Go Au Pair

Hi! :) \r \r My name is Juanita, I am 19 years old and I am from Johannesburg, South-Africa. I am currently an Au-Pair for a family in Edina, Minnesota with 2 kids that are 3 and almost 2 years old.\r \r I decided to be an Au-Pair for various reasons - so I can work with children, meet new people, experience new things, grow as a person and just to live life everyday! \r \r I have been residing in the USA for almost 4 months and i enjoy it a lot! I have great host parents whom I adore so much! They are one of the reasons that i am so happy here. They have introduced me to so many of their family and friends. They showed me different places and they let me try new stuff all the time! \r \r As soon as i got here, my second week, i started taking classes at Normandale Community College. I enjoyed it a lot! The sooner you get your credits, the better ;) \r \r I would definitely recommend being an au-pair to everyone out there who wants to travel, see new things, meet new people etc. And I would encourage all families to be a host family with Go Au-Pair. Having an Au-Pair in your house is more than just someone taking care of your kids. It's someone who becomes a part of your family, who relies on you, becomes a friend/caregiver etc to your children. \r \r This will be my experience of a lifetime!! Looking forward to so much more here in the USA! \r \r Nita :) more

Hi, my name is Sarah, I am 21 years old and currently living as an Aupair in Minnesota, near Saint Paul.\r I am from Germany and I started my trip to the U.S. 2 month ago. \r I decided to go away for one year and take care of children in another country, because I was searching for an adventure, for a time to take off my studies, to improve my english skills, to meet new people and to experience the life in another culture.\r And this is what really happens now. \r \r I take care of a 10 year old girl and a 5 year old boy and I love my work with them. As my hostfamily makes me feel welcome and ´adapted´ me as a family member, all of my concerns I may had when I came here, are gone now and I am really enjoying my new Aupair life. \r My hostparents had just being great introducing me to their family and friends, showing me the area, answering all the questions I had, taking me out to activities, and teaching me a lot of the american culture. But they also have fun to learn more about my home country Germany, our culture, and food and even the kids have fun learing some german words, so I think that helps a lot not to feel homesick. \r \r As an Aupair here in the Twin-Cities it is really easy to meeting and making new friends, since people in this area are open-hearded and super friendly. Besides I realise now every day, that I made the right decision to go this step in my life with GoAupair, because they really care. \r My LAR coordinator helps me with everything I have problems with, stays constantly in personal contact with me and is wonderful and productive when it comes to planing Aupair- Cluster Meeting. They are always a great chance to meet other Aupairs from all over the world, having fun together and charing our cultures.So it was easy and fun for me, to build a social life other than in my hostfamily.\r \r I am excited for the next 10 month, I can´t wait culture events like Thanks- Giving and Christmas to come, but the most important thing for is is, that every morning when I wake up I am looking forward for my daily work. \r \r So why not becoming an Aupair or getting one?\r The experience without it, you already have! ;) more

I have hosted two au pairs with another agency, but I hosted my first au pair with Go Au Pair for 14 months who just completed her time as an au pair last week. I want to say thank you to my wonderful au pair Rut and to her coordinator, Erika Feckova. Rut was a true blessing for my family and we love her. Erika was a caring and dedicated coordinator who worked hard to help the au pairs experience America. She did a great job with her cluster and is a great person to work with. more

I am an Au Pair from New Zealand, living just outside Boston, MA (7.5 months) and I love it. Moving to a new country to live with a family you have only met over Skype, is very scary and adventurous but my host family are wonderful, with 2 beautiful children, who I adore.\r My host mum, from day 1, helped me feel at home and relaxed, she is so easy to talk to and I feel we get along so well and are always on the same page.\r \r At first I found being homesick very hard, but having our monthly Au Pair outings has been so much fun and helped me to forget feeling homesick. If I am in town, I will be sure to be at our Au Pair catch ups. It's an awesome way to meet the other Au Pairs, who know what you're going through, to make new friends and do fun activities, you may not get to do otherwise. We have done some pretty awesome things, ice skating, Baseball game (Go Red Sox!!) and camping at Cape cod and Martha's Vineyard- just to name a few!!\r \r My LAR, Joyce, has been amazing. I feel like I am constantly emailing her with a million questions and she is always ready to help, with more than enough information.\r \r Being an Au Pair is such a fun and safe way to live abroad. I have a safe and loving home to live in, while getting to travel the USA and study. I plan on heading back to NZ at the end of my year here, but I have no regrets. This year will be one that I never forget. I love it. more

