Some of our au pairs participated in the Color in Motion 5K run in Washington DC Saturday, September 14th. They had a lot of fun. Here are a couple of pictures of them:
Click here to find out more about Color in Motion 5K
Color in Motion 5K run
Monthly Archives: September 2013
International Day of Peace!
click here to read more on the International Day of Peace
Saturday, September 21 is International Day of Peace! Au Pair in America, in celebration of “Peace Day” will sponsor its Third Annual Peace Day Contest. Au Pairs are invited to submit their vision of “peace,” whether it’s a painting, photograph, poem, essay, song or dance-any art form is acceptable.
Entries are due by Thursday, September 19. They should be sent to: gaapia@gmail.com
Prizes will be awarded in all categories and winners will be announce on “Peace Day” on the Global Awareness website. All entries will be posted on this site for friends and family to enjoy!
Look here to see entries and winners from previous years.
Annual Host Family/Au Pair Picnic
On September 8th hundreds of our host families and au pairs came to enjoy a day of fun at Lake Fairfax Park. We all got to enjoy the weather and each others’ company. It was great to meet so many host moms, host dads, host children, au pairs, and hear their stories. The face painters and balloon sculptor were a hit with the kids!
Thank you to everyone for making this event a success.
UCLA American Studies Course
A class for au pairs who want to master a university level class and take home a certificate from a major U.S. university.
Registration is now open for “American Studies,” offered online through the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA).
Your host family pays the tuition of $500. You receive a reading assignment each week, and you have one or two assignments to do online. Some assignments will test your creative thinking. Some assignments will send you to the internet to do some independent research.
Note that a Global Awareness presentation, volunteer work in the community, and participating in local events are all part of this class (and you will earn 6 credits by completing both the online and community requirements). Ambitious? Yes – most definitely.
If you are curious about the events that have shaped culture and history in the U.S., if you would like a taste of the part women have played in U.S. history, if you want to get involved in the community where you live, if you are mentally adventurous – this is the class for you!
Read more about the class HERE.
The next course runs from September 23, 2013 – February 3, 2014.
Register today at www.uclaextension.edu/aupairs
American Football season kicks off this month
The first game in the NFL is September 5th ~ Baltimore Ravens vs. Denver Broncos
Visit http://aupairinamerica.com/resources/life_in_the_us/football.asp for the full rules of American Football.
American Football Simplified
A Football Game is made up of 60 minutes of play time. The 60 minutes is divided into four Quarters of 15 minutes each. At the end of two Quarters, there is a break called Half Time. On the Scoreboard you can see the minutes and seconds running out. The team with the most points at the end of four Quarters wins.
A football field is 100 yards long. There is a Goal Post at each end of the field (called the End Zone) one for each team. Each team has an Offense and a Defense. If the Offense has the ball and tries to score by getting it across the Goal Line – the line where the playing field and the End Zone meet, the Defense tries to stop them. The Offense gets four tries to move the ball 10 yards toward their own goal post. These tries are called Downs. If they move the ball down the field 10 yards or more, they get another four tries to move the ball another 10 yards. If they don’t move the ball 10 yards in four tries, the ball goes to the other team; we say the team “loses the ball.” The Super Bowl is the final game of the Football season when two teams play each other for the championship. The game takes place in late January or early February. For some people the TV commercials are the best part of the Super Bowl.
Rosh Hashanah
Rosh Hashanah starts at sundown and is a solemn celebration of the beginning of the Jewish year. Synagogue services are held on Rosh Hashanah. During the services, the shofar, a ram’s horn, is sounded. During Rosh Hashanah special dishes are prepared. Many of the dishes contain honey which symbolizes the desire for a sweet year. A round bread represents the fullness of the year.
Here is a great site for children including information about the holiday traditions, games, word searches, Hebrew vocabulary and crafts: http://www.akhlah.com/jewish-holidays/roshhashanah/
Photo: Robert Couse-Baker