5 weeks!

So, I've been in Germany for about 5 weeks now. It's gone so fast! I've been really bad with posting, hopefully once I get into my visa, I'll get better with posting more regularly. :) 

I'm still kind of job-shadowing. I haven't gotten my visa yet, playing the waiting game until it comes or they let me know. Not exactly sure how it's going to arrive. 

My language course starts in May, and it'll be only two days a week which is nice. That gives me the freedom to do other things during the week instead of feeling like I'm back in school.

I've been eating. A lot. Lots of breads and sweets. Irresistible. The bread is so good. I usually go to the bakery about every other day to get a fresh loaf of bread, and lately I've been going almost everyday to get a fresh bun and sometimes a chocolate muffin for lunch.  I haven't done any travelling yet, it's been so busy, and I feel weird travelling alone. Hopefully I am able to meet some other au pairs that I could meet with. So far I've been spending most my time with the family, and then some of the time with my cousins. :) The parents are nice and keep trying to set me up to go places with young people they know, but I always feel awkward at first. It's weird being somewhere new and not having any one to call to hangout with. It's not too bad though because I'm so busy. My days are very routine, which I don't really like, but I try to mix it up a bit. 

So, I'm hoping to meet some other au pairs soon, then do some travelling. Still struggling with German, but I believe it is getting better. 

That's all for now. 

Tschüss! Ciao. 

One week in Germany

Phew, so, I've been here for about 8 days now!  Crazy. It's been so busy. Lots of meeting with people, errands, and getting to know the family. 

I can safely say that I'm exhausted. 

Since I'm not working yet, I've just been kind of "job-shadowing" what the parents do each day. Getting up at about 6:30, getting the kids up for breakfast, dressing them, and taking them to school. Then I can do whatever until about 2 to 4 depending on the day. Then we play with the kids until supper, we eat, then we put the kids to bed. Pretty simple day. :) 

It has been crazy the past few day because it's Karneval.

Karneval is a big celebration where everyone dresses up and goes to bars and gets drunk. There are also a ton of parades. This lasts from Thursday until Tuesday night. So, a lot of partying here in Germany. :).

So far, I've taken two long trips to places where I didn't need to be there at that time.. So that kind of sucked, but I guess at least I get to know my way around the city better. 

Right now, we're working on getting my visa started. Because of karneval, a lot of places have been closed, or shorter hours which makes it hard to get this stuff done. 

German is making me feel so stupid. Even though I think I'm learning more, it's so hard to understand everyone. I feel like I can speak and understand German, just when people say things a different way, or say certain words, I feel like I'm a child because I can't understand anything. 

I really feel like I can understand, and then I get lost in the conversation again. 

I really want to learn, and I want to learn quickly... It's just exhausting. 

That's all for now. 

Tschüss 

Germany!!

Hello!!

I made it to Germany yesterday. It was very hard for me to sleep on the plane, so I had a little nap, and got settled in my new room.

Now, I think I am all unpacked. I took a little walk, and did some shopping today.

Either today, or tomorrow I am going to go to Mutlikultur. I tried going today already, but couldn't find it! I walked down the same street like 4 times, and didn't see a sign, or the number.
After I go there, hopefully I can sort out my visa, and get it started.

On my walk, I stopped in a Kamps and got a Schokolade croissant, and a bun. :) Yummy.

I am staying with the family I'm going to be working for. They're very nice and the kids are so cute!
It's going to take a little while until I can get into speaking German with them all. Fortunately, the parents both speak English, so they are the translators for now between the kids and I. Hopefully I can start speaking German better soon. :)

All for now.

Germany! Here I come!!

I'm arriving in Germany on Monday!! :D

It is all very exciting, and very nerve wracking, but the time has finally come!

I have decided to come into Germany as a tourist, and then apply for my visa, so I'm hoping that goes over well. I'm not looking forward to the documents to fill out, but I will get through it! :)

I still can not believe that I will be in Germany this week...
I can not believe that I will be staying there for around 14 months!
It just is not connecting in my brain that this is all happening.


I am very excited to learn more German! I am also very nervous, and know that I will tire easily from being over-worked in the language... but if I come back in a year speaking pretty fluent German, it will definitely be worth it! :D


I am really looking forward to meeting the family that I will be staying with, and the children that I will be taking care of. The whole family seems very sweet, and I'm sure it will be easy to get settled.


I hope to post again sometime this week after I have arrived!

Woah, it's been a while.

It's been a long time since I last posted.

I have passed my A1 German test! :) I almost got a perfect score.

Now, I am just waiting on a reference, and then I can send it to Germany!

So close now, it's very exciting.



I've been reading some other Au Pair blogs, and I am pretty confused.
Some Au Pairs don't seem to know what they are getting into before they go.
What I'm expecting is: Taking care of children, cleaning, and cooking. Then once that's all done, I can travel as long as it's okay with the host family.

I'm not expecting to travel everyday, and it seems like some people considering being an Au Pair are expecting. Before I decided, I did extensive research on what Au Pair duties are, and the work schedule, and all of that stuff.

You are a babysitter.

It's weird to me when I read "Au pairs are just glorified babysitters". Au Pairs are not glorified in my eyes. An Au Pair is a young adult, who goes abroad to take care of children. That's what they do. Au Pair is not trying to deceive you into believing something otherwise.

Please do some research into what you are doing before you do it.

A little rant, but I feel it's absolutely necessary to know what you are getting into.
You need to love taking care of children, because that's what most of your day will be, along with some housework and possible cooking.

This doesn't and wouldn't put me off becoming an Au Pair, because it'll be an awesome experience. I really want to live in Germany, and this gives me a little idea as to what it will be like. Being an Au Pair will allow me to travel on my days off, learn another language, and I will be able to meet awesome people.

I can't wait to start this journey in Germany.

Explaination of my blog

With this blog, I hope to post at least 3 times a week. I'll try to explain everything that happens throughout my journey in becoming and being an Au Pair.

Right now, I am working on getting my paperwork done to send to Germany. Then the agency will match me with a family and we will work on getting to know each other and I can decide if they are the right family for me or not.

I have many things to get done before I send everything over.

For example, the agency I am with needs me to:

- Get a background check

- Pass an A1 German test

- Write a letter to the potential host family in German

- Fill out an application

- Get childcare references

- Get character references. 

This ended up taking me a long time to finish. I have to finish my letter, and finish getting some more references, then I should be able to really start this journey!

Au Pair? How?

Au Pair? What's that?

I get this question a lot when I tell people what I'm planning on doing.

An Au pair is like a nanny. It's usually a young person (between ages 18-30)with baby-sitting experience who travels to another country to take care of children. You live and eat in the host family's house for free, in exchange for taking care of their children. 

Some other jobs an Au pair might do include:

- Light housekeeping

- Teaching your native language to the children

- Grocery shopping 

When being an Au pair, you get to experience the culture, and language of your host country. 

This sounds pretty interesting. 

How do I become one myself?

There are plenty of agencies that can safely match you with a host family. 

Be very careful of using websites, be sure to verify the safety of the website, and the host family. Never send money to anyone online, be aware of scammers. 

Personally, I have family in Germany, and they helped me out, by going to an agency there. This German agency is called MutliKultur. This is a very secure agency as it requires background checks, and plenty of other security measures. 

Sources: NewAupair, MultiKultur

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