How to get in…

Just one year ago I signed my Au Pair contract with my first Host Family. Because I feel like this is a special day for my year, I decided to write a post just for this day.
What topic would be more perfect than telling you how to become an Au Pair.

I know that a lot of my readers are Family and Friends. But there also quite a few curious people visiting my blog and hopefully this post can help someone to become an Au Pair as well.

The first question you have to ask yourself is, if you want to find a host family with the help and support of an agency, or if you’re alright on your one.
I wanted to be on the safe side and decided to get the help of an agency.

As it can be quite hard to find a verified agency (I wouldn’t recommend an unverified one!) I think it’s best to use an agency-finder on official websites.
For Germany I can recommend Guetegemeinschaft Au Pair as an agency-finder and rausvonzuhaus for general information. If you are from a different Country the International Au Pair Association may be helpful for you.

Soon I found the agency MultiKultur e.K. International Exchange Programs, which sparked my interest by the amount of different programs to go abroad. As my focus was mainly the Au Pair program, I checked what they could offer me. I really liked that you can choose between just the placement with a family through the agency and the option to keep them as a back-up and support throughout the year. Of course it is more expensive to keep them as a back-up then just being placed through the agency, but it will help you when you need to change families during the year.

The next step is to fill in an application form. When you apply at Multikultur you can choose how you want to do it. Next to the old-fashioned way of applying by post, you can apply on their online portal as well. The good thing with the online application is that you can do it step by step and don’t need to do it all in one day.

Next to a normal application form they also ask you for pictures – preferably nice pictures of you, your family and maybe with children you took care of – a letter for the host family to introduce yourself and most importantly references. Because they promise you only verified families, they also want to offer the families only verified Au Pairs. Apart from at least two childcare references, they also ask for a reference  of  character. With all these information they just want to make sure that you are suitable for the job of being an Au Pair.

After you’ve been accepted by the agency they bring you in contact with one of their english partner agencies. For me this partner agency was the british Au Pair agency smartaupairs.
Before they’ll set up your profile they ask for a chat with someone of their team to have the chance to talk to you and get a feeling for who you are and how good your english is. The 15 minutes chat will be scheduled in advance and takes place on Skype.
When they’ve got all the information they need, your profile will be set up and the search for a family can begin.

Smartaupairs works with “Family Matches”, which basically means that they match your main criteria with the families and then suggest you this family in your family matches section on your profile. You can then read through the Family’s letter for the Au Pair, see their pictures and compare their profiles. Just like you get a family suggestion, the same family get you suggested in their Au Pair suggestions.
As there is contact information provided, it’s up to you if you want to make the first step and send the family an email and show your interest.

It is always  good to make the first step, but there is no shame in waiting for the family to get in contact first. So after I had my first family suggestions I sent out a few emails to try to get into contact with the families and schedule a Skype chat with them.

The next few weeks were filled with Skype chats with potential host families. Some were during the day, some were in the evening. With some families I knew from the beginning that I wouldn’t be the right fit for them, with other families I would’ve liked to go further. In the end it was the 18th May last year, when I first talked to the woman who later on became my first host mother.

They seemed to like me and told me during our first chat that I’m currently on top of their list. This information was precious to me, as they were on top of mine as well and I was really hoping that I could start my journey with them. At the end of the chat we decided to have a second chat – which is always a good sign – so I could meet her husband and the boys.
The following Saturday we had our second chat where I met the boys for a few questions and also the host father. After it were just the both of us again we more or less decided that I’m going to start as their Au Pair for the 1st August 2016.

After this chat I was really excited! I finally found my family!
I sometimes felt really down, because it seems like there is no right family for me, they were already taken or even worse, would turn me down after a second call.
All in all it took me less than two weeks to find my family, which was mostly due to the timing. Most host families look for a new Au Pair in May/June/July, so they have enough time to organise everything before the Au Pair comes over.

Through my search I’ve been in constant contact with both agencies, who were always asking how my search was going, would contact a family for me if they didn’t respond and cleared out the families from my matches I wasn’t interested in.

When we settled on me being their Au Pair, we had to wait till Monday, 23rd May to tell the agency. After they’ve sent the contract to my host parents and they’d filled everything in, I got the contract myself and filled in my part and signed everything. With my host mother’s signature, my signature and the signature of someone of my german agency the contract was valid .
Once my flight was booked, we signed a travel contract that stated when I arrive and where and that the family will pick me up.

Last thing on my agenda before I could leave was the right insurance! Luckily the agency could help with that as well. They don’t have insurances, but they can tell you a good one: DR.WALTER
They are specialised in Au Pair and visits abroad in general, but especially for long-term visits.
Finally my year could start!

After the first few days the agency was already in contact with me to make sure I’m fine and everything is alright. These check ups happened regularly during my stay with the host family.
But the agency wasn’t just helping with the family, they also provided different ways of getting to know other Au Pairs and finding friends. Next to the Au Pair meet ups organised by the agency, we also had a facebook group to organise smaller Au Pair meetings and got a list with all the Au Pairs and where they live in London to help to find Au Pairs in your region.

Being an Au Pair can be quite risky! Since I’m here, I’ve heard really bad stories about how families treated their Au Pairs. Luckily I wasn’t treated too badly, but with the time I just noticed that this family wasn’t as fitting as I once thought.
If I wouldn’t have had my agency and with that the safety and help, I may would’ve never considered leaving my host family and start looking for a new one.

But as you may know I’ve decided to leave my first host family after 2 months. Because I was quite uncertain how this whole changing process works I took the chance at a big Au Pair meet up and spoke to a member of my english agency. Not only did they understood my situation, but they also helped by giving me advice on how to go on with the family.

They would start looking for a new family for me as soon as I ask them to, but before they start the search I had to give my host family a two weeks notice and tell them that I want to leave their family. However I would still have to stay with them for another two weeks to give them the chance to find a new Au Pair and to give me the chance to find a new host family.

As I gave my host mother the two weeks notice on a sunday, I called the agency straight away on Monday morning and asked them to start my search again. Part of this ‘quitting’ process was that they had a chat with me and with my host mother about my reasons for leaving, so they can decide if they want to find a new Au Pair for the family or a new family for me. After they decided that there was no problem with either one of us in general but we just didn’t work out together, they updated my profile and put it back online.

The task of finding a new family had begun. Depending on the time you want to change, it can be quite hard to find a new family. It seems like I didn’t choose the right time. Even though I still had quite a few family matches, there was no right fit for me.
After one week had passed I was positive that I was settled, however the family then decided to not choose me but a different Au Pair.
Therefore I kinda had to start my search all over again. As I had only one week left and time was running out, my german agency expanded the search and involved all of their other partner agencies here in England.

But there is one more option: AuPairWorld.
AuPairWorld is a webpage that connects Au Pairs and host families without an agency. It is free of charge for Au Pairs and families have to pay a rather small amount in order to get all access.

