AYUSA International e.V.

Hallo, Ich heiBe Patrick Singler, Ich komme aus Chicago in den USA. It's good that the parents in my family speak perfect English because that is close to all I can say in German (Deutsch). I am currently helping in a family with three children. An eleven year old boy who is very interested in speaking and learning English, an eight year old girl, who knows a little English but loves to teach me Deutsch, and a four year old boy who thinks I understand everything he says in German but he is starting to catch on to English pretty quickly. It is so cool when the four year old speaks an English word or phrase. I have been over here for about a month now and couldn't be happier. My responsibilities include driving and picking up the children from school, playing all sorts of games and occassionally putting them to sleep. I have had plenty of time to explore the city of Berlin, which is awesome. Berlin is about the same size and has close to the same climate as Chicago. The main difference is the public transportation is unbelievably good. It is amazing how efficient the trains are and how easy it is to get anywhere in the city. Last week my 11 year old 'brother' took me on a tour of the city. It was great. I strongly recommend coming to Germany and seeing for yourself this vibrant and sustainable country. The best way to really learn about it is by living in a family and getting first hand experiences. I have already learned so much from my limited experience, I am looking forward to the coming months...

I have been in Germany for three and a half months now, and I am having an amazing time. I have met so many new, interesting people, seen so many new and exciting places, and my German gets better every day. My adventure didn't start as I had imagined, but I don't regret any of it. For the first two I was based in a small town in Baden-Wurttemburg and I had to really cute children to look after. Unfortunately, things weren't always so great with the family, and I decided it would be best to leave. It was very hard, and I questioned my decisions all the time, but encouragement from my family and the agency helped a lot. My local counsellor encouraged me not to give up and to give another family a chance, and so I decided I had to give it another try. And I am so glad that I did! I have two children to look after, a 11-year old girl and a 2 year old boy. My days vary, and so I have to be flexible, but some of my duties include being there for the 11-year old daughter in the mornings before school, helping her with schoolwork and making lunch for her. I often pick the 2 year boy up from creche, and take him to parks or on walks. I also occasionally prepare his meals, put him to bed, and all the duties that come with caring for a young child. In a month there will be a new baby, and so some of my duties will change. Something I really enjoy about my situation is how each day is different- I like how each day has something new to offer. My new host family have been extremely helpful, and being a part of their family has made me realise how lucky I am to be able to experience all of this. Another thing I really enjoy is being so independent. Being completely responsible for myself, as well as children, has forced me to discover things about myself I never knew. Life as an au pair always has its challenges and difficult days, but the good days and great adventures outweigh all the bad times. I think everyone should be aware that although sometimes one experience doesn't work out, you shouldn't give up. Doing this is the perfect way for me to see what life in this culture is really like, and it is the best (and in my opinion easiest) way to learn a new language. Being able to travel is also a great benefit!

I was twenty-four, working as an English teacher in France, when I had the idea to come to Germany as an au pair. I loved the idea of discovering a new culture and history, particularly in the form of a mutual, personal exchange with a host family, and was eager for the challenge of improving my German through immersion. Having taught a language already at an elementary-school level, I was particularly interested in early foreign language acquisition and in trying out a home, rather than classroom, environment. I applied to AYUSA, and was soon set in contact with different host families. Each one seemed fine, but there was no 'spark' - that is, until I read the introduction letter from one family, who lived right in Berlin. I could tell from the letter that the family members were active, curious, open, tolerant, fun-loving people, that they valued each other, the environment, and social responsibility, and that like me, they played music, liked going for hikes and to the theater and museums, and loved the idea of learning about my culture and sharing theirs with me. We soon sensed that we were a perfect fit and agreed to make a contract. Their 5-year-old daughter, who has become my closest companion over the past months, is a bright, affectionate, creative, and happy child. I have sensed the trust and love growing in our relationship, and it is more valuable than I had imagined. The parents bring the daughter to school in the morning, so I'm typically free until I pick her up around 3 pm. I get up early so that we can have breakfast all together and say goodbye. When I pick the daughter up from kindergarten (using public transportation), we go to her activities - Wednesdays piano, Thursdays ballet - or sometimes meet up with friends of hers on a playground, or sit in a park and play with leaves, gather chestnuts, sing songs, practice piano, or read books, and generally spend quality time together through the afternoon and evening. Her English was already quite good and has gotten exponentially better since I've been here, speaking almost only English together. I give weekly English lessons to the mother as well, but our normal family language of communication is German, which has given me the 'immersion' experience I'd hoped for. On weekends, we sometimes drive to visit friends or grandparents, or sometimes simply stay home and spend time together, or go our different ways. I have really been accepted and welcomed as part of the family, which has been a wonderful feeling. I've had a lot of free time to pursue different activities. At the beginning of my stay, I took an intensive German course, which meant class from 9 to 1 every morning. This gave me a sense of purpose right away and introduced me to a community of young people from all over the world, with whom I could speak German, and some of whom have remained friends. I've taken weekly evening classes in Yiddish and Spanish. I've played clarinet free-lance for two different orchestras and performed on multiple occasions in the Philharmonie; I rehearse regularly with a woodwind quintet and attend monthly Klezmer jams. There's never enough time to take advantage to all of the cool stuff going on in Berlin. My family has been incredibly flexible and generous and has helped me to arrange our schedule so that I can make the most of my year here. Being an au pair means having an intense work environment, because your employers and charges are also your family, and it can be frustrating and exhausting on its rare bad days. But it is ultimately a real privilege to be able to be such a close and essential part of a child and family's life, and the good days hugely outnumber the frustrations. My work is exciting, fun, challenging, and heartwarming. Spending so much time with a child helps you to appreciate the world in different ways. I know that my host family will remain friends for years to come, and that I'll always appreciate what they've shared with me.

