Tag Archives: culture

Hints for Success – Overcoming Homesickness

Almost everyone experiences homesickness and culture shock to some degree, when they come to live in a completely new environment. So much is different and it takes time to adjust.

It is normal to miss your own family, at home. Try to remember that they support you and want you to make the most of this experience. They will enjoy learning more about the U.S., through your eyes, as you share your adventures with them.

Top 5 Tips for Dealing with Homesickness

1. Make Friends – Don’t wait for other au pairs to reach out to you, reach out to them. There are other lots of new au pairs who are feeling the same way you are right now. Set a goal to reach out to a few of them each day. Some will respond and some will not. Don’t let that discourage you. No one will ever be mad at you for sending them a message to say hello or ask if they want to do something together. Make friends from various countries and you will also get a chance to practice your English skills together.

2. Stay in touch with your home country, but not too much. Skyping or talking on the phone every day with your family and/or friends back home normally makes homesickness worse. Try emailing instead and reduce the Skype and phone calls to once a week, until you feel stronger. It’s much harder seeing the faces and hearing the voices of those you miss.

3. Get out of the house (or your room specifically) – Go to cluster meetings, have coffee or movies with other au pairs, join a gym, go to the library, go for a walk, visit the mall, get a manicure, visit a museum. If someone invites you out, say “yes.” Also, don’t be afraid to do the inviting. If your host family invites you to do things with them, say “yes.” This will help you get to know each other and contribute to your overall happiness.

4. Realize that it definitely gets better – All au pairs experience homesickness and the vast majority of them get through it, stay and have a successful year (some even extend for a second year!) So, it must get better, right? Once you get past the initial homesickness, most au pairs report how quickly the year goes by.

5. Make Plans – Create your own Au Pair Bucket List (places you want to go, new foods to try, new things to experience during your year in the U.S.) and start doing them now. Post on our cluster Facebook group to find others who may want to join you on your adventures.

Photo by:  Shimelle Laine (Flickr)

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Smithsonian Folklife Festival

The Annual Smithsonian Folklife Festival will take place June 29-July 4 and July 6-9. 

The Annual Smithsonian Folklife Festival is an international exhibition of living cultural heritage. This year will be the 50th anniversary of this popular event. Attracting more than one million visitors yearly, the two-week long celebration is the largest annual cultural event in the United States.

The Festival is held outdoors on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., between 7th and 12th Streets and inside the Arts & Industries Building. There is no admission charge. Visitors should dress for hot and humid weather. Parking around the Mall is extremely limited, so visitors are advised to use public transportation. Smithsonian is the closest Metro station to the Festival site. L’Enfant Plaza, National Archives, and Federal Center stations are within a half-mile. For general Smithsonian visitor information, http://www.si.edu/Visit or call 202.633.1000 (voice).

Festival hours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., with special events taking place most evenings beginning at 5:30 or 7 p.m. View the schedule here.

I highly recommend that you visit their website to plan your visit http://www.festival.si.edu/

Au Pair In America is celebrating 30 years of cultural exchange

On Sunday May 1st, the community counselors from the Washington DC region got together with their au pairs ,host families and guests to celebrate 30 years of cultural exchange.Here, Victoria Paton, community counselor in Maryland, recaps the experience for us:

A Cultural Fair is considered a success when over 200 Au Pairs have a fantastic time representing their countries by hosting a country table, performing or face painting. It is considered a mega-success, however, when an additional 1000 guests (host parents and children, general public and VIP’s) attend and walk away having really enjoyed themselves amongst the energy that brings people together through the Au Pair in America program.

On Sunday, May 1st, Au Pairs from 36 countries, enthusiastically welcomed all those who stopped at their tables. The energy was palpable for all 3-hours of the DC Metro Area Cultural Fair 2016 at Nationals Park.

Throughout the afternoon we were treated to wonderful performances too:southe Africa

perf 4Costa Rican Au Pairs sang in Spanish “Beautiful Costa Ricans,” and “Sugar Cane”.  performance 1perf 2

 

 

 

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Thai Au Pairs danced in their national perucostumes to “Fawn Thai” a traditional Thai folk dance

Singer Marion Raffin of France performed a solo of the classic “La Vie En Rose”.

Lillian Tshabalala of South Africa sang several solos including: “Qongqothwane – Beetle”, “Mama Thembu – a Wedding Song”, and “Malaika – My Angel”.

Zane Feldmane from Latvia presented “Bedu Manu Lielu Bedu or Trouble My Grefacepaintingat Trouble”.

Two singers from Poland gave us “Nie Mam Nic – I Have Nothing” and “Czas Nas Uczy Pogody – Time Teaches Us Serenity”.

Colombia rounded-off the performances with “Checumbia” a traditional Colombian folk dance and several songs.perf 3

Children visiting eachreceived a passport anlqtviad it was quickly filled with country, flag stickers as they “traveled the world”.  Some kids colored place mats to take home and others, still, wore home some fun face painting designs and globe tattoos.

poland

Over 30 DC Metro area Community Counselors (from Richmond to Baltimore, Cabin John to Virginia Beach) worked from March to May to organize all the pieces that went into the Fair. On this chilly May afternoon, they all posed for a quick group photo having made a significant contribution to a fun event and the spirit of international understanding.

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Kid’s Euro Festival in Washington DC

Kid’s Euro Festival Returns to Washington

If you are in the metro area,I hope you will take advantage of this free event that runs through November 14th.

As one of the local community counselors for Au Pair In America,I’d like to encourage  host families and au pairs to  check out the program of events and participate in any of the venues offered at  some of the major local cultural institutions. logoKEU08

The largest children’s performing arts festival in the United States, the “Kids Euro Festival,” began its month-long run in Washington, D.C. on October 17. Offering over 200 free events, the annual program seeks to introduce the diversity of European culture to children and families from all over the area. Embassies of the 27 European Union member states will present a variety of activities, from mime acts and puppets to concerts and film screenings. The event was first created in 2008 to coincide with the French presidency of the European Union, and the French-American Cultural Foundation helps make the series possible.

Celebrating Dr Martin Luther King

15 years after Dr. King’s death President Ronald Reagan signed a bill into law making the third Monday of January a national holiday celebrating the birth and life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

It took many years for Congress to decide to celebrate the holiday. In the years leading up to the official decree many African-Americans celebrated the birthday themselves with a few states declaring King’s birthday a state holiday. The bill was finally passed by both the House of Representatives and the Senate and was signed into law on November 2, 1983.  The first national celebration of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday took place January 20, 1986.

Each year on the third Monday of January, schools, federal offices, post office and banks across America close as we celebrate the birth, the life and the dream of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  It is an occasion for joy and celebration for his life and his work toward nonviolent social change in America and the world.

Here are some great websites about Dr. King and his life.

http://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/us/martin-luther-king-day

http://www.answers.com/topic/martin-luther-king-day