After filling in all of your information and writing a bit about yourself in your profile, you’re ready to start looking. Because there is no agency behind it and it’s as good as free, there are no checks on the families either. Therefore you can find all kind of families on there and you have to be a bit more careful on who you choose to get in contact with.
Another problem is that a lot of the families won’t respond quickly. I think I still have over 10 unread and unanswered messages to families in my AuPairWorld inbox.

You would think that you’ll find a new family quite soon when there are three or four agencies searching for you and you have a profile on the worlds biggest Au Pair platform. However I was still without a new family when I had to leave my old host family.
Luckily I had a place to stay and therefore I could keep looking while still in England. Other Au Pairs are not as lucky and have to go back to their country until they’ve found a new family.

While staying with friends I kept on talking to families from the agencies and from AuPairWorld. At the beginning of November, nearly a whole month since I’ve left the family, I finally found a new host family on AuPairWorld. The risks for the rest of my Au Pair year are going to be that there is no agency that could help me if there will ever be a problem. Knowing this risk I still decided to stay with this family, because I didn’t know when the agencies would find a ‘better’ family or if there’s even something better.

The main downside to he family not being an agency family is that I’m now no longer part of an agency either. While the english agency dropped me completely, I can still call the german agency for advice – which they will gladly give – and I could even ask them to find me another new family, if I would consider changing again (don’t worry, it won’t happen). However they can only give me a certificate of the time I’ve been with one of their host families and therefore just for the first 2 1/2 months of my year,

As I still had three weeks till I could start with my new family, I tried to find somewhere else to stay for the time being. I only needed a short-term host family, or how I like to call it a gap family. Finding a host family only for a short time like two weeks is quite hard and neither agencies nor AuPairWorld were really of help.
However there is a third way of finding a host family. When you’ve already been an Au Pair, you’re already part of all kinds of Facebook groups for Au Pairs. Most of these groups are not only for Au Pairs, but often for host families as well and some of them are just for finding a host family/Au Pair.

I posted in two different groups that I’m looking for a gap host family for just two weeks and no interest of staying longer, as I’ve already found my new family and just have to wait until I can start there.
I was really lucky to have found a family that was up for it. Even though I only got paid half as much as they should have paid me, I was just glad to get a bit of money again while staying for free in London.

It was a hard journey and looking back I sometimes have to ask myself if I always made the right choices. But I learned a lot through it all and no one can take these experiences ever away from me.

If you want to be an Au Pair you just have to decide for yourself if you want to be on the safe side, but my example is the best one to show you that there’s really no safe side. However I would always choose Multikultur again and probably wouldn’t use AuPairWorld again.

I hope this was of any help for someone who’s not quite sure how to approach this whole thing. If there are any questions, feel free to ask! I’m more than happy to share all my experiences with you and give you advice, as long as you want them.

Love,
Vicky Xx

Helpful links:
Guetegemeinschaft Au Pair (Verified Au PAir Agencies)
rausvonzuhaus (Programmes for visits abroad)
International Au Pair Association (International Verified Au Pair Agencies)
MultiKultur e.K. International Exchange Programs (Au Pair and Travel Agency)
smartaupairs (Au Pair Agency for UK and Australia)
DR.WALTER (Insurance Company especially for Au Pairs and long-term visits abroad)
AuPairWorld (Free Au Pair and Host Family platform)

On a last note: I really want to send all my love to Manchester today. I’ve been to the city just recently and it left me quite shocked to hear what happened. I feel sick thinking how someone could willingly do this and even more so when children are involved! I hope everyone recovers well and the missing children will find their way back home!
#PrayForManchester #MissingInManchester

 

New Year – New Friends?

I’m finally back! I never planned to once again take a break and especially not for over three month. However this year started rather soon and with it a lot of new things came along.
I met new friends, I finished my school and I started to do a bit more sightseeing. But first things first: my start in the new year.

Even though I went home to Germany for Christmas, I decided to celebrate New Years Eve in London. Therefore I had a flight booked to go back to London on 30th December 2016.
When I arrived at the Airport and went to the Check-In desk, I already noticed that there were quite a few people – definitely more than the usual 70 people or so that fit in the small Luxair airplanes to London City Airport. When it was finally my turn I learned why: Because of too much fog in London they had to shut down the London City Airport for the day. Luckily they didn’t cancelled my flight, but rather diverted it to another airport: Stansted Airport.

At the security check I met Trude, an old friend of my mum, who was travelling with the same plane to London to celebrate New Years Eve there. As we haven’t seen each other in a year or two, we used the chance and catched up while we were waiting at the gate for boarding.
After waiting for a long time, because the flight was delayed, I was finally inside the plane at 11.20am. When we started at 11.30am (German Time) we were already 50 minutes behind time. Then pilot told us that we were flying to Luton Airport instead of Stansted. The Flight itself was quite good, but it took ages until we were finally able to land, so it was already 11.50am (British Time).

At Luton Airport Trude and I got together again and tried to find a way to Central London. I was told that we have to organise the transport ourselves and can send in the receipt and ticket to the airline to get our money back.
But at the airport someone said that there will be an organised transport back to Central London, which got us quite confused. Through this confusion and the constant running around at the airport to solve the problem, we met H., a guy who was on the same plane and facing the same problems.

In the end we just bought a ticket for the ThamesLink train and took the bus from the Airport to the train station. When we arrived at the train station we were running around once again, until we found the right platform. On our way there we picked up Adrian and Daniel, who also were passengers on our flight. From there on we stayed together until the end of our journey to central London.

When we arrived at King’s Cross/St. Pancras Station around 1.50pm, we had to split up as everyone stayed in a different part of London. After I topped up my Oyster and helped H. to buy a ticket, I could finally move on and took the Tube at 2.20pm to Green Park. As there were construction works on my part of the Tube I had to get off there and finish my journey with the Bus 14. At 3.20pm I finally arrived back home after a long day and a long journey.

After this hassle I was so tired that I first lied down and relaxed for a bit, before I unpacked a few important things. On our way to Central London we all exchanged our phone numbers and organised a whatsapp group so we can organise meetings. Daniel, Adrian and I used this the same day to organise a meeting at the Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park, as we all wanted to do something more useful that day than just travelling.

Around 7.20pm we met near a Bavarian village in Winter Wonderland and then walked around to explore the area. Because it was really cold we only took a short break and sat down for a drink, but soon had to move again. Nearby was an open fire, where we tried to warm up, which didn’t really worked out. Therefore we decided to go back home shortly before 10pm already.

Walking around Winter Wonderland

Back home I went directly to bed and enjoyed to sleep in the next morning. When I was finally awake I unpacked my luggage, did some laundry and just relaxed. As I never really had plans for New Years Eve, I was quite happy when Trude invited me for dinner. We arranged to meet each other around 7pm at Trafalgar Square. From there we went to find some place to eat and ended up at Il Padrino close to Leicester Square.

After dinner we went back to Trafalgar Square, as we decided to spent the beginning of the new year there. Even though it was only 10pm when we found our spot, there were already a lot of people trying to find the best spot. Just 30 minutes later the boys came too and we all waited together. At 11pm we celebrated the German New Year with hugs and best wishes, especially to our loved ones back home in Germany.

