Au Pairs in Hampton Roads love to do activities with their host children

Ideas for au pairs to do with host children. Imagine expanding this to astronauts, firemen, and pirates to include all the children

Perfect activity for an au pair to do with your children

Thoughts from an Au Pair about life in places such as Chesapeake, Virginia

Being an Aupair by Sabrina from Germany

- Participating in cultural exchange programs –
When I think back to the time I`ve been an Aupair, a lot of precious memories come to my mind. I remember meeting and living with the greatest and kindest host family I could have ever wished for and being with the two cutest and funniest two girls who soon would become like little sisters to me.

Family that loves their au pair

Together we`ve been creative, silly, explored places, shared new experiences and discovered interesting cultural differences. We`ve been to playgrounds, made up games, did handicrafts together and set up playdates.

Although time is running and it`s been three years since I´ve completed the Au Pair Program, my host family and I are still in touch. We share photos and news and even visit one another once in a while.

That`s how I get the opportunity to watch my two girls growing bigger and bigger.
I`ve also made friends all over the world: France, Brasil, Australia, Great Britian, the Netherlands and many more. With some of them I´m still in touch.

My American host family and my friends made it possible to live the American lifestyle. That`s for instance how I`ve got the chance to find out Thanksgiving and Halloween are the most exciting holidays I`ve ever experienced.

Au Pair enjoys taking care of her host children

I got to travel all around the United States to see the most impressing scenery and cities.
Without noticing, my English improved to its best and I've even had the opportunity to sneak into college life on my own.

I`d do it all over again and still think about my host family almost every day.

-Sabrina from Germany

How diverse are the au pairs in Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Norfolk, Williamsburg, Suffolk, and all of Hampton Roads?

Au Pairs represent many countries in the Hampton Roads area.

How many countries do our au pairs represent in Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Norfolk, Williamsburg, Suffolk, and all of Hampton Roads?

Currently:  Germany, Colombia, Mexico, Sweden, South Africa, Brazil, and Slovakia.

Past: Japan, Serbia, France, Czech Republic, Poland, England, Turkey, Peru, Thailand, South Korea, Denmark, Switzerland, Estonia

That is a lot of culture in southeastern Virginia.

Au pairs learn about each other's culinary cultures, swap recipes at international potluck--Au Pairs from Chesapeake, Virginia Beach, Norfolk, and Williamsburg love it!

No matter what country you come from, food is regarded as a way of bringing people together and sharing something integral to your personal culture. And food recently brought together a group of au pairs who gathered at an international potluck to learn more about each other's culinary cultures and enjoy yummy treats from all over the globe.

AuPairCare Area Director Janell Fielding recently held an international potluck for au pairs at host family Senich’s home in Virginia. Host Mom Senich wanted to introduce her new male au pair Basti, from Germany, to the rest of the program participants in their community. Basti’s arrival further diversified this cluster of 50 au pairs, who come from Japan, Thailand, Spain, France, the Czech Republic, Brazil and more.

All of the au pairs brought a dish from their home country, creating a true feast of international proportions. Each au pair introduced themselves, what food he/she brought and shared what they were grateful for since starting their au pair program. Then a panel of judges voted for the top 3 dishes.

The winners were:
1st Place Basti from Germany with German Pancakes
Basti explained the tradition behind his German Pancakes:

“I chose a common German dish called potato pancakes, in Germany better known as Kartoffelpuffer or Reibekuchen. We eat them for a lot of occasions but usually on colder days. Without knowing, I also chose one of my host family’s favorite dishes. It was surprising to hear that Latkes (לאַטקע), that's how they call them, also play a big role in the Jewish tradition and are usually eaten on their Hanukkah festival. Such a coincidence! We had a really good time eating them. The procedure of making this kind of pancakes is not hard at all. Grounding potatoes and onions, mixing it with eggs and then frying it in a pan is basically all you have to do. Finally you can top them with applesauce, sour cream or serve them without garnish. I don't even remember when I learned the recipe, but my Mum taught me how to do potato pancakes years ago.”

2nd Place Anna from Italy with Tiramisu
Tiramisu means ‘pick me up’ in Italian, which is no surprise considering the layers of coffee, eggs, sugar, mascarpone cheese and cocoa found in this world famous dessert.

3rd Place Tabatha from Brazil with Brigadeiros
Brigadeiros are an extremely popular chocolate bonbon often served at birthday parties. They are made by mixing sweetened condensed milk with cocoa powder, heating them and then rolling them into chocolate balls covered in granulated chocolate.
The international potluck event was a smash hit, utilizing a traditional American potluck setting to bring together culinary dishes from across the world all on one host family’s table.

Funny!

Looks like Punxsutawney Phil the groundhog saw his shadow which means 6 more weeks of winter!

For all the au pairs wanting to experience a Virginia summer, you will have to wait 6 more weeks.