I'm an Au Pair from Colombia, living in Eagan, MN. My experience as an Au pair has been one of the best experience in my life. I am very lucky to have a great family that has made me feel at home and also have taught me about American culture. I take care of a beautiful baby boy of 8 months that has taught me so many things and it's just wonderful to see him grow. \r Also Go AuPair is been helping in everything that I need and they always ask me about how I'm feeling. My LAR coordinator is been great too, she try to set some events to know some friends. \r I recommend this program to families and Au pairs because it is unforgettable and incredible. I been 8 months living in us and just a few months of my year ends Im starting to feel sad to leave my host family that it is like my second home more

August 29, 2013\r Hi everybody, I´m Stephanie an Au pair from Ecuador.\r I have 5 months here in The US and is the first time that I go away from my home and country, at my first month here was very hard to adapt to another culture, house and kind of food but the worst to adapt to your new life and be so far of your family is really hard, I was so homesick. \r \r My experience as an Au pair until today was great even problems and differences that I had with my Host Family is just the cultural crush you know. I have 5 kids to care of for everybody is like oh wow that´s many and they are right because is really tired but I know that God is who gives me enough strength to deal with that, and also I know that he gave this family for a reason. \r \r Live in The US is awesome and is a really good opportunity to know another different culture and al so to travel and been in great places!Is hard to stay far of your family but this really helps you to be a strong and a independent person. I can say that because that is what is happening to me.I went to Chicago with my host family that city is so beautiful I really enjoyed it! \r The thing that I like of my host family is that they teach their kids since their young age The love to God, how important is this in a human life. \r \r I encourage girls and people to be an Au Pair if they love kids for sure. Just enjoy it, even you are home sick because this opportunity probably will be the last in your life. \r \r kisses, \r Stephy. <3 more

Having a great hostfamily is making my experience as an Au Pair even more delightful. \r I had the luck to live with my current family in two different countries. In November 2012 I joined them to stay for 7 months in Switzerland and now my family moved back to Salt Lake and I went with them.\r In Europe we traveled to different cities like Paris and it was just wonderful. I enjoyed my time in Switzerland and I'm happy that I said ""YES"" to this adventure. \r We went also to New York and I just fell in love with that city. There is just so much going on and first I was skeptic about all the people there and crimes but I learned for myself to put away the prejudice and just open my mind for different cultures and learn from them. Therefor I started to smile at people even if I don""t know them. The result was: You might not always get a smile back but if somebody is smiling back that is making your day so much better .\r The things that I like about Salt Lake is that it's not a too big city and it's more relaxing. I really enjoy the summer here it's nice for hiking and I love to go swimming. It""s fun to go with the kids outside with the bikes and just enjoy a warm summer day. \r I'm grateful to have met this amazing family and they always made me feel like I'm a part of it. The kids are adorable and I will always keep them in my heart. I admire my hostparents and how much they reach in their life. To me they are an inspiring example and thanks to them being a guide for me I opened my mind, I grow up and I know now what I want for my future. \r I'm glad to make this once in a lifetime experience and until now it was absolutely amazing. \r \r ""The world is a country which nobody ever yet knew by description; one must travel through it one's self to be acquainted with it."" Lord Chesterfield more

I am an Au Pair from Australia living in Salt Lake City. I have lived here for approx. 2 months now and have been in the States for approx. 16 months. I am a nanny back home, so I decided to become an Au Pair so I could gain more experience in childcare but able to explore a new country at the same time! I spent my first year with another family in Atlanta, and had such a wonderful time with them. For my second year I am very excited to be with my current family in Salt Lake City, they are amazing and I am absolutely loving my experience. My family offer me the chance to be involved in whatever they are doing, but also encourage me to go out and do things with other au pairs and make friends. I have been able to travel to so many different places as an Au Pair, get involved with a lot of different things, and all the Go Au Pair staff I have been in contact with for whatever reason have been extremely helpful and understanding. It's so far been such an incredible experience and I'm so excited for whatelse is coming up in the time that I have left! more