The closer the new year, all the more people arrived and it got really crowded. At one point it was nearly impossible to move. At 12am we once again wished everyone a Happy New Year and then enjoyed the Fireworks. We soon had to realise that we indeed hadn’t found the best spot, as the fireworks were fired behind a big building. Therefore we were only able to see the high ones and only half of it, but at least better than nothing. After just 15 minutes the fireworks were already finished and we decided to find our way to Piccadilly Circus in hope to find a place to celebrate a bit more.

10…9…8…7…6…5…4…3…2…1…HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Fireworks from Trafalgar Square

Sadly we couldn’t see everything, but at least we saw something…

At Piccadilly Circus we took a few pictures, but soon decided that there is not much to do and tried to find our way home. As we weren’t the only ones who wanted to go home, a lot of the Stations were closed or with special queueing systems prepared for the big crowds heading for the stations. The Piccadilly Circus Station was one of the closed ones, so we walked to Leicester Square where we had to que up until we were finally inside.
Around 2am we were finally back home and could go back to sleep.

London wishes everyone a happy 2017!

Christmas decorations are still up

The big TV Screen on Piccadilly Circus

A New Year’s Selfie: Daniel, me, Adrian and Trude

For New Year it’s the same as for Christmas: every family has their own Traditions. For my family this means Raclette for dinner on New Years Eve and “Dinner for One” and “Ein Herz und eine Seele – Silvesterpunsch” (One Heart and one Soul – New Year’s Punch) on TV. But we also have a tradition for the New Year: “The New Year’s Concert” by the Vienna Philharmonic. Obviously I didn’t have Raclette for dinner, but at least I was able to follow the other traditions and therefore spent the morning of 1st January 2017 watching the New Year’s Concert.

Later that day I got ready to meet the others a last time before they had to go back home. At 1.30pm we met at Charing Cross to watch the London New Year’s Parade. Sadly we had misjudged the time and the Parade was already halfway through when we arrived. Because we had missed half of it anyway and it started to rain really badly, we quickly decided to change our plans and went to Covent Garden instead.

Who Ya Gonna Call? – GHOSTBUSTERS!

Can you guess which movie they represent?

MARY POPPINS!!

Chim Chiminey – Chim Chiminey – Chim Chim Cheree!

It’s Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!

Let’s go fly a kite and send it soaring

Completely drenched we arrived at Covent Garden and tried to dry a bit while walking around the Piazza. Around 2.30pm we decided to find a place to eat as we were all getting quite hungry. Our search brought us to Leicester Square where we stopped at a pub called “Moon Under Water”. Even though the pub was really crowded we were able to get a table and eat some really good burgers. I definitely liked the pub, as the food was really good and it’s not at all expensive. The only downside is that it’s always really crowded and it takes a lot of luck to find a free table.
When we were finished the boys and I decided to go back home, while Trude went on her way again exploring this big city.

So many mistletoes

Inside Covent Garden

The Covent Garden Christmas Tree

The next morning started rather early for me, because my host family arrived back home at 9.15am. After a nice breakfast I helped a bit by occupying the children so the parents could unload the car. Later that day the family left to meet some friends and I decided to stroll around Parsons Green and Fulham for a bit. But I forgot that 2nd January was a substitute holiday for the 1st, as the New Year’s day was a Sunday this year. Therefore most of the shops were closed and I soon went back home again.
After helping my host parents to bath the boys and bring them to bed I went to bed too. This was the last day of my holidays. The next morning I had to start my normal work again, which was quite odd after two weeks off.

When I decided to go back to London for the New Year I never imagined I would celebrate it with people I met randomly on my way back to London. But that is fate and I have to say that it is quite an interesting story to tell. And who knows how 2017 would’ve started if we wouldn’t have met…?

I hope you guys had not only a good start, but also some nice month in the year 2017.
A BELATED HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Love,
Vicky!! Xx

10th December: Lasting Memories – I

The last weekend in September has been the most adventurous here in London. On the weekend of the 23rd to 25th September three friends came all the way from Trier to visit me and have a nice weekend in London.
Because so much happened I’m going to write two posts about it. This one is about the time I’ve spent with Max and the other one is about the time with the other two, Mäthi and Anne.

As soon as I knew that they are going to come on the same weekend, I asked my host parents if I can get the Friday or at least half of it off. On Thursday evening my host mum finally said yes, that I can have the whole day off, I just need to go to my language school in the morning.

Since Max already arrived in London on Thursday night, he did some sightseeing on his own, while I was still in school. During that time Mäthi and Anne also arrived in London. We haven’t really planned anything, but wanted to try to meet for dinner or something in the evening.

After school finished I went home to get changed and get my handbag instead of the schoolbag and soon went on my way to central London. Max told me he is at Trafalgar Square and would come to Leicester Square Station, since that was the easiest one for me to get to and the closest to Max. When I arrived at 2.30pm there was no Max. After waiting for 5 minutes and constantly trying to reach him on his phone, I finally got a message from him.
In a quick phone call he told me to walk to Trafalgar Square and if I pass an Ambulance I should not walk past it but rather look inside and I’ll find him.

When Max was on his way from Trafalgar Square to Leicester Square Station, he had to walk through a traffic-reduced area. But apparently a driver didn’t thought he need to watch out and hit Max.
As soon as I knew where he was I ran to the ambulance and luckily they let me inside. In the ambulance I helped to translate, especially because he couldn’t concentrate very good due to big headache.

The paramedics wanted to make sure that everything is alright and brought us to the Guy’s and St. Thomas Hospital, which was closest to us. When we arrived there at 3pm, they brought us inside and sent us to the normal Emergency Room. I say normal because it’s the one where everyone would go to. After waiting for over two hours, I kindly asked a nurse when we could see a doctor, because Max headache was getting worse.

When a doctor finally came to see Max, he sent us to the Emergency Room for the more severe cases, since he thought that it’s more than just a small concussion. In the other ER they finally started to treat him by giving him some painkillers and doing various tests with him, including a CT.
After the CT, they knew that he had hurt his head pretty bad and they needed to do more tests. But first they once again moved him to another Emergency Room. This one is still a part of the second one, but it’s a more private area with fewer patients and therefore more quietly.

At 11.45pm I had to go to the Tube, because I needed to get home and the last Tube was due to leave between 12-1am. Since I had to be on the Tube for 1 hour and then had to walk home from the Tube Station, I arrived at home at 1am.

Mäthi and Anne could understand that Max needed me with him and therefore cancelled our plans for the night without second thoughts. Another great support was my host dad. After I send him a text to inform him that it’s going to be late and what happened, he called me and asked if I need any help and tried to comfort me.

Another sad thing was that it was my grandmas birthday that day and everyone except me was there to celebrate it with her. The good thing is that with all the technologies nowadays and free wi-fi in the hospital, I was able to Skype with my sister who showed me around the table and gave me the opportunity to talk to everyone.

