Over 10 countries shared their unique holiday traditions this past Sunday in a host family home in Kirkland. We heard about beach Santa’s shorts in Mexico and South Africa, St Lucia’s red (blood) belt from Sweden, St Nikolas’s shoes from Germany, and many more stories of holiday spirit around the world. Then we stole gifts from one another in good fun and shared homemade sweets to take home and devour.
I’m the luckiest counselor around to have this crew of au pairs!
A nameless group of au pairs set out on a quest to answer clues and find stores in Bellevue Square Mall. It was a spirited game with two groups vying for first place, but when there is leftover Halloween candy, everyone is a winner!
Another gorgeous day with our au pair community. A big group of APIA au pairs milled around the Issaquah Salmon Days festival this past Sunday, shopping, eating and connecting. Some of us watched the salmon swim, while others just ate them, loving the PNW all the while.
Over 60 au pairs and the APIA counselors of WA climbed to the top of Paradise on Mt Rainier this past weekend. The hike was short, but hot this weekend (same weekend last year was hailing!). We chased chipmunks, smelled wild flowers and made new friends. Thanks to all who came and made our community day together so special.
A fabulous group of young women from around the world gathered in my backyard to meet each other (some for the first time), celebrate an “unbirthday party” giving each other gifts that they could not live without as an au pair here in the US (lots of chocolate, some tools of the job, beauty products and a surprising Seahawks theme to a few more…) We then watched on the big outdoor screen a woman on a journey around the world who finds herself in “Eat, Pray, Love”. Hmmm….familiar. The movie closed with this,
“In the end, I’ve come to believe in something I call “The Physics of the Quest.” A force in nature governed by laws as real as the laws of gravity. The rule of Quest Physics goes something like this: If you’re brave enough to leave behind everything familiar and comforting, which can be anything from your house to bitter, old resentments, and set out on a truth-seeking journey, either externally or internally, and if you are truly willing to regard everything that happens to you on that journey as a clue and if you accept everyone you meet along the way as a teacher and if you are prepared, most of all, to face and forgive some very difficult realities about yourself, then the truth will not be withheld from you.”
A very spectacular day for our APIA community. Over 125 people – host families and au pairs – tattooed the children, threw flyers around a beach, colored the world, sang a happy birthday, scavenger hunted the cultural way, ate dishes from around the globe and ended our fun with a good ole’ water balloon toss with kids and their sweet care givers. What fun! Thank you all who attended and made this day so wonderful!
A group of au pairs checked out the meditation class at Urban Oasis Yoga for a quiet hour over this Summer Solstice weekend. After a quiz on summer safety, including pool safety, staying hydrated and sunscreen, we switched gears and listened to the soothing voice of a therapist using the iRest method, a research-based approach to transformation in a guided meditation format. Our session focused on staying calm and patient during a full day of childcare and fighting moments of homesickness and isolation while overseas. We learned body sensitivity training, breath and energy awareness, development of intention and the releasing of negative thought patterns and emotions. The goal was for us to experience peace amidst the changing circumstances of life – and as we all know, change is all around the world of the au pair. “Serenity is not freedom from the storm, but peace amid the storm.” Let’s see how this week goes!
Au Pairs from over 12 different countries spent a good portion of their hard-earned Saturday off to help the hungry of WA state. This past November, our cluster of au pairs helped to collect over $14,000 for NW Harvest at a Seahawks game and this past weekend another group of au pairs helped to pack over 13,000 pounds of apples that will be distributed to centers around the state to assist hungry families. Apples were purchased or donated from farms in Eastern WA and our group made, labeled, filled and closed up boxes of these apples that will then go out in refrigerated trucks around the Greater Seattle and Tacoma areas helping those who need help. (WA is the 15th hungriest state in the US.) These au pairs pictured below should be very proud of this hard work and the time and energy donated to something larger than any one of us!
Au Pairs hit the rink at Southgate Rollerrink in West Seattle this month. We took the lesson and then joined the families to skate around to the hits. Very American!
Our cluster gathered this month in my home to really get to know each other better and talk about ourselves and this magical exchange experience. We began with ice breakers…it IS hard to pass an orange with no hands; moved on to crafting St Patty’s Day necklaces for the host kids (and ourselves!); did a scavenger hunt of “find a person who…”; shared our green and rainbowed international dishes; and ended hearing about each other’s wishes for their year in the U.S. These young women have traveled far (from France, Mexico, South Africa, Netherlands, Germany, Brazil, Panama, Colombia, Italy, Sweden and Spain) to travel so deeply within themselves. I’m blessed to be a part of their journey.
