We have received a lot of letters and postcards from Kiwis in America on the Au Pair in America programme.
Here's what a few have to say…..
I'm having an awesome time and the family are really really nice. We are getting on just fine and the kids are adorable! Well behaved too which makes things a lot easier! I had my first cluster meeting last week at a county fair - so american it's ridiculous!! I've been meeting up with other au pairs which is really fun! My home is like a mansion, it's crazy! Very hot here - a nice change from cold Dunedin :) Bridie
Had an awesome as first 3 months (Its been 3 months already??). being with such an awesome big family helped alot with the home sickness (5 kids I look after) Have done so much in the past 3 months looking back I have no idea how i have fit it all in. Been to Padres vs Mets baseball game, USA vs Barbadoes soccer game, horse riding in the hollywood hills, Vitsted sights of LA, Bon fires in San Diego, Clubbing in Mexico! Laguna, Newport, huntington and hermosa beaches, Disneyland, San Diego Wild life safari park, Sea world. And im sure there is so much more to follow. I have some great close friends and they just keep on increasing. Everyone is so eager to go out and do stuff its very motivating. Already finished my first 35 hours of Credited class and will be taking a break until classes start in fall again.
Thanks APIA what a great job you are doing for us This is a great, highly recomendable programme, Rock on guys :) Rebecca NZ
"I am loving it over here. I have an awesome family. We are all of to Disney World next week. We are gonna have breakfast with Minnie mouse!!!! hahaha The girls are gonna have so much fun..........so will I. So much has happened this year. I have become so much more confident in myself, I have such a different outlook on life, and a love for travel!!!!! Being an Au Pair is certainly very challenging at times and very rewarding!!!!! I have so many awesome memories. It's an experience I will never forget. I can't believe I have been here for 9 months allready. When I was first here it seemed like forever and now time is going by so quickly. I am gonna be so torn when it comes to say goodbye in January". Rachel W, from Wairoa placed in GA.
So you probably wont want to know but the weather here is just gorgeous. My tan is back very nicely and I have spent the whole of July 4th weekend out in the sun. My kids have been on summer vacation now for 3 weeks and the family left for their vacation to Maine on Saturday, leaving me to have 4 blissful days of quiet in the house by myself.....so good!! I am heading up there tomorrow to join them for the remainder of the week and having had a look at the pictures of this resort they are staying at, I am not complaining!!
Yesterday was of course the 4th of July and I went in to Boston city with a
group of other au pairs to enjoy the celebrations. We spent the afternoon
on a picnic blanket with the rest of Boston beside the Charles River soaking
up the sun and then listened to the orchestra which lead into the fireworks
- I have to say that Americans definitely know how to do fireworks well!! So things here are really going very well for me. I just love my family. Nicole L. from Nelson.
hi, im in my second year here in connecticut, USA. im working with twin girls who are now 3.5yrs old, the family is so great they are really down to earth and we get along great, through various weekend trips and weeks away i have seen alot of the east coast now my next trip is to the west, california coast. i love it here as i get to go a see broadway shows and meet loads of interesting people from all over the world. the best thing about my job, is the girls i love them to bits they are the best kids to look after and are so much fun. the worst part is that america is sooo big its hard to see all of it! my biggest suggestion would be to find a family you can fit into best and you will have a great time, its not always the families that can offer you your own place that work out for the best im in a small house, drive a old car yet couldnt be happier, if you get on with the parents that is key. as corney as it sounds communication with the parents and being able to talk to them is what makes a great job. this i know from experience. thanks for all your help vicki.
Carline I. from Whangarei
Dear Vicki, I've been meaning to write to you for so long now...I have a photo of Cameron, Emma, Jack and me, that I want to send you. We took it in August, my last week at the Hiltners. My year was so awesome. I met so many cool and interesting people. I also did so many things that I thought I would never get to do. Ann and John are so nice, I hope to see them all again. I also want to thank you for all your help. I had the best year ever!!!