The next morning was quite an early one. At 6.20am I woke up for the first time, but could go back to sleep for another hour. When I then woke up again, there was no going back to sleep. Instead I talked to Max’ brother, who told me that he’s planning to come to London that afternoon.

After I got ready I went to the Tube to go and see Max. I left in North Finchley around 9.40am and arrived at the Hospital at 10.30am. Because the visiting hours were only from 2-8pm and he was sleeping, they asked me to leave and come back later.
Because I was already in central London and didn’t knew what to do, I contacted Mäthi and Anne and then went to see them, but I’ll tell you about that in the second post.

At 2.30pm I was back at the hospital, but left again 30 minutes later to buy some souvenirs for Max to take home. In order for me to get the right ones I had to drive to the Tower of London to visit the souvenir shop there. At 3.30pm I got everything I needed and walked all the way from the Tower of London to the London Bridge Station, where Max’ brother was supposed to arrive.

London Bridge Station is parted into two parts. One is the actual Tube Station where I’ve been before and the other part is the National Rail Station where amongst others Trains from Gatwick Airport arrive. This National Rail Station is quite hard to find. I’ve been walking around the whole area and couldn’t find the right place. Even though I’ve been in the Station more than once, I was always in the wrong part. After walking around for over 30 minutes I finally found the arriving hall of the National Rail Station and could wait for Max’ brother.

At 5.15pm he finally arrived and we could get on our way to the Hospital, where we then stayed until 8pm. The next point on our agenda was to take the Tube to the Hotel in Notting Hill, where Max had checked in on Thursday night. His brother took over the room from him, since he’s got his room at the hospital. I just collected the few things Max brought for me from my family and then left.
Around 9pm I was back at the Tube Station and went to my evening programme with Mäthi and Anne (see this post – link follows tomorrow!)

On Sunday, 25th September I first had my big Au Pair Welcome Event (see this post) and then went to see Max straight afterwards. At 2.45pm I finally was at the hospital and then stayed with him until 6.30pm. Around 4pm his brother and I went to the scene of the accident and tried to get in contact with the police, but there was no one at the station, so we walked back to Max.

On Tuesday, 27th September I did the normal morning routine and after I brought the boys to school, I directly went to the Tube Station to visit Max one last time. I arrived at the hospital around 10.40am and after I explained that I can’t visit during the visiting hours, I was allowed to see him. Around 2.30pm I had to leave again, because I still had to do the laundry and prepare dinner for the boys before I had to pick them up. It was quite hard saying goodbye after everything that happened and without knowing when we’ll see each other again.

The same evening an ambulance from Trier arrived in London to bring Max back home the following day. At 10.30pm (german time) on Wednesday night, he arrived safely at the hospital in Trier. After 1 1/2 more weeks he finally was released from the hospital and is fully recovered by now.

Even though I’m quite happy that I got to see him again, we all thought that the weekend would turn out differently. In the end we’re all just happy that he got so lucky and doesn’t have any permanent disabilities.

This weekend will definitely be a lasting memory for me!

3rd December: Life is better with Friends :)

Day three and the third post for my own little advent calendar.
Today’s post is for all those, who have been spending so much time with me here. Who would go sightseeing with me or just shopping. Who would spend their free time with me, so we would have company. In one word: my Friends!

The most important thing as an Au Pair is to make friends quite fast, otherwise you’ll be stuck alone and you won’t ever see someone else as your family. Even if you have the best family an Au Pair can wish for, we all need a bit of space and need to spend our free time with other people.

I had to learn this the hard way, since I didn’t make a lot of friends during my first few weeks, I soon felt really lonely and got more and more frustrated. Especially when the first problems with my ex family started.
I was so happy that I then found Maja. Even though we haven’t seen each other since the 4th September, we still keep in contact and she offered me a place to stay for one night when I had to move out, too. I really miss her and now that I’m settled in we have to arrange to see each other again. But apart from not seeing each other, we still kept in contact. We’re not writing on a daily basis, but we would talk on the phone sometimes and when we write again, it’s just like we are continuing a conversation from the previous day.

But she’s not my only friend. When I came back from Ireland I got to know Amelie, because our families are friends with each other. She is the one I spent the most time with and she also was a really big help during my re-matching time. I owe her big time for keeping more than half of my stuff in her room and putting up with her host mum who was getting more annoyed by it day by day.
But not only for keeping my stuff, also for being there for me and listening and giving me advice whenever it was needed. And mostly for putting up with me, I know I can be a pain in the a** sometimes… ;D

On the 4th September Maja came to visit me and Amelie in North Finchley. After we showed her our not so impressing High Street, we took the bus 134 to Muswell Hill and arrived there after a 30 minutes drive. In Muswell Hill we were supposed to meet a girl named Jana, who I’ve got to know over Facebook even before I came to London. We tried to meet for quite while and never got the time to, so finally we could meet.
While I brought Amelie and Maja, she brought two girls who live next door to her. There was another girl who no one of us knew before, since she just arrived two days ago. While everyone else was from Germany, she was from Sweden. The last in the group was the only girl who’s not an Au Pair and lives in a different part of London.
After we all met at 3pm, we went to a café and just sat together, talking and trying to get to know each other. At 5pm we then decided that we should move again and went first to a nice second-hand shop and then to a pub called O’Neill’s, which belongs to an irish pub chain.
Around 5.45pm Amelie and I decided to head home. Maja had already left and the others wanted to stay a bit longer.
Even though all the girls are really nice, I just kept a bit of contact with Jana, which really is a shame, because they were all really nice!

After this nice meeting Amelie and I tried to make more friends and even went to an Au Pair meet up on Oxford Street. There is only the problem that all the other Au Pairs were from all over London and it can be quite hard to keep in contact with people who are not living close to you.

So we tried using an App called “Excuses to meet”, where you would give excuses why you should meet and then the app will show you people with the same excuses around you. This app has a big Au Pair community and is even promoted by our agency.
On Thursday, 22nd September, I made arrangements to meet another Au Pair in Finchley Central at 11.30am. I knew that two other Au Pairs are joining us, but it was a nice surprise to see Amelie there. Marieke, a dutch Au Pair, organised the whole thing and Anna, a polish Au Pair, was the fourth Au Pair joining us. We went to Costa and just chatted the time away. At 2pm Amelie and I then decided it’s time walk back home.
This meeting went a lot better and we actually stayed in contact. Sadly we haven’t seen Anna much after, because most of our get together are in Finchley or North Finchley and it’s too much of a hassle for her to get there.

On the 25th September we had a big welcome party for the Au Pairs in London. We even made more friends there and Amelie and Marieke made plans with them for after the event, while I already had other plans.
So I didn’t knew the girls when they invited me to come with them to the British Museum on the 1st October. Originally I didn’t want to go out that day, because I had to babysit from 5pm onward, but they convinced me and so I met them at Woodside Park Station the same day.
Amelie, Farina, Kathi and I took the tube from there and at Finchley Central Station Marieke joined us. While Farina lives closer to a different tube station, Kathi lived more or less a 5 minute walk away from my family.
When we arrived at Tottenham Court Road we walked to the Museum and got in quite fast. But inside were so many people, that we went around the Museum for a bit, but soon gave up and left in order to find a place to eat something. After a short snack, Amelie and I went back to the tube station and went back home. Because it was already 4.20pm when we went on the tube, I really had to hurry up to walk home from the station and arrived just 2 minutes too late.

