Right after high school I left for an amazing family in Natick MA to be their Au Pair for a year. I went through a company called 'Au Pair in America'. They place au pairs from all over the world with families in the USA. At the point when I applied, I never knew that there were quite a few companies that do this, but turns out there are! I still think that Au Pair in America is the best to go through though due to many reasons!
If you decide to go - this is the process.
1-You find an au pair representative in your area and she will send you all the application forms. These included child care ref forms, character ref forms, medical forms etc etc. You need to get together a couple of photos of you and some kiddies and all the forms and then you go for your 'interview'. After you pay your app fee, you will be online ready for families to view your profile!
2-Host families who are interested in you, will contact you via email telling you about their family and asking if you want to speak to them. If you do, you will make a time and date to chat and you will get to learn more about them, hear their voices and ask them questions.
3-Once you find a family that you want to match with, you or the family will notify Au Pair in America about the match and then your representative will send you all your visa application forms. You fill these out, give them back to her and she will make you a visa interview app at a US consulate.
4-You go for your interview, and wait for the arrival of your visa. Once this is all complete, you can buy some dollars, pack your bag and say your goodbyes!
5-Au Pain in America will organize your flight, and send you all the details-so its one less thing to stress about! and you are on your way!
When you arrive at JFK (that's where all the au pairs fly into) you will be picked up at the air port by a shuttle and taken to a hotel in Stanford CT. This is where you stay for 3 nights and 4 days with all the other au pairs who arrive the same time as you. (about 150 when i went). This is your orientation week, where you meet other au pairs and go through training such as American culture and Red cross. On the Wednesday eve, you get the opportunity to go on a NYC tour which is unbelievable! Then on the Thursday afternoon, you pack up and head out to your host family. I took the train up north to MA and they collected me from the station. Your host family organizes your travel arrangements from Stanford, so you also do not need to stress about this.
I arrived on Thursday night ready for the year of my life!!
I took care of 2 little girls, 5 and 7, and they were an absolute PLEASURE to care for, I miss them every single day!
3 months before your year is up, Au Pair in america will send you an email asking if you want to extend your stay for another year, or if you want to go home. If you opt for an extension-you can stay with your family, or match with a new one. I opted to come home, so they sent me a couple of flight dates, and I told them which one to book, then they sent me my ticket.
During the year, you have a 'Community Councillor who is basically your support base during your stay. She 'manages' all the au pairs in her area and organizes a meet up with everyone once a month. So you get to meet all the other au pairs in your area. Its really fun to catch up with all the girls, and a lot of your friends will come out of this group!
And thats about it-I had an AMAZING year making the best friends, a second family and traveling just about the whole country! Au Pain in America really looked after me well, and that's why I recommend it to just about anyone!
If you are interested in the program and live in SA click here www.aupairinamerica.co.za if you live somewhere else click here www.aupairinamerica.com
Yours is Travel
Roxy
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