My name is Cynthia Sahm, I am Cindy Y's host mom. My tip for any au pair or au pair family is to respect each other and always communicate, even if it is difficult or awkward. Then at least you can understand each other better, even if you disagree on certain things! Since our au pair takes care of the family, it is Importent to keep her looped in on all things family-related. She needs to feel respected and valued and this is the best way to do it. more

\r Hi everybody!\r \r I'm Au pair in Utah I'm with family Sahm's. I take care of twins almost 1 year old and an a little girl she just turn 4 years old. They are a beautiful family I picked them because trey are a family with good values, I learn many thing about them and put in practice many advances they tell me around this year. I'm very greatful with god to put me in their lives, because we work each other to make everything better in this house, I feel like I make a very close relation ship with them. \r \r We have a lot of good moments the first trip that took was salt lake to lava hot springs was very nice, relaxing and fun. One of those days was snowing very hard but the town looked so pretty and we saw the people working in de street with a robe or a towel, it's funny because was so cool, I remember came in the pool with the twins lol. \r \r Then the second one was in Las Vegas for a weekend, I was very excited, !you know it's Las Vegas! It was amazing saw all this hotels and fancy thing, that wonderful fountain and everything. Ohhh! Except for advertising. I make a really nice friend from LA in the club of the same hotel. I'm very glad with me host family for any good and bad moment because this let me be a better person every day.\r \r Moment I will never forget is my host Dad try to explain me staff like the water in Utah and show me the mountains in trips, my host mom trying to cook, and give support whenever I need, the twins how fast they grow, I saw them like the fist day in the airport and mady my little kinker making face que you say mady sad face and she said - No happy face and show me a big smile. Just want to say thanks for every moment. \r more

I am a local area representative for Go Au Pair. My recommendation is to find out what the local area representative does for activities with your au pair. Your agency fee pays for the LAR and support they give you and your au pair. It's frustrating to hear au pairs from other agencies just have their au pair sign in at a coffee shop as their activity and do not do something culturally stimulating! more

I have taken the time to write this short piece regarding the merits of the Go Au Pair program, as I have experienced exemplary service and handling from this organization, and importantly, from the individuals that manage my area.\r \r In my experience as a consulting firm Managing Director over 20 years, I have found that you truly find out about the quality and ability of any company, when something problematic arises, which is of course unavoidable in any field.\r \r Unfortunately, my first placement was not a fruitful match, and it was necessary for Go Au Pair to assist the originally matched Au Pair with a new family, while helping me expedite finding a more suitable Au Pair for my family.\r \r Because of the direct, proactive, personal involvement of my local area supervisor, Marilyn Lindsay, as well as Kristy Hobberstad, the placement coordinator, we were all able to solve the problem, find the best solution together, and in a very timely manner we resolved the issue, and everything is moving forward positively.\r \r I have found that the Go Au Pair organization, and its individuals, make themselves very available, are timely, reasonable, and understanding. They took steps to help me during transition and have always been extremely professional to deal with. I look forward to working with them for at least 3 more years until both my boys are in school.\r \r Every group has perfect projects, which Go Au Pair’s statistics indicate they have more than their share. Also, every organization has situations that require special attentive care, which is precisely what I have gratefully received from Go Au Pair.\r \r I would recommend this service, and specifically Go Au Pair to anyone, and would share with you that based on my detailed research, the Go Au Pair program is approximately 1/3 the cost of nanny’s and/or daycare. Further, the real benefits of having someone live in your house, and be involved in what I would call the “small times or spaces” is invaluable. This has allowed me to maintain the best possible relationship with my young children, while they receive advanced training from young people who often have learned more than I have about childhood development methods.\r \r Not to mention the benefits of cross-cultural education which is invaluable.\r \r Sincerely,\r \r Chad Hutchison\r more

