Au Pairing

Vagabonding for an extended time through Europe isn’t the same shoestring travel it was 20 years ago, but the continent still remains as alluring as ever to travelers. It can be rather expensive to travel abroad in Europe long enough to really immerse yourself in the culture and feel like you intimately know the place. A more budget conscious way to do this, however, is to try to find a job in Europe, and working as an Au Pair is still a pretty popular job choice.

These days, finding a job abroad in Europe means either cultivating a marketable skill and hoping your current company will have a place for you in their office overseas, or mastering a language and insinuating yourself into the world of language acquisition studies. However, au pairing provides you with a way around both of these options.

Working as an au pair puts you right into the home of families abroad. It is an easy and instant way to begin learning about life in Europe, the family dynamic, and the culture and politics of the country. Au pairs usually get a firsthand look at education in Europe, as they usually take care of school-aged children, or enroll themselves in the area University to brush up on the local language.

Most families provide housing for their au pairs, allow them to reasonably use the family vehicle, and of course provide a small income. It doesn’t pay extraordinarily well, and there is certainly a preference for female au pairs, but it priceless way to immerse yourself in the local culture.

There are lots of websites out there that make it easy to connect with families abroad who are looking for an au pair. On sites like AuPair.com, GreatAuPair.com, or AuPair-world.net and many others, it’s as easy as creating a profile and searching for families or letting them come to you.

Have you worked abroad as an au pair? How was your experience?

Posted by | Comments (5)  | July 26, 2010
Category: Europe, Languages and Culture, Working Abroad


5 Responses to “Au Pairing”

  1. Kim Says:

    And me I am Au Pair in UK I have my family from http://www.aupair4you.eu very nice site. But year before I was Au Pair from http://www.eaysaupair.com.

  2. au pair Says:

    I was an au pair as well. Next year I will go to Germany

  3. liana Says:

    I was an au pair in France and it was a fantastic period. I have my family from http://www.aupair-online.com there are many italian host families and italian au pairs too.

  4. WA Says:

    A very good international website for aupairs and hostfamilies is https://www.web-aupair.net There are thousands of hostfamilies and aupairs from all over the world.

  5. MH Says:

    Assume that you are working as a computer technician for a company with a large network. You are assigned to determine what is wrong with an employee?s computer and repair it. You suspect that the computer is not properly connected to the network. Describe the troubleshooting steps you would take to test your theory that the computer is not physically or logically connected to the network, and describe how you would resolve the resolve the various reasons for the computer not connecting to the network..