The British Museum

Inside the British Museum

Panorama Picture of the main entrance hall

The middle from a higher position

Some nice capitals

A big sculpture

Outside of the British Museum

A smoothie and a Red Velvet Cake for a snack

The next day we made plans to see each other again. Since the other girls went to a party the night before and came home quite late we arranged to see each other at 2.30pm in front of the Sainsbury on the High Road. Sadly Farina stayed home, but we were joined by Lenka instead. After we bought a few things for a picnic, we went to Friary Park, close to my family’s house.
That day was the day I planned to tell my host family the two weeks notice and therefore I was quite nervous. So I enjoyed the picnic even more because it was a good distraction from what was to come later that day.
At 5.30pm we decided to get a move on and went back home. Amelie walked with me until we arrived at my house and had to say goodbye. By then I was a nervous wreck and I’m still very grateful for her trying to calm me down and to encourage me.
Even though it was a good idea, it didn’t help at all. But at one point I had to put an end to my perfect task of procrastination and finally talk to the family.
This meeting with my friends at the park helped me a lot to ease my mind that day and also reminded me that no matter what happens with the family, I have a bunch of good friends behind me who would always try their best to help me the best they can.

Let’s have a picnic!

After I told the family I would leave, I tried to spent as much time as possible outside the house on the weekends. On the 8th October we then made plans to go to Brent Cross, a big shopping center in the North of London. We just asked in our, now very big, Whatsapp Group of Au Pairs around our area, who wants to join us.
In the end it was just Amelie, Kathi and I who took the bus at 1pm at Tally Ho Corner and went on our way there. Because of problems with an oyster card it took us a bit longer then usually and we finally arrived at 2.15pm. After we strolled around for a bit, we met with another Au Pair from the group we haven’t met yet; Ellinor.
We just went through all the shops we wanted to see and finally I was able to visit a Hollister shop and even bought my first piece of Hollister there.
Because I once again had to babysit, we went home at 4.30pm. But not without a small lunch snack from the Food Court of the Center. For the way home we used the tube, which was way easier and cost the same.

Even though I made a lot more friends during my time here, Amelie, Marieke, Farina and Kathi are the ones I’ve spent most of my time with. But not only did they spent time with me, they also helped me a lot during my rematch time. Kathi lend me her hand luggage suitcase so I could leave it with my things at Amelie’s place and Farina always told me about families who are looking for an Au Pair.

You always need friends in your life, but even more so when you’re away from all your other friends and your family. The question is just how you can see who is your friend and who is just an acquaintance. For me it was clear when I had to change and they all tried to help me. I see myself quite lucky that I’ve found friends like these here! Hopefully we’ll be able to stay in contact, now that I’m living on the other side of central London.

Thank you guys! I don’t know what I would have done without you!

Vicky! Xx

 

2nd December: Finally back to School!!

Hey guys, sorry it’s already this late, but I haven’t had the chance to post any time sooner today.
In this post I’m going to tell you all about my time at a local language school. Starting with my enrollment to some of the lessons. Not only wanted my host family for me to go to a language school, but I also wanted to go to one to get the Cambridge Language Certificate in the end.

On the 3rd August, just on my third day here, my host mum brought me to a Language school in Finchley Central, which is just two Tube Stations or a 25-30 minutes walk from where I lived. Since the school was still on summer break, I just could do my interview so they can estimate my level and tell me in what class I could take part in.
For the interview I had to do a small test where I just had to choose between four words which one is the right to but in a gap in a text. After the gap text I had to write a 50 word story about either London or my hometown (I obviously choose Trier) and then I had a little chat with one of the teachers there. Apparently I was really good and just got one word wrong. They said that I would need to attend the Advanced Level classes, but I would need to come in September to start and then I could also do my trial lesson first.

When September finally came around, Amelie and I went to Language School on Monday morning, but they sent me back because the Advanced Class wouldn’t start until Wednesday so I would need to come back two days later.
So on Wednesday, 14th September, we went back to the Language school and did our free trial lesson. Because school just started, they haven’t figured out who would teach the class yet so we had a substitute teacher named Thomas. He was a really fun guy and we had a good lesson.
Amelie had to go to another class so she wasn’t part of my class, but there were three other girls. Giulia and Benedetta, both italians and Au Pairs too, who were already a definite part of the class and Rosa, a brazilian who also was there for her trial lesson.
After the lesson I decided that I want to enroll in this school, but because I wasn’t sure on how many weeks I would have to do they offered me a mock exam for Friday.

On Friday I then went back to the college and did my mock exam. Because I want to try to get at least the Level C1 Certificate, I had to do the CAE (Cambridge Advanced Exam). The Exam is subdivided in four different parts: 1. Reading and Use of English; 2. Writing; 3. Listening; 4. Speaking.
The first part is again subdivided into 8 different parts, where you would have to fill in some words, find a different version of a word or just answer questions to a text. One of the hardest ist the gapped text, where a text is divided into paragraphs and some paragraphs have been taken out of the text and you have to fit them back in, in the right order. But the hardest really is to finish all the tasks in just 90 minutes!
The second part consists of two different texts you have to write. The first is compulsory and mostly just an essay. For the second text you can choose between three different writing tasks. This could be a proposal, a report, a letter or a review. Again you have to finish the task within 90 minutes and make sure you don’t have more or less than 220-260 words.
The third part is the listening. Here you have to listen to conversations and choose the right answer, complete sentences and multiple matching, where you have to complete two tasks at one. For this task you’ve got 40 minutes but that isn’t a problem, since this part is led by a CD. The problem here is more the listening part itself.
Luckily I haven’t had to do the fourth part, but even if I would’ve done it, it wouldn’t have been a problem at all.

Before I could do the mock exam I had to enroll at the school, so they could make sure that I’m actually staying with them, before they put all the work in. The enrollment fee is £25 and I’ve paid a £5 deposition. I couldn’t pay for the whole course already, because it depends on how many weeks you’re doing.

The following Wednesday Amelie and I went back to language school. She also took a test on Friday and was able to move a class up and was now part of my class. We now also had a teacher from this school: Emma. She also was the one who interviewed me in August and organised the whole mock exam thing for me.
After class she told me my test results: 70%! You need 60% to pass the test and because I’m also taking lessons, Emma told me that I can even try to get the higher Level C2. For this I would have to take the CPE (Cambridge-Proficiency-Exam), but she thinks that I could actually manage it. On my request on how many weeks I should do, she said that 2 days a week for 6 weeks in total would be absolutely fine.
Luckily my grandfather said he would help me pay for it, because Language schools in England are really expensive and I would never be able to pay for it with the money I earn by working as an Au Pair.