Potential Host Families and Au Pairs: \r We are just about to complete our second year with our first ever Au Pair and have had the most enjoyable experience being a host family. Our current Au Pair is from Mexico City and we have thoroughly enjoyed both the cultural exchanges and experience. We love that our kids are saying ""por favor,"" too!\r \r We chose Go Au Pair because it's size. It's a boutique agency and enjoyable to work with. We met Go Au Pair's local area rep who came to our home to interview us, confirm the living quarters for the Au Pair and answer questions. \r Go Au Pair has been great to work through the application process and matching as ongoing follow up upon arrival and during their stay. We interviewed a couple of au pairs before decided on our current au pair via skype. \r \r Our Au Pair has made a long lasting impression on us and is part of the reason we are choosing to have another au pair when her visa expires. She will forever be a part of our family and welcome in our home every opportunity we have to spend more time with her. \r \r We highly recommend Go Au Pair due to their size and quality of their Au Pairs. It has been a rewarding and valuable experience for our children and family overall. \r more

I am an au pair host mom from MN and I used Go Au Pair to match with our current AP. The match process was postive for this match and I appreciated the help I got form both corporate in UT and our local coordinator. They would get back to me right away with answers to my questions and supported us while interviewing candidates.\r \r We had always used nannies and babysitters to watch our kids up until getting an AP and I was swayed by the flexibility AP care provides. It is wonderful to have the ability to schedule fantastic, reliable child care for 45 hours a week! I am a physician and my schedule can be chaotic and varible and my AP always rolls with the changes like a pro. \r \r That being said, having an AP who is flexible and not bothered by an irregular schedule was very important to us. We were also looking for a mature and active person as we have 4 boys under 6 who can be very challenging. We were able to find a young woman from South Africa who has all these qualities in spades! She is fantastic and we are lucky to have her as part of our family this year.\r \r Having an AP is also a great opportunity for cultural exchange. I looked on proudly last night at dinner as my two oldest kids shared Afrikaans words they were learning from our AP. Also, at the zoo, they were wondering outloud if our AP had ever seen any of the giraffes or gazelles in her home in Africa. This type of global awarness and broadening of cultural horizons is so valuable in today's ever-shrinking world.\r \r Our AP is really a fun part of the family now and I am looking forward to spending the next 9 months with her. She is always willing to lend a hand at dinner, on the weekends, if a kiddo needs something, etc, even when she is technically ""off-duty"". She is a delight to be around and keeps our family running smoothly. Whenever she goes out with friends, the boys miss her and ask when she'll return!\r \r Go Au Pair was very competitively priced and there are many other Go Au Pair APs in our area which provides a ready made social network when a new AP arrives. These were major reasons why we went with this agency in the beginning. more

My name is Tebogo ""Tebby"" & I have been an Au pair here in Danville Kentucky for a year & two months. I really like the program so much & decided to extend another year. I could not bear the thought for leaving Sophia (a two year old that I take care of) just when we were bonding more. & I was so thrilled my that my host family was expecting another a boy. There is no way I would have missed the arrival of a bundle of Joy. Both kids are awesome & lovable and I do feel like I am part of the family. I am from Botswana Africa & I like the size of Danville & its population, I get overwhelmed by big cities. In the past year I have learnt a lot as an Au Pair from foods, to the children & personal growth. My LAR makes it even easier for us by checking on us every once in a while & the communication is awesome. I got to experience an interesting & fun life abroad because of Au Pair & for that reason I recommend it. more

Hi, I am Diana I am from Ecuador I have been an Au Pair for 9 months already and it has been one of the most wonderful and fulfilling experiences of my life, living in Salt Lake for sure is a hole different world from what I was used back home but it has been so great making new friends and travelling to places but the most important thing is my host family I am on extending process we just clicked so fast and work as a team for the kids.\r \r I can for sure tell that being an Au Pair change you in a very good way, cause now you are responsible for others and in my case it has made me grow so much my host family is just my kids and my host dad which is an awesome guy but he works a lot so I have developed mother instincts.\r \r Living in the States has been awesome of course at the beginning was hard trying to adapt to everything and at some points I felt overwhelmed but is a journey full of experiences, really good experiences.\r \r I really recommend Go Au Pair my LAR (Erin) is awesome and she always tries to help us out with anything that we may need, I truly recommend to whoever may be reading this to become and Au Pair, of course if you love kids, this is probably one of the mos amazing things that I have done in my life and for sure I will do it all over again!!\r \r Diani :) more

