I left South Africa in the winter of 2005. Having never been out of the country before, I had no idea what lay in store for me. I did know I was about to embark on an adventure of epic proportions. I was about to become an Au Pair in America!

The desire to work abroad has always been a dream of mine. After doing my homework on the numerous working holidays available to young people, I decided on a cultural exchange program called Au Pair in America, where you are given the opportunity to live as part of an American host family while providing them with a maximum of 45 hours of childcare per week.

This seemed like the perfect way to spend a year or two of my life. I have always enjoyed working with children and have always been curious about the American lifestyle and culture.

I wasted no time in applying. The process was fairly simple. I had to undergo a personality test, show that I had a reasonable amount of recent childcare experience and put together a portfolio of pictures with a letter describing myself to prospective host families.

Within a month of applying I received a call from a wonderful woman in Virginia named Lisa. She had read my portfolio and wanted to know if I was interested in working for their family. She and her husband had three children, Audrey, who was three months old, Olivia who was two and half, and Nicholas who was eight and a half. The idea of looking after three children at once, especially a baby, seemed daunting at first, but the longer I spoke with Lisa, the more convinced I became that this was the family for me. I accepted, and before I knew it I was on a plane to Connecticut for four days of Orientation.

Suddenly, things didn’t seem so overwhelming. Sure, I was a thousand miles away from home, in a strange country and I knew nobody. The encouraging thing was I was in a hotel an hour outside New York with a hundred other girls from all over the world, who were all there for the same purpose. I shared a room with two other girls who were going to be in the same state as me, so straight away we had something in common. Our days at orientation were spent learning about American culture and adapting to the culture shock, there were basic childcare lectures, we played games and had question and answer sessions, and we even had a visit from the American Red Cross. Orientation served to reaffirm my faith in this program. They didn’t just stick us with our family on our first day in the states, but welcomed us, prepared and equipped us to better undertake our journey. On our third night of orientation we went on a tour of New York City which was absolutely amazing. It truly is the city that never sleeps.

On the fourth day it was time to say goodbye and head out to meet our new families. I remember my flight from New York to Richmond. I kept thinking, ‘had I made the right decision?’, ‘what if they don’t like me?’  My fears were assailed as soon as I disembarked, walked out of the holding area and saw Lisa with Olivia and Audrey (both in a double stroller) Olivia proclaiming to everyone who walked pass, ‘Lei?’, ‘Lei?’, ‘Lei?’ After big hugs and brief introductions we headed home.

Studying is an essential part of the program. Your host family provides you with a substantial amount of money to put towards your education while you are in the states. This is a wonderful opportunity to study something different in a completely diverse environment. I studied three semesters of Arabic; I did Yoga and Stress Management, and the more relaxing courses I did were Taijutsu (a martial arts course) Poker, and Belly Dancing. Besides gaining knowledge, I forged unbreakable friendships that I will cherish and maintain for the rest of my life. 

The most fundamental part of this program for me though has to be the time I spent with my host family. From the beginning they accepted not as an employee, but as a member of the family. I remain to this day, best friends with my host mom Lisa, who is more like a sister to me, and second mom to my three children. I’ve been through everything with them. I’ve had my fair share of poopy diapers, tantrums, potty training, and all manner of sicknesses that children pick up….but with those things also came the good things; Audrey’s first teeth, her first steps, and first words (which were, incidentally, ‘mom’ and ‘lei’), Olivia’s first day of kindergarten, her first ballet lesson and the numerous times we played dolls together; Nicholas’ first communion, his first day of third and fourth grade, the day he graduated from white to gold belt in karate….I could go on for days, because the list is endless. A girl who was looking into coming onto the program asked me, what was the most inspiring thing that I experienced on my stay in the states….and I told her that everyday single day I spent with my family, being a part of that family, touching their lives and having them bring so much to mine, was inspiration that would last me a lifetime!  And truly, that is what this experience is all about.