Germany, the heart of Europe! I was looking for adventure and a chance to travel, meet new people, and learn a third language! The urge to see some of the world and the call of adventure has always been on my mind, and I have been planning on taking a GAP year after school for as long as I can remember. (When I finally came to the end of my final year of school and the world laid open before me I had to take the opportunities as they came, The chance to be an au pair dawned before me and since I have some experience with children and my 5 own siblings, It certainly was the easiest way to get my foot into Europe. Once i arrived I instantly knew i had made the best choice possible! Together with AYUSA and my home agency OVC I had been set up with what looked like a great and promising family. I was greeted by the airport and was Hartley welcomed by two bright red heads and a very friendly little face. After escaping the Car park I enjoyed a scenic drive home, my first real world look at Europe, I could hardly believe my eyes. Coming from the Highveld of South Africa, woods and forests in such magnitude where something completely new to me! Arriving home i was shown my room, complete with internet access, a stereo, a balcony and a bookshelf. All very welcoming. My host family has been very helpful straight from day one, getting me enrolled at the local community school ''Folkshochschule'' for German classes and providing all of the support that i needed to start settling in. My little girl who I am taking care of quickly forgot about her shyness and made her first big move on me about a week after i first arrived, by asking if she could touch my long curly hair! It was very sweet and a real gem of a moment for me. Building from that day forth we have grown very close together and now i am the one who she hides behind when strangers visit. ((Being the first male Au pair in this region has been nothing short of a fantastic adventure! Luckily AYUSA has been of great help every step of the way, a month or so after i arrived we were called upon by our local AYUSA representative and Yvonne sure left us with a great impression, motivation and a fantastic welcoming package. I have been kept in touch with all other au pairs in my region and have met some of them for lovely weekend trips to their host cities and even a day road tripping through the black forest. Snow! Oh what a marvellous form of precipitation, for the first time in my live I was covered from head to toe in this stuff! A white Christmas like I have always dreamed of. (Socially I would have to say that becoming friend with other foreigners (Auslander) is a LOT easier than becoming friends with Germans, since the language, culture and country is new to all of us. I have made many good friends through my German classes and I have even had the opportunity to visit one of these friends in her home country of France, what an absolutely unforgettable experience that was! Furthermore on traveling, I will be visiting Amsterdam in the coming weeks as well as Berlin and Paris. Germany is ideally located in central Europe so you can visit all the surrounding countries at ease! ((Comparing my family, working conditions and pay to that of fellow Au pairs who opted for the option of taking a job without the help of an agency I am just reminded every day of the difference that makes, having a clear open and well understood contract and being insured that the agency already checked out your prospective host family and your living quarters really put my mind at ease in south Africa and here it ensures that I have a great relationship with my family! (While light household tasks certainly is not the best way to occupy oneself it is so easily overshadowed by the incredible opportunity of all this life experience! ((My days are flying past and the end of my contract looms on the horizon, I will be sad to leave this new little nest that I call my second home as well as my incredible family, but most of all my little darling child, All the days that we have spent at playgrounds, walking to kindergarten, sleighing in the winter, baking fresh cookies to surprise mommy when she returns from work, planting herbs, reading both English and German books  and discovering new games, words and pictures. It will be her that i miss the most, she has delved deep into my heart and I have come to love her. (I will be making the most of this little time that i have left and see as much of Europe while i still can. ((I guess that the day will dawn much too soon where I will have handed over the ropes to the next Au pair and be on my merry way back home.( It has been a fantastic experience from day one and I don't regret for a second coming here. ((I definitely plan on returning as soon as I can, and I hope to always keep contact with my ''Other'' family.