So from then on, Amelie and I walked all the way from North Finchley to the Language school every Wednesday and Friday morning from 9.30am to 12.45pm. After around two weeks Giulia left London to go back to Italy and therefore also left the class. But before she could leave Enrico, also from Italy, joined our class.

I really loved going to language school. Not only did we learn a lot there, but I also found good friends there. Even Emma, our teacher became in a way a friend of us. She would always listen to the problems we were facing at the moment and would try to give us an advice. Because of that it sometimes felt like a support-group for Au Pairs, but we still would connect it to learning english. Talking about our problems helps us to get more fluently and confident in talking and she would always correct us, so we still would learn something.

This class, which really was more like a group of friends, helped me a lot in deciding if I change the family or not. They wouldn’t tell me what to do, but their reactions to the things I’ve told them, made it clear for me that it definitely is not a normal behaviour.
But they not only helped me in making the decision, but one girl especially (apart from Amelie, because we are friends even outside of the classroom) helped me out after I left my family and had nowhere to go. Even though she was an Au Pair herself, she offered me to stay with her for one night.

Sometimes the school has a test day. That means that every class has to write a test, so they can see if we’re improving and for the lower classes if someone can even move up a class. Before I left I we had one of those test days and it was just annoying. In a way the test was nothing more than a mock exam. But we didn’t really want to write a test so we could convince Emma to at least do the writing part in the next lesson.

In my last week with the family, Amelie and I’s friend Kathi joined our class at the language school. This time it wasn’t Emma who was teaching us, but a guy named Tony. Because he looks a bit like Voldemort, we gave him Voldemort as a nickname, but never told him so. He thinks his nickname could be Dumbledore, because he is the head of the teachers and sometimes is referred to being the headmaster. Tony is actually a really funny guy and his lessons are also really good. But his lessons are a lot different to Emma’s. Even though he jokes with us, his whole demeanour is more serious and in a way he is more challenging than Emma is.

During his lesson he would dictate us some phrases and we had to write them down as we heard them or what we thought he said. This was funny, annoying and frustrating at the same time. Annoying and frustrating mostly because we just wouldn’t get it right. But it was all the same so funny, because of the things some of us understood. One time Tony dictated the phrase “I don’t find them easy” and Enrico understood “I don’t find a museum”, which was so funny at that moment.

After this lesson I signed up for a few weeks break. Not only because I was between families, but also because my exam would be in December the earliest. Right at the beginning I decided I would do 4 weeks of language school now and then would do the last 2 weeks just before my exam, so I’m well prepared.

When I first took the break I planned to be back in the last two weeks of November to do the CPE (C2) on the 1st December, but I now decided that I’ll wait until January and do the CAE (C1) then instead.

I decided to do the CAE (C1) instead of the CPE (C2), because you automatically get the C2 Certificate when you get 80% or more in the CAE.
On the Wednesday I had to leave my family I went to the language school to meet Benedetta there and we all did another mock exam where I got 80% without the speaking part, so I would definitely get the C2 Certificate. But even when if it will go wrong during the final exam, I would still have the C1 Certificate, while I would have nothing if I wouldn’t pass the CPE.

So now I’m on break until January, but I want to go back to the language school one or two times to do another round of mock exams and maybe finally even do the speaking part of the exam.

However I have to say that this school is really good and the staff tries his best to help you as much as they can. They even helped me during the time where I had’t found my family yet and are cooperative with whatever problem you have.
Sadly my working hours never allowed me to take part in any of their programs, but just so you know, the school has regularly events scheduled. If it’s a sightseeing trip on a boat, a Halloween party or just ice skating at Alexander Palace. They really try to form a community and to bring their students into contact.

I’ve really missed going to school while I was away and I still do! It’s not only learning. It really is coming together for a few hours of fun and leaving with a better knowledge of the language we have to speak on a daily basis now.

At the end I just want to include a thank you to Emma and the Nacel English School London!

nacel English School London

See you tomorrow (or for most of you later today)

Love,
Vicky! Xx

 

1st December: Going back in time

This is the first post of my advent calendar and I’ll tell you a bit about what has been going on with my last family after we came back from Ireland and before I left them.
Because I’ll write about some things on other days I may skip a day or will tell you then that I’m writing more about it another time. I’ll especially skip the Sundays, since that were the days were I did the most and they’re worth their own post. 😉

As you may remember, the family took me to Ireland for a week and when we came back I had the Monday off, because of a bank holiday. On Tuesday I then had to get back to work.
This week was hopefully going to be a good one, seeing as the younger one was off devices for the week.
It all started with his request to bake later that day and also if I could show him a bit Origami. So we baked some Rocky Roads that day and I showed him how to fold the crane and we even folded the London Eye together. After dinner we went out to play a bit of table tennis, and the best day during the whole stay was over.

The next day I got a bit time off, since the older one started Rugby practice for school again and the mum took the younger one to the zoo. After I’ve received a letter from my best friend I took the time to answer her and then went to the post office to buy some stamps. On the way back I then posted the letter together with two postcards.

Thank you for the nice letter!

Posting the answer letter and two postcards

Rocky Roads

With the 1st September the start of school was coming closer, so I went with N. to the High Road to buy some things for school. We also went to the supermarket to buy some Marshmallows, because I promised him that we would try the chubby bunny challenge. After we’ve done that (I won with 4 Marshmallows, while he could only fit in 3), we once again did some Origami and later on played table tennis again.

On Friday, Amelie and I had planned a playdate for N. and her girl (Sa.). They both know each other from school, even though Sa. started at a new school after the break.
We took the kids to the Park, where they played a bit of tennis and went back home after 45 minutes. Because it was lunchtime soon, Amelie and I started to prepare lunch, while N. showed Sa. some Origami things he learned.
After pancakes with fruits and yoghurt for lunch, Amelie and Sa. had to leave again and N. and I draw some pictures.

For Saturday I didn’t want to do too much, since I had to babysit at 5pm. Therefore I met with Amelie and took her around North Finchley and to Finchley central. On the way there we passed my park, the Victoria Park!
Because the weather wasn’t too nice we went back to my place and drank some tea until I had to work and Amelie left.
I soon started to prepare dinner: self made PIZZA! And the boys then went to bed at 9.30pm, easy thing!

Victoria Park – does that mean it belongs to me?

Funny tree inside Victoria Park

On Monday, the 5th, N. and I once again baked. This time we made brownies. But sadly it wasn’t as nice as the week before, because he was back on his devices and therefore didn’t like to do things with me.

Wednesday, 7th September, a day before school is back on. This day was a bit hectic because I had to drive back and forth. First I had to drop off N. at his Rugby training. At 11am I then had to bring S. to a birthday party. Around 2.30pm it was time to collect N. again and at 4.30pm I had to collect S. and bring him to his Tennis training straight away. Luckily I haven’t had to collect him, since his father brought him home.

