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.
Tag Archives: washington
2024 APIA Clubs Formed – Jan 2024
We’ve got gamers, hikers and readers. Au pairs will be finding their special interest groups for 2024. The things they love will be more fun with friends this year!
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.
As American as Baseball – August 2023
As American as baseball…the remarkable APIA family of au pairs from all WA clusters gathered to watch the Mariners beat Kansas City in a sunshine filled stadium. We got to know one another a bit more in seventh inning stretch and won some big league chew. A gorgeous day of global, peace-seeking, adventure-driven community at the ball park.
Pools and Shoes – Exchange Day Celebrations – July 2023
The au pairs in WA state gathered up for some swimming, singing and donating of shoes for the J-1 exchange day national celebrations. They played a water safety quiz and listened to their joint Spotify global jam mix. Summer fun!
Exchange Day is coming soon on August 7, and APIA is 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, AP get togethers, and more. 
Serving and Protecting Global Visitors – March 2023
The World Health Organization estimates that 1 in every 3 women in the world experience violence and these stats have not improved over the past decade. Women living overseas are an especially vulnerable population, in that they are learners of a new language, surrounded by different values and behaviors. Those who have lived overseas know day-to-day interactions can feel foreign and understanding threats can get lost in cultural misinterpretations. Step in Officer Craig of the Bellevue, WA (the largest majority-minority city in the US) police department.
Officer Craig has been teaching women’s self defense classes to his local community for just a few months now. What the Bellevue Police are doing is fairly unique according to Officer Craig, and last Sunday, our au pair population was able to be a part of his teachings first-hand. Officer Craig slowed down what transpires in the “mechanics” of an unequal struggle, describing how women can use the space between and their own bodies as leverage if it is not their own physical strength that will serve in the moment. He talked through body positioning for finding the best balance, defensive tactics, illegal in boxing since they don’t serve the goal of being able to strike an opponent. He later shared links to reinforce the moves:
Officer Craig demonstrated with care and precision these defensive moves to 30 au pairs from 12 different countries. The women then practiced how to guard against an assailant, lessons they can take with them to their own home countries.
Conversations around law enforcement between citizens from various parts of the globe are always interesting and what it means to “serve and protect” has taken on various interpretations, both at home and abroad, depending on the experiences or the traumas we each hold. Officer Craig learned everyone’s names in the short amount of time we spent with him, he created a space of trust with the local police for a woman far from home, and with humility, he left us offering future support, saying that he was, “grateful to be in a position to help in a small way.” At the Bellevue, WA police station in a closed City Hall office on a Sunday, we found a person who was “serving and protecting” in a very proactive and caring way.
Botanical Lights – December 2022
Scavenger Hunting with the World – August 2022
Au pairs from over 10 counties ferried over from Seattle to Bainbridge Island this month to participate in a photo scavenger hunt. We ended with a taste of the world famous Mora ice cream. 
Sculpture Park Strolling and IWM Celebrating – March 2022
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. 
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!…