For me, coming to Germany as an au pair was not part of my original plan for my post-high school graduation. I have always wanted to travel beyond my home country, America, but I figured I would do that during or after college. My plan shifted when a friend of the family told me about the au pair program and said that I should look into it, even if it was just for reference. I had been planning to enroll in a local college, but was not quite sure I wanted to tie myself so close to home for the next four years as I studied for my BA. So after looking through the programs offered in the different countries, I decided to take a gap year and travel to Europe. I ended up choosing Germany because of the couple years of German I had taken during my freshman and sophomore years of high school and the fact that it seemed more economically stable. Something I hoped would give my parents peace of mind. Even though I really didn't remember much of the German I learned in high school, I found it very helpful that I was able to read a little and speak enough to get by. I sent in my application to AYUSA and after a few weeks got a call from Kristin Kruger about a family in Germany that was interested in me coming to Germany as their au pair. To make a long story short, we decided that it was a match and I arrived in Stuttgart in early November. I really loved how welcoming and encouraging the family was and how my new little brother, Tim, was so happy to have me added to the family. The first month or two were great. I stayed fairly close to my new home and got into a routine with the family. I enjoyed visiting the city, seeing the Black Forest, and going to some of the other surrounding sights. I regularly keep in contact with friends and family from home, which for me, helped to make the change in my life more normal. During January and February my host family had some trouble with the school, so my hours became a bit crazy and the days were not always the easiest, but the challenges were new and I was eager to learn how to help the family. Thankfully it was not always just school work. Tim and I went to different play parks and enjoyed doing other kid activities together. I think the challenges were balanced by the fun times and games we played. Late March and early April were probably the hardest months for me. There were a few misunderstandings between me and my host mom, who was due to have a baby in late April. The weather was also rather gloomy, which did not always help with getting out of the house. These problems did not always make life easy, but since the arrival of the new little baby, life has gone back to a form of normality. Looking back, I think March and April really helped me to grow as a person. I was challenged to stay calm, and be flexibility and patient. I also found it really nice that my host parents and I were able to positively communicate with each other during the misunderstandings and arrive at solutions to the problems. This past month has really been amazing, and my favorite so far. Tim and I have grown closer to each other and he introduces me as his big sister from America, which I love. We are getting into a routine again, which is really helpful for me. Something that has had a major impact has been my ability to get out of the house more to meet friends or see some new sight in the area. The arrival of summer weather has also made getting outside more feasible and enjoyable. Looking back at the last six months, they have been the most amazing of my life. They have been hard work, sometimes stressful, and I have had to be flexible through different situations. I found it difficult to begin with that I did not really have friends in Germany to talk to and spend time with, and that I could not always communicate with the German people around me. But the rewards have been amazing. The biggest reward has been watching Tim mature and knowing I have helped to play a part in that process. I have gained new friends and met some really awesome people. I have traveled not just in and around Germany, but to Spain, Austria, and this month to Italy. So now I have seen some of the places I only read about or imagined. I have also learned a lot about the German culture and language. The six months I plan to be with my host family in Germany, and can't wait to see what they will bring!!

Being an Au-Pair in Germany has allowed me to make memories and friends that will last a lifetime and has given me the chance to fully submerse myself into the culture and language of this amazing country. Living with a host family has given me an experience and prospective of European culture that simply traveling and being a tourist cannot reveal. Each day is different and full of opportunities as there is always something new to learn and experience. I have found my stay to be a positive, life changing experience and would recommend anyone interested in becoming an Au-Pair to consider this opportunity.

My experience thus far has been fantastic. I have an amazing family that I would not trade for anything. Upon first leaving the United States I was quite nervous. I asked myself several times if I was making the decision. Well now I am 2 months in to my year long stay and I am 100% pve that I made the right decision. Not only do I have a great family but I also get the benefit of attending a language school to improve my German. Since the kids I am with are older (13 and 16) I have a little bit of a different relationship with them. When I am not doing my daily routine I usually have to be stern with both of them but when I have free time we act just like any brother would. I think this makes my stay with the family very easy. Also a great benefit of this program is that often times the family will take you with on vacations. For example on Easter weekend my family had taken me with to Paris, France for my birthday (quite the surprise). I was told we were going on a 'Zwiebeltour (Onion tour)' but nonetheless it was a pretty good surprise. We had spent three days there and it was amazing. Also in June they are taking me with on another trip. I am not too sure where because all the mother has said is 'it's a surprise'. The best benefit of all is that if you decide to do a year contract then you pay nothing except for your application fee. This is a simple 75 Euro fee. Otherwise your future family pays for your airfare to Germany and back home after the program has ended. The application process is not to hard as well. Included is an essay, letters of recommendation, a medical and background check, and a phone interview. After this the company reviews everything and starts to set you up with families. Once you have decided a family to speak with you talk with them once over the phone. Then you and that family decide if you want to talk again. If both say yes then a second phone call is made then if all goes well the decision is usually made within a few days. Also the culture here is very different. You have to have an open mind if you plan on coming here. I personally believe that having an open mind is what will make you have a great time as an au pair here in Germany. You have to be willing to accept some of your families' values and also your family should be able to accept yours. All in all this is a perfect program for anyone that is looking for an adventure, enjoys kids, and has an interest in learning the language. I promise you won't be disappointed by this experience. This will be one of the best experiences of your life without a doubt.