Tag Archives: returning home

Going Home: New Beginnings

Most au pairs have mixed feeling about returning home. As the program end nears, there is both excitement and nerves about adjusting to life at home.

Adapting to life back home will include some of the same emotions experienced with adjusting to life in the United States, such as:

  • Homesickness (this time for your American family and friends)
  • Rejecting things that are cultural norms in your home country
  • Adapting to a new environment and routine
  • Accepting your new situation

How do you prepare for going home? While you have been away, things at home may have changed. You have certainly changed, and after adapting to the American culture, you must adapt again to your own culture. Here are some tips to consider as you prepare for the journey home:

  • Be flexible as you think about life back home, give yourself time to adjust, and don’t expect it to be easy every day.
  • Let yourself be sad and feel the loss of friends and family.
  • Reflect on your experience and acknowledge what you have gained and learned during your au pair year.
  • Focus on positive ways you have grown.
  • Make a list of the skills you have acquired or strengthened as an au pair.
  • Make your new resume!
  • You made it! Celebrate and be proud of your au pair achievements.
  • Going home is not the end of something….it’s the beginning of something new.

 

Cluster Fun – 52 Weeks: Making the Most of Your Year!

Saying goodbye is truly the hardest part of summer! Over the year (or more) I  forge strong relationships with the au pairs in my group! I try to meet one on one or in small groups with everyone before they leave to talk about their experiences, plans moving forward as the return home and how to take the skills and experiences from America and transfer them to their future! Here are a few stories of some of the young women heading home this summer!

I met up with Solymar and Kenia (both from Panama) recently. Solymar is finishing her year in just a few weeks and Kenia is just a few months into hers. We talked about the impact of our program and the American experience as well as discussed transitioning home and how the skills developed in their time here relate to their lives and careers back home in Panama. It has been lovely having both of them in my cluster and watching them become friends!

I had the pleasure of meeting with one of my German au pairs, Nadine, who is finishing up her 21 month stay in the US in just a few weeks.
We had the opportunity to discuss her experiences here in Maryland and with her first year family in Georgia, how her skills developed and used here relate to her employment as she returns home, how much she has grown through this time, etc. We even brainstormed a few more things to experience before her time in the US is over.

 

 

Saying goodbye to Lisa and Lina, both from Germany, as they complete their year in Southern Maryland this month! We had a great visit discussing the impact the Au Pair in America program had on them and how it helped shape their plans for the future. Both young women had many wonderful things to say about their experiences as we chatted.

I gave them a list of 52 things they might have done during their year here, from trying Maryland blue crabs or root beer floats, to seeing a baseball or football game, to visiting amazing cities such as New York or Chicago. It was rewarding to see them cross off so many things and add to the list with their own unique experiences! They brought me lovely flowers as a parting gift! I will miss their infectious smiles and laughter, but I look forward to seeing what their new adventures bring!