The day, we’ve all been waiting for has arrived: the boys are back to school!
On Thursday, 8th September the boys had to go back to school, the summer break is over now. But not only the boys had to get up early now, me too.
After we had breakfast at 7am, we tried to leave the house around 7.30-7.40am. I was lucky that first day, because the mum drove us all to school, to show me some pick up places and also where I’d have to drop them off.
After we’ve been back home, she had to go into work and I went to see Amelie.
At around 3pm I had to pick the boys up again. While S. already had to do some homework, N. and started on a puzzle.
Because both parents had to work late, they asked me to babysit the boys, so I was finally free after S. went to bed around 9pm. N. was (hopefully) already asleep by then.

The nice puzzle N. and I did – 08.-14.09.

Friday I had to bring only S. in the morning, since N. had to be at school earlier and the mum dropped him off.
Around 3pm the mum and I went to pick up N. and his friend and she showed me another parking lot on the school’s grounds. When we were back,she told me that I’m now free for the rest of the day and that they’re heading to out to eat at a friend’s place.

After a chilled Friday night I planned to do something on Saturday, so I met with Amelie and we went to Muswell Hill. We decided to stroll around some shops and just take in what they all have. But we also went into a Oxfam bookshop, which is a charity shop with only books in there. Because it’s second hand, you can find most of the books there for just £2-£3, depending on what book it is. After we decided we’ve seen everything, we took a bus to High Barnet. Once again we strolled around the shops there and next to all the charity shops we even found a really nice Candy shop with a lot of baking utensils next to the candy!
Originally we wanted to meet another Au Pair there, but sadly she hadn’t had time off until shortly passed 6pm, so I could just say hello and then had to take the bus home. Normally I would’ve stayed longer, but that night the Last Night of the Proms were on and I planned to watch them. So I prepared some Pizza once I was home and then chilled in front of the TV and watched the Concert live from the Royal Albert Hall.

All the things you need to do some fancy cakes

Do you need some colour?

The following week was nothing special at all. Only on Friday I had to babysit S. and his friend C. After I’ve picked them up from school I cooked some burgers for dinner and then let them play a bit on the PlayStation. During the check ups on them during the evening I’ve picked up that they wouldn’t even play together! Most times one of them was playing on the PlayStation, while the other one had headphones on and was watching something on YouTube on their phone. Weird… when I had a friend for a sleepover over, we actually played together…
At 10.30pm they finally went to bed and I could go to sleep, too.

Saturday night I had to babysit once again, so I didn’t really want to go out and instead just went to the High Street with Amelie. After a stroll through the Waterstones bookshop and a coffee I went back home, where A. and her family had already arrived. If you can’t remember, A. his my host mum’s sister who lives close to Oxford.
I was actually looking forward to babysit her girls that night. Once again we had pizza for dinner, so I soon started to prepare it and let the kids put all the things they want on top of it. Around 5.30pm we could finally eat and the parents went on their way to the city.
While the girls then had to get to bed soon after, the boys were allowed to stay up until 9.30pm again.

The next morning I went down around 10am and watched a bit Mr. Bean with the girls until we had breakfast. After breakfast I was asked by the girls if I can braid their hair again.
At 1pm they then left and went on their way back home. I got ready and left too, to go to central London to meet with Amelie and do a bit of sightseeing. But I’ll write about it another day.

On Monday the problems started… First the power went off in the kitchen, which wasn’t too bad. But on Tuesday I then had my first critical conversation with my host mum. This one was worse than all the ones we had before and left me pretty shaken up. So much that I still had problems concentrating the day after. But I tried to work a bit on the things she mentioned and went out with N. to the garden that night.
On Thursday I decided to get out a bit and met with Amelie and two new Au Pairs in Finchley central. In the evening I went out with N. again, when we came back I had another talk with my host mum again. She still said that I wasn’t doing enough with the boys, even though I just went out to the garden with N. the last two nights and played with him.
But she also told me that I’ll have the Friday off, since I’ve asked for it. Her only wish was that I’ll start fresh on Monday and try to do everything she asked of me.

After an eventful weekend (you’ll never believe how eventful…), I tried to start “fresh” that monday, but it wasn’t that easy. I still tried and baked a crumble for dessert that night.
Sadly the week wouldn’t be any better than the weeks before. N. still would be grumpy now and then and would get gross with me without any reason.
On Friday I then had suddenly the whole day off, without telling me any time sooner, which was quite sad, because it was on such a short notice that I couldn’t really made plans with anyone.

On Saturday I once again had to babysit. At first I didn’t plan to do anything, but just stay in my room and do some creative things. In the end Amelie could convince me to come with her and some other girls to the British Museum. It was really nice to go there, but sadly you can’t see everything because there are just too many tourists being in your way. Even though it’s a blessing that all the museums are for free, it can be a course too with all the tourists then visiting.
You may think that I’m a tourist too, so I shouldn’t complain. But the thing is that I’m living here now for so long (nearly 2 month is a very long time 😉 ) that I actually feel more like a Londoner than like a tourist. So I’m officially allowed to get annoyed with all these tourists being around and in your way of the perfect picture.
When I was back at 5pm I had to babysit already and make Pizza yet again. Luckily the boys went to bed at 9.30pm already and I also could go to bed.

All these things happening in the past few weeks really got on my nerves to this point where I was thinking about changing. On the Sunday before, I met someone from my agency and talked to them about it and they confirmed that I should think about it and then talk to the family. So this Sunday, the 2nd October, I finally made my decision and asked my host mum if we could chat, to tell her that I indeed want to change.
So on Monday, the first day of my 2 weeks notice started. But it was just another Monday. All these days were just like the days before. Sometimes things would happen that would just confirm my decision and made me rant the amount of days left in my head.

On Tuesday I decided I needed a break so I went with Amelie to Wood Green, where we went to Primark and other shops that are located there. We even saw a Deichmann.
I also had my first Skype call with a potentially new family, but I didn’t like it all so I had to keep looking.
Friday I got into contact with another family I really liked and even went to see on Sunday, but sadly they didn’t want me to be their new Au Pair.

DEICHMANN! –  could be in Germany…

So I was back to searching on Monday and then also decided to sign up on aupairworld.com to get better chances on finding something new.
Even though I should’ve started packing I rather kept myself occupied with different things.
On Thursday S. came down with a cold and came home earlier. When I made him a hot water bottle after dinner, he was really grateful and it was the first time in all my time there that I felt like I’ve done something right.

The next morning S. still wasn’t feeling well enough for school so he stayed at home, but this affected my day not in a bit. Apart from the laundry I was off again that day.
In the evening I went out with some friends from the area to say “goodbye”, because it was my last friday in North Finchley.

Even though I planned to start packing on Sunday, I once again distracted myself with other things. So I then had to pack on Monday. I started with pulling everything out of the closet and chest of drawers. In the evening I then called my mum and she helped me get everything in the big package they’ve sent me over from germany. On Tuesday I then packed everything that’s left over in a hand luggage suitcase I borrowed of a friend and brought both the package and the suitcase to Amelie.
Later I then finished packing my suitcase that I would carry around with me until I’ve found a new family.

definetely a lot of things – and that’s not even all I have…

On Wednesday morning I finished everything and cleaned my room up. At 9am my host mum brought me to the Tube station and said goodbye. Even though I had to work the day before, I haven’t had the chance to say goodbye to the boys. But I had the chance to say goodbye to the father and had one last chat with him, which made me really happy because I definitely liked him the most.

