Over 50 au pairs met in a host family home in Medina on Sunday to share their home country holiday traditions in the form of dance, song, word and cookie. Treats were exchanged in an old fashioned cookie swap – including Korean shrimp puffs – and gifts were exchanged (and then stolen) in a just-for-fun white elephant/Yankee swap. Au Pair In America wishes everyone a wonderful holiday – especially those experiencing it for the first time abroad!
An amazing group of women from all corners of the globe joined Nature Consortium in the Duwamish Green Belt yesterday. After planting over 200 trees and bushes in the forest that runs from West Seattle to Burien, the au pairs and others then protected our newly planted friends by mulching over 1000 square feet of forest. All this accompanied by some clarinet music, making the scene feel a bit out of a movie… It surely was not a Saturday spent lounging about, but we felt good to know that all this hard work would yield a more healthy forest for years to come. Nice to affect our carbon foot prints…just a little bit.
Kim Marie (Germany), Martyna (Poland) and Ashley (Korea)
Baby trees set to replace the 100 year old dying ones in the forest.
Au pairs gathered in Issaquah at the Salmon Hatchery to learn how important these fish are to our ecosystem here in the PNW. They saw the salmon as fry all the way to those set free in the ocean to be dinner for our orca whale population. And in perfect Seattle fashion, the rain came down on our event! Thanks to the group who came and who stayed…and later enjoyed some pizza and conversation in a dryer environment.
46 au pairs from over 12 countries hiked together making new friends and discovering new muscles as they took in the breathtaking landscape of the Sunrise slope of Mt. Rainier National Park. We shared our lunches and our languages at the summit and had a lovely day relishing in the joy of living in WA state…at least for this year in our lives!
Au Pairs gathered in West Seattle for the final free concert of the season at Hiawatha Community Center . We shared international dishes such as Mexican tacos, Korean kimchi rice balls, Swedish cinnamon rolls and, of course, pizza. Watching children dance to local music was sure a nice way to spend an evening in our beloved Seattle.
Close to 100 Au Pairs and their host family members gathered at Lincoln Park in West Seattle to share international stories and food from their cultures. Despite our chilly July day – beach balls and flyers flew and a fun time was had by all! Great to have so many of our Au Pair In America community gather in the same spot to relax by the shore.
Taking a well deserved Saturday break, Au Pair In America au pairs meet up at counselor Terry’s home for breakfast. They then strolled over the closed Fremont bridge, with the massive crowd, ready to witness the annual celebration – a real Seattle cultural experience. With the celebrating of the sun, came the celebration of a new adventure for May and View from Thailand as they head off with their family to DC. Goodbyes are always hard, but you remain in our hearts, ladies!
Au Pairs braved the roller rink (many for the first time!) and gave great efforts to staying upright. They took the lesson, learned the moves and when the music played for the open family skate time, they were ready!
Let the American culture sink in...skating to "Don't Stop Believing" by Journey...a long way from Thailand.
Taking a well deserved break to rest sore muscles - still smiling...
The au pairs (along with some of their families!) traveled north to the LaConnor, WA area to witness the first buds of spring in the tulip festival. A lovely day was had by all!
Close to 50 APIA au pairs take on Victoria!
Empress Hotel at night.
Au Pair In America au pairs from all over WA state gathered to take an early ferry from Seattle to Victoria, B.C. A truly wonderful weekend was had by all and Victoria was made that much more lively with this bunch of internationals dining, shopping, sightseeing and dancing in their town. Great trip and great group!
