Tag Archives: nanny

Community Day and Culture Fair – over 100 of our Closest Friends

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Our cultural fair and APIA Family Day was a great success with over 100 people in attendance!  Au pairs hosted an amazing cultural fair, greeting the touring kids as they traveled the virtual world with their fake passports, getting stickers from the countries as they went.  We had representatives from Argentina, Austria, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Spain and Thailand.  We ate donut holes, made flyers, did scavenger hunts and tossed some wet water balloons. Fun times with an amazingly supportive global community. We are all feeling grateful.

Celebrating Summer and Cross-cultural Exchanges

The au pairs in WA state gathered up for some swimming, singing and donating of shoes for the J-1 exchange day national celebrations. We enjoyed one another’s company and sang along to our  joint  Spotify  global  jam mix.  Summer  fun!

Exchange Day is coming soon on August 5, and APIA was excited to celebrate with a shoe drive.  Held on the first Monday in August, Exchange Day is a nationwide celebration of the power of international exchange. Program participants come together with their American hosts to share cultural experiences, give back to their communities, and have some fun. This day is also an opportunity to raise awareness of international exchange programs and spread the word about the power of cultural exchange.

APIA has historically celebrated Exchange Day in August with shoe drives, au pair get togethers, and more. 

Let’s Play Ball! – June 2024

Delightful day at the ballgame this past weekend with nearly 70 au pairs from around WA in a multi-cluster ball game. Not everyone knew the rules, and we started the day pretty wet from our atmospheric river running through it, but by the end, we were all smiles with a Mariners win and a nice day of hot dogs and Americana.

UW Huskies – Strong Women Abound

The community of Au Pairs in Washington gathered up to watch another group of strong women – the UW women’s basketball team. Basketball, like cultural exchange, is full of lessons in teamwork, pivoting, communicating, and adapting. A fun day was had by all with close to 100 Au pairs joining the fun.

APIAs Intimate, Monthly Community Coffee Days

This year our cluster had monthly coffee days like last to get to know one another better than having just our one monthly cluster event.  (Those tend to be very well attended and active, but less intimate!)  I personally adore these coffee times – rotating around our cluster towns – with smaller groups sharing and getting deeper into their experiences and one another.  And kids are always invited.  

Holiday Lights and Magic – December 2023

The holiday lights sparkled, along with the spirits of au pairs from around the globe.  We shared the traditions from many of our home countries and got a little bit closer last Sunday.  Then we stole gifts…  In a lively white elephant, au pairs got into the spirit of the swap.  We had a fun time and walked away with a smile and another gift (if not the one we selected).  When you are far from home, it’s good to know you have a community of people who understand and are there for you.  Grateful for the kindness in this group toward one another in this holiday season and throughout the year.

Spooky Underground Touring in Old Seattle – Nov 2023

On Sunday, Oct 22 au pairs from two of the Greater Seattle area clusters dressed up for Halloween and hit the underground tour.  We learned of the history of the great Seattle fire, the diverse businesses that existed in the underground and how it is used in present day.  Great to spend some time together to meet the community.

APIA Global Community Day in Seattle – September 2023

Nearly 100 people, including host parents, host siblings and au pairs from around the globe joined their Seattle area Au Pair In America community to celebrate!

The au pairs brought down the house with a culture fair that had posters, food, dancing, language and all the smiles.  We had representative from Zimbabwe, Peru, Panama, France, Colombia, Brazil, China, South Africa, and Germany showing their colors and sharing themselves.  We enjoyed treats specially made from Colombia and Brazil and kids got to “travel the world” with their passports collecting country stickers. Host parents shared their stories about their friendships with au pairs and best practices informally with one another.  We had a nice (but small this year) water balloon toss game (so many families with babies and nap times made this a bit smaller this year).  The bigger kids colored, did word searches, a bingo diversity scavenger hunt, and got tattoos for kids of all ages.  After the event, they headed down to meet our new lady troll in West Seattle.  And the weather couldn’t have been better.  All in all, it was a lovely day for the world.