Hi there!\r My name is Antonio Knapik and I am from Brazil. Becoming an Aupair was a great idea since I had some experience taking care of my nieces and nephews. I have been living in Lexington, Kentucky for six months taking care of two boys - Asher 8 and Isaac 6. The city is kind of small which is good for someone like me who has always lived in big cities and wanted to escape from them.\r My relationship with my host family is really good and I have lots of fun with the boys.\r Go Aupair has always supported me in many differents ways through my LAR (Nicole) and this brings me confidence about my stay in US. We (Aupairs) have regular meetings with our LAR and we do fun things together. I`m learning a lot about the American culture and improving my language skills really fast by meeting new friends, going to school, church, social events, etc.\r I recommend Go Aupair to all my friends who want an amazing experience abroad. more

We have had two aupairs now from GoAupair. In both cases the experience has been wonderful and we extended both aupairs for a second year. Our first aupair was from Thailand and now our current aupair is from Germany so our boys are getting to experience and learn a bit about these different cultures. \r \r GoAupair has been wonderful to work with in the selection/matching process as well as once the Aupairs arrive and during their stay. We especially like the aupair application and information we receive to be able to find the right match in skill and personality with our family. Both of our aupairs have become part of our family now and we continue to stay in touch to this day.\r \r I'd highly recommend GoAupair for any family looking to host an aupair in their home. more

Hello :\r My name is Mixi an au pair from china. I have been here in Minnesota for about two months. I have stayed with an American family, they have 4 kids. Parker is an 11 year old boy, Fin is a 8 year old boy who from china, Emerson is 4 years old girl and they also have a two month old baby. When I got here starting it was hard to understand as most of the people spoke so fast and I also had no friends. It took me a bit to adjust to my new surroundings. However, after Tessa, my Local Area Representative, came to my host family she introduced other au pairs to me, which was very nice and friendly for me. \r \r The four year old had some trouble adjusting to me in her life. She did not want to play with me and didn't seem to like me. My host mother told with Tessa over email and she give us good suggestions that let me and Emerson have more alone time together. We tried to do like this. Now, Emerson can be good with me and listen to me. Sometimes she can speak some Chinese to follow me. Once, we had dinner together. We ate tomatoes; my host parent asked me, did you need some tomatoes? Suddenly, Emerson said this is not tomatoes, this is xihongshi (chinese), we were so surprised and happy she is learning Chinese. Really thanks to Tessa. \r \r To be an au pair and come to new country can be hard to start. This is like very big challenge! Tessa always will give you some good suggestions and give us helping. We can talk about any problems we have to her. I had some issues with registering for my education and I was so worried about it. She called every college on our education list. Then told me which college I can take summer ESL courses. She also keeps us all informed by posting on our facebook group. I appreciate it! Now I get along well with my host family, I registered my summer courses. And Minneapolis’s spring is coming; we will have a lot of fun! I am happy to be an au pair and recommend Go Au Pair to everyone.\r more

Hello, my name is Jennifer and I am an AuPair from Germany.\r I really liked the experience of being an Aupair and explore the American culture. I was a Pre Match, so my Hostfamily found me online and then they choose Go Aupair as the agency, which was a good choice.\r \r I like that GoAupair and the people who work there really try to help out in cases of questions. I probably wrote so many emails with questions and always got a response. So the communication in cases of problems and general question is great, which is important, because you are ""alone"" in a new country and Go Aupair offers the necessary support.\r \r I had a really great relationship with my host kids Max (4) and Emma (2). I love them a lot and could not imagine better kids. And I think the relationship with the kids is the most important factor, because you spend the most time with the children!\r \r I really like Minneasota and especially the Twin Cities. The size is just right, it is not too big and not too small, has a rich offer of culture and arts and is great for people who love the outdoors. Not to neglect is the Mall of America, which is bluntly speaking just awsome!!!\r \r Another reason why I loved my year as an Aupair is because of the LAR Tessa Dean. She did her job really great. She tried her hardest all the time and you could address her with any problem or help, she would always have a solution. The Aupair events were creative and fun and always something to look forward to.\r \r All in all I think that Go Aupair was the right choice for my Aupair year, which is a big part of my life and an experience I will never forget! more