Tag Archives: cultural exchange

Hints for Success – Overcoming Homesickness

Almost everyone experiences homesickness and culture shock to some degree, when they come to live in a completely new environment. So much is different and it takes time to adjust.

It is normal to miss your own family, at home. Try to remember that they support you and want you to make the most of this experience. They will enjoy learning more about the U.S., through your eyes, as you share your adventures with them.

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 the vast majority of them get through it, stay and have a successful year (some even extend for a second year!) 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)

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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

Happy Anniversary to Au Pair in America!

On this day in 1986, Au Pair in America welcomed the first group of au pairs to the U.S. That first group of au pairs arrived from western Europe to provide child care, to study and to experience life in the United States firsthand. They participated in the pilot program for what has developed into the Au Pair program of the U.S. Department of State.

Thirty years ago a group of amazingly brave and adventurous young women embarked on a journey that would not only change their lives but the lives of those they met – each other, their host families, the staff of Au Pair in America, and the people of the communities that they would live in. Take a moment to  watch a wonderful video about this amazing opportunity and journey!

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Au Pairs gather in Washington DC

‪#‎aupairinamerica  #‎aupair30‬

 

 

 

Au Pair Cultural Fair at Nationals Park on May 1st

Join Au Pair in America for a               1915609_10207257219523657_139700687365704839_n-300x300
Trip Around the World!

Sunday, May 1, 2016 | 1–4pm

Nationals Park, Norfolk Southern Club
1500 South Capitol Street, SE | Washington, DC

Help us celebrate 30 years of Au Pair in America and the U.S. Department of State’s au pair program! You’re invited to a fun afternoon of educational country displays, performances by au pairs, a photo op, face painting, and other fun activities for children. Au pairs from over 30 countries will be participating!

Organized by local Au Pair in America counselors from the DC Metro Area, the fair provides a great opportunity for families who are looking for child care to learn more about the program. Games and activities are planned for children in attendance. Children will be given a passport card that they can affix country flag stickers to as they visit au pairs from around the world.

Visit Au Pair in America’s DC Cultural Fair event page to RSVP and learn more information. (Current APIA host families are requested to RSVP using the link provided in their personal invitations.)

To get there by Metro: Take the Green Line to Navy Yard/Ballpark.
If driving: Free parking in Lot B for all attendees.
Entrance: Center Field gate and take the ramp/escalator to reach the club.

Saying goodbye….

Beautiful girl, you can do hard things.

Today I did what I have done many times before – I said goodbye to yet another extraordinary young woman. She had finished her time here as an au pair and she was heading home. Home to familiar faces and lots of new experiences. We sat having coffee for one last time, reflecting on her experiences in the US and discussed the new opportunities she would be embarking on. Some exciting, some a bit scary, one thing was clear…she was forever changed during her time here in the US. She had traveled, studied, grown in her independence, made a bunch of amazing friends from all over the world and learned a lot about herself in the process. She has made a close connection with two host families, a life long kind of connection.  She made a connection with me.

Tonight as I watched an amazing sunset, I reflected on what my role is in this process for the au pair.  Many have said I am like a second mom to them, others consider me a friend, some have more of a distant, casual relationship. I am good with any one of these.  I have the privilege of helping them in a small portion of their journey. I can support and encourage and educate them. I can provide them with opportunities to explore the US and it’s customs, foods, cultures. We can share idioms and find common ground. I personally love to watch these amazing young women transform literally before my eyes. They do not leave the same. They all grow and change and experience.

I’ve sat with young women who are suffering from homesickness, worry for a loved one, or are missing a special family event. I’ve shared Christmas with an au pair, I’ve tried an amazing collection of foods from other countries. I’ve watched them experience their first Halloween, their first snow (some of them), I have helped plan education and travel, offered countless hugs, sat with sick ones, held them as they cry in sadness. I have redirected, cheered, and encouraged them. I have a saying with the au pairs, Beautiful girl, you can do hard things!

I have grown and changed too. With each new au pair comes a new experience, new adventures, new cultures to learn about. I am forever changed…

Saying goodbye isn’t really goodbye. I am connected still to many of them, though we are thousands of miles apart. We have email, social media, skype, etc. I see posts and catch glimpses of their lives. For many, I am still cheering, still encouraging, still connected.

To the young woman who left today….

Beautiful girl, you can do hard things….I know today is full of conflicting emotions. You are a bit sad to leave, maybe wishing for more time, more opportunities. Excited to go home and be with your family, snuggle that new nephew, move into a flat with your best friend and follow your dreams.

Thank you for letting me be a part of your life experience. It is an honor.

Au Pairs – 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.

1535387_10204746776140571_3758859959284748880_n

“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

 

 

You will never be completely home again…..

“You will never be completely home again, because part of you will always be elsewhere. That is the price you pay for loving and knowing people in more than one place!” –  Former Southern Maryland au pair

Recently, one of my previous au pairs returned to Southern Maryland to visit her  host family.  As part of a whirlwind, fun and exciting visit, they had a family portrait done on the beach. The host family, the current au pair and their previous au pair – all one big, unique family.

Blancastella

This relationship (and others they have formed with au pairs over the years) idealizes the true spirit of the Au Pair in America program – cultural exchange. The cultural exchange of joining two families for a common goal. With each placement, we have the opportunity to share all that is great about America, and in turn, learn what is great about their country.

Childcare is the obvious reason that a family chooses this type of relationship, but the bigger picture of cultural exchange for them and their children is, and should be, right up there too. The most successful matches between a host family and an au pair are the ones where both sides embrace the whole spirit of the program. Where the host family believes in learning not just about the au pair’s culture but about her and her family, where they welcome her and treat her as a part of their extended family, where they encourage the au pair to have the American experience, where they offer support and guidance, but also opportunity. That is the host family who is going to have the best experience.

The au pair who arrives full of excitement and plans for an amazing experience, who is open to sharing her culture, language, foods, customs. The au pair who is diligent in her childcare duties, who eagerly becomes a part of the family and the community, looking for ways to be engaged and helpful not just at home, but in the community as well,  embracing the opportunities she can have in 52 weeks… that is the au pair who is going to succeed and have the best experience.

52 weeks to change the life of a child, a parent, an au pair. 52 weeks to make a real connection between countries and cultures. 52 weeks can become a lifelong relationship. The choice is yours. How will you spend your 52 weeks?

 

Photo: Blancastella