Thank you for everything!!!
Natalie from Auckland.
I am just writing to say thankyou for giving me this oppurtinty to come over to the states for a year, I am in California am living with a wonderful family with two children aged 7 (andrew) and 4months old (Claire). It is an awesome place to be and I know that I am going to have a wonderful time over here I hav already meet some other lovley girls and im sure that there will be plenty more. So I hope that it is not to cold for you over in good old N.Z, hope to hear from you soon, Thanks for again for everything.
Janelle G. from Gore.
Well time has gone so fast for me here in the States, 6 months is coming up fast and it feels like only 2 months have gone by. I don't think i could of got a better family, the kids are just so great - they keep me really busy i don't think there is ever a dull day espeally at the moment with summer vaction here. My host family has also taken me to New Jersey/New York, San Diego, Oregon, later on they will take me to Disneyland i feel really lucky and at home here. Next week my host family is going away on holiday and i decided to take a week of vaction for myself instead of going with them and i'm doing a suntrek study tour from Los Angeles to San Fransico I'm so looking foward to it its 6 nights camping and 1 night hotel and i'm going to be visting place's like Las Vegas, Death Vally, the Grand Caynon it sould be lots of fun. I've made some really nice friends here with the other Au Pairs on Bainbridge island - were kinda isolated from the Au Pairs over in Seattle cause it is so much hassell to take the ferry over but thats alright we have fun of our own over here.
Hayley S. from Morrinsville.
Hi , its Angela and I'm in America yay! I made it safely and it is great! I was a little homesick today because i had a bad case of jet lag but this family of 5 (see photo, right) kids is keeping me really busy as you can imagine!!!! You just won't believe all the stuff that is here, it is just so amazing I cant stop smiling! Last week I got to go to my first ever real BASEBALL game with our Au Pair cluster group! The baseball game was so much fun and even though I didnt have much of a clue of what was going on the atmosphere of just being in a huge stadium at night with 40,000 crazy fans, hot dogs, peanuts and lots of cheering was AWESOME! Our group even started the first mexican wave which eventually got around the whole stadium! It was the Baltiomore Orioles VS. Kansas city and even though the Orioles are supposed to be really good, even I could tell that they stunk that night! The O's lost 7-0 after 9 innings (Im a baseball pro now!!!) which Im sure was quite a surprise to lots of people and at the end of the game, there was impressive fire works display, an awesome ending to a great evening!
from Angela C. from Hamilton
All I can say about America is that it was the best!!, it was a great learning curve for me, gave me more confidence, and the travel bug to see as much as I could! I still keep in contact with some of my friends that I made that year, which is awesome. I would recommend anyone to go for it and have a great time!!! Tracey C. from Whakatane
I want to tell you all about the exciting year I've been having. On January 17th I flew out of Auckland airport and a few hundred hours later arrived in the freezing, but beautiful, city of New York. Its been 10 months since then, and I can hardly believe that it is almost time for me to finish my year here as an Au Pair in America. More
Things are going really well. Only 11 weeks left which is all very weird! Mixed feelings about returning home are starting to surface for sure! It's so nice to have the warm weather finally! I wont be doing another Winter in connecticut for a while although it was definately a great experience. Annabel S. from Auckland
I'm going to a naval ball at the begining of April with some other nannies. We've been line dancing and of course shopping, (I love the shopping here) and so much more i'm having the best time and already made awesome friends. The girls and the family are great I couldn't have asked for anyone better. Anyway I just thought i'ld let you know how much fun im having and to say thank you for giving me this chance. Hope to hear from you soon Alisha C. from New Plymouth
Becoming an Au Pair has opened my eyes to a whole different world, I have grown as an individual, made lots of new friends, traveled to places I never thought I would visit, and had an experince I will never forget. Lisa S. Read more from Lisa >>> Lisa S. from New Plymouth
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