Au pairs met up for a conversation about child safety, a get to know you, a conversation about what it means to be a woman across cultures for International Women’s Month and a stroll through the sculpture park in downtown Seattle. 
Tag Archives: cross cultural
Self Love, Dating and Missing That Special Someone While on Exchange – Feb 2022
Given the surge of omicron, au pairs headed back to zoom. We met twice last month – early and later on a Thursday night to talk aboutself-care, dating safety, and loving from afar (missing that important person from back home.). Below was the self-care piece shared if any are needing this about now:
Next month, we hope to head outside together!…
What Made You a Better Person in 2021? & APIA Tops the Charts – January 2022
Au pairs were asked this and many more questions in our zoom reflections of the year. Here were some highlights of what was shared:
What were your good moments and gratitudes? travel, northern lights, snowfall, culture sharing with my host family, learning English…
What did you do right or how did you grow as a person? learned to say goodbye, improved communication, got the courage to speak up and talk about tough moments…
What are your 2022 plans or mottos for the new year? “ask myself, ‘why not?'” “stay safe, live more,” make more friends, say yes not no, volunteer, exercise, use social media less, be more generous,…
And speaking of 2022, we are thrilled to report that APIA again has been named the top au pair agency from VeryWell Family. Proud of our state, regional and national team of dedicated employees!
A Night of Light and Gifts – December 2021
We were beyond thrilled to be together again in person and are finding our groove with joining clusters again. The au pairs of the Eastside, Tacoma and Seattle areas gathered together to see the gorgeous lights on display at the Bellevue Botanical Gardens. Before heading out, au pairs shared customs from their countries and traditional songs, recipes, weather, and the meaning for them behind the season. After our eyes danced with the garden displays, we exchanged secret santa gifts and many headed down the hill for the Snowflake Lane parade in Bellevue. ’tis the season for sharing and here is more about how to best do that!
10 Tips for Sharing Global Holiday Traditions (and Making New Ones)
The Great Rebuild – What History Teaches Us about Resilience – Nov 2021
Seattle au pairs toured the old underground city in our first joint cluster event in nearly two years. Jan 2019 marked the last time our APIA clusters were allowed to safely congregate, but this past Sunday, with the help of Beneath the Streets (https://www.beneath-the-streets.com) Covid protocols, we gathered again and it felt so good. Four clusters came together to hear about the Seattle fire (set accidentally by a Swedish immigrant boiling glue) and how this disaster helped Seattle to rebuild the city above a safe sea level, brought in funds from around the country and ultimately set up our city for more success should it never have happened. Silver linings! As we learn from the past, we know we are again in a great rebuild moment and it is our job to remain hopeful given this knowledge in our darker moments.
Counselors noted that this same underground tour has now changed to include histories of those marginalized populations that had been less tracked – histories of our first Seattle black-owned businesses that gave back to the community and inspired more black-owned businesses – our strong women (10% of the population in a mining town) coming to become our first graduates of the newly formed UW and those of the Seattle LGBTQ+ populations in those early days that had once enjoyed nightlife underground only. History from this wide angle lens shows us that the more we include everyone in our community, the stronger we become and this progressive Seattle town learned many lessons when the city was at a lower level (literally and figuratively.) We are poised again to be learning many more as we again rebuild to be more inclusive and stronger together.
Fall Was Buckets of Fun – October 2021
The au pairs in Seattle/Tacoma know how to have a good time. We started the month dancing for Latinx Heritage Month and ended it with a Halloween extravaganza and a challenge! Mayra from Colombia opened her home and taught us all some dance moves, Nicol, also from Colombia and her host family won the Fall Bucket List Challenge and completed 16 of the items on the list, and the strong au pairs chose their favorite strong characters to be this Halloween. Real life inspirations dressing up as make believe ones.
Taking Tacoma by Storm – September 2021
The weather has turned this September here in WA, but this small but mighty group of au pairs took Tacoma by storm and bid Laura a fond farewell as she heads out to year 2 in another part of the US. We walked the (rain-free) streets, sharing in the journey of exchange and just simply getting to know one another. Back to simple. And to celebrate Peace Day took this shot.
Hiking for a Fall – Snoqualmie Falls
What a day! Au pairs made the journey to bear witness themselves to this iconic WA site. Snoqualmie Falls is gorgeous and powerful and these women fit right into that scenery. In that moment in time, countrywomen representing Poland, Mexico, Colombia, Thailand, Panama and Argentina came together as one.
A Pool of Our Own – July 2021
Our second in-person cluster event was a night pool party – with the pool reserved just for APIA for safety. We relaxed in water and got to know one another a little bit more from a distance, outside. It’s been a long time coming and it was nice to gather young women from around the globe together in one place for a moonlight dip.
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The Crystal Ball for a Year of the Unpredictable – May 2021
We had the au pairs vote on the cluster zoom they would find most entertaining this month and a guided Tarot card reader won with most votes. It was a fascinating night with personal stories and encouragement from a woman who learned these arts from her grandmother growing up in Mexico City. And some others joined to just listen and learn about another way of knowing and seeing the unpredictable world… Open minds, open hearts and forward movement prevailed. 