That’s it. My time with this family is over and what you just read were the last few weeks with them.
I didn’t expect them to take me out for a goodbye dinner or anything, but I at least would have thought that they would give the boys and me the chance to say goodbye properly instead of me just leaving without a word. But on the other side, I never really got this connection with the boys where it would have been necessary to give us this chance.

With all this being said and written down, I can finally leave this all behind me and can focus on the new.

I wish you all the best and a very merry christmas season!
See you tomorrow, when you can open the 2nd door 😉

Vicky! Xx

Radio Silent – Rematch

Ok, I think it’s finally time to write a new post. I’m sorry that I went completely radio silent, but a lot has happened the last few weeks…
The reason for that is that I left my host family to find a new one.
As you may remember I sometimes wrote about me not connecting with the boys properly. That wasn’t so much of a problem, but I sometimes felt like they don’t even want me there.

Being an Au Pair can be quite a challenge. You live with people together who are supposed to be your new family, but in the same time you have to work for them and get paid by them.
Some Au Pairs get really lucky and find a new family in their host family and feel like it’s their new home, but others – like me – are just hosted so it’s easier for them to work for the family. At least that’s what it felt like for me.
But it wasn’t only that I didn’t find a connection with the boys, I also had the feeling that the mother had expectations that I would never be able to fulfill and I didn’t know of before, or I may have never had chosen this family.

I had some ‘nice’ conversations with my host mum from time to time where she would ask me why I’m not connecting with the boys. During this talks I always had the feeling she made it out to be my fault only, while I had the impressions that the boys just don’t want to do things with me and therefore I could try as much as I want.
Often I also had to put up with a 11-year-old boy scolding me for things I haven’t done. Or he would tell me that what I’ve said is wrong. I know I came here to improve my english, but the things he corrected weren’t even wrong but rather something he didn’t like personally.

At one point it just all was enough. I’ve been there two months and at the beginning everything was looking fine, but soon the first problems arose. Back then I thought it’s not that bad and you can go through with it a whole year. However, it didn’t stopped with these few things but more came along. Things started to pile up and then I started thinking if I really want to put up with all this for another 10 months.

The answer was: NO!

So I had to think about what to do… I was pretty sure that no matter what I’m trying to tell the mother, nothing would change. The only option that sounded as if it would work, was changing the family. But I was so happy when I found a family and I also didn’t want to let the one family down, so I didn’t just want to make this life-changing decision without thinking about it thoroughly.

Because I also had a big Au Pair meet-up coming up and knew some people from my agency would be there, I decided to talk to them in person. Tell them the problems I’m facing, how I feel with all of this and then ask them what I can do in this situation.
As I hoped the talk went well and they told me that I would have to tell the family that I want to leave and then the two weeks notice would start and they would start looking for a new family for me.
But they also told me that they can understand my trouble and my wish to change.

A big help in all of this was not only my family, but also the previous Au Pair of my host family. After a long talk on the phone we realised that we had all the same problems.
Not only the same problems, but also the same conversations with my host mum.
Sadly she was too afraid that she wouldn’t find a new family in the two weeks notice and therefore she stayed with the family.

On Sunday, 2nd October I then finally told my host mum my decision. Even though she said she couldn’t understand why, she would just have to accept the fact, since I’m grown up and old enough to make my own decisions and also because she can see that I already made up my mind.
We agreed that I won’t tell the boys anything and that we’ll talk to the agency the next day to get everything started.
Th next day I was asked if it would be ok for me to work two more days after the two weeks notice and then would leave either Tuesday evening or Wednesday morning.

The agency started to look for new families for me straight away, but sadly there weren’t that many. Even though I had quite a lot Skype calls with families and also met with two personally, I still hadn’t found a new family.
After week 1 of my two weeks my german agency sent my profile to all their other english partners and I signed up on aupairworld.com, but that also didn’t helped to find something new.

On Wednesday, 19th October I then had to leave the family. Sadly I haven’t had the chance to say goodbye to the boys.
After my host mum dropped me off at the tube station I took the tube to Finchley Central where I went to my language school to meet a friend from my class who offered me a bed for one night.
The next day I went to my ex host family’s cleaner. She also offered me a place to stay. And even though I could have stayed with her for longer, I didn’t want to bother her too much. But I really enjoyed being with her, especially because she has two really sweet children!
On Saturday morning I then took a MegaBus+ to Scunthorpe to stay with friends of my family for a while.

Originally I never planned to stay in Lincolnshire that long, but in the end I stayed there for nearly a month.
It took me all this time to find a new family and even though I found my new host family at the beginning of November I had to stay there a bit longer since I can’t start there until the end of November.
After being away from London for nearly a month I felt the need to finally go back to London.

So on Monday, 14th November, I packed my bags and went on my way back to London.
After looking into different options, I found a family who was happy to host me until I can move to my new family.
They have a 1-year-old girl they asked me to help look after. When I arrived at St.Pancras National Train Station I changed to King’s Cross and took the Piccadilly line to Oakwood where the family collected me.

On Monday evening they just introduced me to most of the things I had to know and let me settle in. I then had to work on Tuesday and Wednesday. On Thursday morning the family left to visit friends and family in Poland. Luckily I was allowed to stay alone at their house and therefore had enough time for myself. On some days I just stayed home and on other days I went to central London.
Tuesday night they came back from Poland and I was back to work on Wednesday. After just three days of work another week was over and I off for the weekend again.
Yesterday was then my last day of work with this family and after I’ve packed all my things I left the family this morning and travelled to my new family.

Finally, after such a long time, I can start with my new family! Fingers crossed that everything will work out this time around and I will have a good time!

You may wonder what this family is like… I can just share some facts with you as I don’t know the family that well yet.
They are a dutch family with three boys from the age of 3, 6 and 8. They live in Fulham, a nice area quite close to central London (Zone 2).
The family seems really lovely from the chats we had and also from getting to know them and finally meeting them on my first day.
But also the things the previous Au Pair had to say about them, helped to choose this family. She told me that she haven’t had any problems with them and they accepted her as a new family member and it’s going to be hard to say goodbye.
It gives me hope and confidence that this time everything will be different!

But it already feels different to my first family – in a completely positive way!
When I met the second oldest, he first introduced himself in a proper way and not only a minute later he hugged me and told me that I’m nice. And that wasn’t the last time that happened.

With all this being said I want to say goodbye for now, but a lot more is to come!
Another chapter begins and hopefully you all want to come along!

Sorry again for keeping you waiting for so long and thank you to all the people who checked on me because I haven’t posted for so long! You’re the best!!

And also a very big thank you for all the people who helped me out, either by taking me in or just storing a big part of my belongings! THANK YOU!

See you again soon!

Vicky Xx