Au Pair in Australia

Being an Au Pair in Australia and loving every moment of it!
By Samantha Guertl
 
When I first ever thought about becoming an Au Pair, I never actually thought about where in the world it could take me. You see I actually wanted to do it because I liked children, no other reason than that. After a while though, I realised that it had the potential to take me to places I could have never imagined seeing! So it turned out pretty good in the end! The first such place I ever went to was Australia for an Au Pair job over summer and wow, it was amazing! You see I come from Switzerland and it is pretty cold there and usually very snowy a lot of the time. So it was great when it was winter that I could then go to the other side of the world to enjoy a summer in a country that is very famous for their sun and sand! And boy did I have fun! Seriously it soon became the greatest time of my life! I still smile about it a lot even by just thinking about it, so you know you have had a great time when this is the case! But how did I get involved and what was my choosing of a country like Australia and why? Well let me tell you about it and how I went on my Au Pair journey.
 
I did a bit of research online for some Au Pair jobs and thought that I would probably only get to go to places around Europe that were nearby and never thought it could take me literally to the other side of the world. I soon found though a family called the Hiley's and they lived in Melbourne in Australia. Well I didn't really know too much about Australia except that they have kangaroos there, and I was always fascinated by the way a kangaroo would hop and loved seeing them every time I went to my zoo. So I sent the family an email and wanted to find out more about their family. They had a smallish household and it was a man and a woman who lived with their twin children who were toddlers. Well this sounded pretty good to me as I wanted to work mainly with smaller children as I liked smaller children! I soon put in my application and after a few days I heard back from them and found out they had accepted me! It was a bit of a buzz knowing that I would soon be on the other side of the world in a country working with children! I packed my bags and said goodbye to my parents and then went to Melbourne where I met the parents who were called John and Kylie. They were very nice. They took me back to their house and showed me to my room which was very nice. I had my own TV and computer in my room and they even gave me a little bit of money so that I could buy some things to make my room look nice. The best thing though was that I was getting free accommodation on the other side of the world and had only paid for my air tickets! I thought it was a pretty cool deal! Their house was amazing, it had its own garden and its own pool, so I had to go and buy a swimsuit so I could go swimming as I didn't have one in Switzerland! They even had some animals, a dog and a cat and I love animals so that was ok with me!
 
My basic jobs were really to look after the twins when they both had to go to work, as well as do some cleaning around the house and look after the pets. It probably sounds like a bit of hard work but coming from where I do it was pretty normal really. I found myself working around 5 hours a day and it was generally a fairly easy job. I did find it difficult sometimes to control the twins as they were sometimes a little bit naughty and would play up a little bit. That wasn't to stop me trying to control them though and before long I managed to get a good level of control on them and they would listen to me which I liked! The pets too were fairly easy to look after and I would take their dog for a walk just like they asked so that their dog would get some exercise. When John and Kylie came home they would ask about my day and we would eat dinner together. They would let me go on the computer and ring my parents back in Switzerland where I could chat to them, and I would also get the chance to watch a bit of Australian TV in my room which was nice. Sometimes I would finish a bit early and John and Kylie wouldn't mind if I went for a swim in their pool, just as long as I was sure the twins were asleep or not in any danger of coming to the pool. It was pretty amazing knowing that I would usually be locked inside my house in the cold in Switzerland, but instead going for a swim in the beautiful Australian heat!
 
So in the end I found it to be a great experience and one that I am looking into doing again very shortly. This time though I think I will go to America and try and work there. That's nothing against working in Australia; I just want to try something different! But if you want to Au Pair then I think you should go to Australia. You only need to pay for your ticket over there and the rest is covered! You get free accommodation and free food and you will find that your host family will easily look after you so well that you will feel like you are back home again!