours of sleep per night). Your host parents will give you guidelines for your use during work hours, please follow them.

Host Parents – You need to be clear about what you consider acceptable during work hours to avoid misunderstandings.  Taking a short phone call while still being attentive to the children, checking email during nap time, researching activities to do with the kids, etc. Set clear expectations and be specific to your au pairs. Also, please understand that you are dealing with a new generation of people who are very accustomed to being plugged in at all times.  Their intention is not to be rude, they don’t necessarily realize how their actions will be perceived.  Please use this information as an opportunity to begin a dialogue on the issue.

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Halloween Fun Ideas

Halloween is fast approaching! There are many ways that you can make this time fun and interesting for both you and the children you care for!

philip-james-flickrAu Pair in America has captured a wonderful array of projects you can work on together. You can find them on our Halloween Fun Pinterest board! Try making a collection of glowing pumpkins using jars from the host family’s recycling! You’ll need clean jars, liquid glue, orange tissue paper, some paint, black construction paper or cardstock and a strand of lights or battery operated tea lights.

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If you have a collection of plastic pumpkins for trick or treating, place them on a shelf or table and dress them up! baseball hats, party hats, tiaras, fire fighter hats, pirate hats and more will help you create a fun display! Dig through the dress up collection for some great options or make some of your own with craft supplies!

Check out the Pinterest board for some other great ideas like ghost bowling using toilet paper!  How about adding some fun to lunchboxes by slipping a Halloween joke in? Try making some glowing cups – Frankenstein, ghost and pumpkin! Try transforming some acorns into pumpkins using paint!

                                                                                                            Photos by Philip James and Mootsie

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Halloween Safety Tips!

Halloween can be a lot of fun but it is also a time when safety should come first.

Here are some tips for you:

· Adult supervision is essential. Always accompany the children if they are going door to door to trick or treat

· Try trick-or-treat-friendly homes. Ensure the children only visit houses with lights on. Houses with lights off are not participating. Remember, look for houses to visit that have some sort of Halloween decoration on the porch or in the yard.  Remind the children to say Thank you!

· Stay outside. Make sure the children don’t go inside someone’s house. They can trick or treat on the porch. Some families set up at the end of their driveway near the street.

· Remain visible. Dress the children in bright costumes or have them wear reflective strips or carry a glow stick or flashlight. Make sure you carry one too.

· Quality-check treats. Check the candy before they eat it. Throw out any candy that is not in its original wrapper or looks like it has been tampered with.

· Say “no” to strangers. Remind the children to never accept a ride or go anywhere with a stranger.

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