aupairholland.reismee.nl
Ice skating excursion January 21st, 2012
Our first meeting of the year has taken place last Saturday on the 21st of January. A small group of au pairs from all over the world bravely signed up for our annual ice skate meeting. How exciting it must have been for them, because 90% of the au pairs that joined us had never been on skates before.
The au pairs travelled from all over Holland to gather in Nijmegen, a small city in the east of Holland. With 10 layers of clothing and a big wool coat the au pairs all arrived, ready, though a bit scared of what might come... and how they might fall.
When the group was complete we took off to our icy cold skating location, the Travium in Nijmegen. After hiring the skates and pinching their noses putting them on (rental skates are not that hygienic) they were headed to their first challenge, the kids skate hall!
This would be it, for some their first moment on ice. They helped one another get on the ice and slowly but surely they started to move forward. Inching their way to the other side of the hall, without even falling once.
Between all those racing and screaming kids they started to learn and get the hang of it. The au pairs helped each other out and skated together, laughing and smiling, sometimes almost but never actually falling.
When practice was over it was time for the big guns. The big ice skating hall was awaiting our au pairs as they happily stepped on and skated along, getting better every minute.
Around 2 p.m. it was time for a break, coffee, tea and soda for everybody! Everyone had a story to tell, to share with one another. No moment passed by without laughter or chit-chat. And they all were surprised when we told them we thought the current weather in Holland (which was 8 degrees above zero) was really nice for this time of year. "It's freezing, you think this is nice?!" Marilee, one of the au pairs from South-Africa said. "We are used to the cold back home in Wisconsin" Carly from the US replied. While others talked about their home foods or the current shopping prices at the mall, it was fun for all.
Finally when the afternoon ended and everybody had exchanged numbers, it was time to head home. Or head towards Burgerking of course, we know old habits die hard ;-).
We hope all of the au pairs that joined our meeting had a wonderful time on the ice. Hopefully and quite possibly we'll see you all next time, at our city meeting in Utrecht!
Anthea is alweer de vijfde Au Pair van de familie Hoppener
Onze eerste au pair kwam onverwacht omdat wij via een vriendin hoorden dat er een au pair door omstandigheden op zoek was naar een nieuw gezin. We hadden al vaker gehoord dat het zoveel flexibiliteit geeft. Dat sprak ons aan, o.a. omdat mijn man Peter en ik allebei full time werken. Toen hebben we het die eerste keer gewoon geprobeerd. Het beviel zo goed dat Anthea alweer onze vijfde au pair is. We zijn bij Travel Active terechtgekomen omdat vriendinnen van onze eerste au pairs enthousiaste verhalen hierover hadden.
Inmiddels zijn we ervaren met meisjes uit het buitenland die een jaar bij ons wonen en ons helpen met de opvang van onze vier kinderen. We hebben zelf een profiel gemaakt waarop wij de au pair selecteren, maar ze komen toevallig wel telkens uit een ander land. We hebben ervaring met au pairs uit Peru, Vietnam en Colombia. Anthea komt uit Zuid-Afrika en we passen als gezin en au pair goed bij elkaar.
Anthea haalt en brengt onze jongste twee kinderen op de fiets van en naar school. Voor de oudste twee kinderen, die al op de middelbare school zitten en zelfstandig zijn, is het vooral dat er iemand thuis is als ze uit school komen. Wij werken regelmatig thuis en op die dagen is het ook fijn dat er meer toezicht is. Mensen in onze omgeving vragen wel eens of we het niet een inbreuk op onze privacy vinden dat er een au pair in huis is. Maar zo ervaren wij dat niet. We vinden het gezellig om een extra gezinslid erbij te hebben. In het weekend komen er soms vriendinnen logeren, maar ook dat vinden wij niet belastend.
Nieuwe meisjes hebben in het begin vaak last van heimwee, de een wat meer dan de ander. Inmiddels zijn we zo ervaren dat we ze meteen aansporen en helpen om vriendinnen te maken!
Au Pair meeting Paris
On Friday April 15th 2011 a group of 44 Au Pairs and 2 Travel Active employees (Nicole & Aniek) were ready for an exciting trip to Paris. Au Pairs were picked up in Amsterdam, Utrecht and Breda and from there we could start the long ride to Paris.
After a lunch stop we still had a few hours to go to Paris and to kill some time we watched the movie ‘27 Dresses'. Hopefully we didn't drive the bus driver Ad too crazy with all the chit-chat in the bus...
After arrival in Paris we went straight to Pont Neuf, the bridge from where our boat tour on the river Seine left. It was a lovely introduction to all the highlights of Paris. We saw the famous Eiffel tower, (parts of) the Louvre museum, Notre Dame and more. Many pictures were taken during the 1-hour tour!
After the boat tour everyone had free time for dinner. Around 9pm we met again to go to the hotel and check in. The hotel we were staying at was a typical old-fashioned French hotel, very cute!
The next morning we left after breakfast for a city tour by bus. The weather was beautiful which gave us the chance to take some great pictures of the famous sights of Paris! After the city tour it was time for the girls to explore the city by themselves. Some chose to visit the Louvre museum and have a picknick in the park, others wanted to go on top of the Eiffel tower while a few wanted to go shopping as well! Strolling the beautiful streets of Paris everyone really enjoyed being in the most romantic city of the world.
Most of the girls had a great time going out that night. Some decided to do some more sightseeing instead of partying. Nevertheless everyone was down for breakfast on time the next morning, ready for their last day in Paris. We went to Montmartre to visit the Sacre Coeur and see the beautiful view of Paris. Again the sun was shining bright so we could really enjoy some nice weather. After buying the last souvenirs we all got back on the bus at 1pm to head back to the Netherlands.
Thanks to all the Au Pairs for making this such a great and fun weekend!
We hope to see you all again at our next meeting. Take care!
Amsterdam Meeting
On Saturday 10th of July, Travel Active went with a small Group of Au Pairs to the Amsterdam Dungeon, to learn more about the far and dark history of Amsterdam. It was a great experience nobody would miss it! It is more like a haunted house, with real characters playing their roles. The Amsterdam Dungeon not only for fun, we learned also a lot! Unfortunately we were not able to take pictures, instead for one moment.
Marie Rozendal:een update over haar Au Pair leven in Nederland!
I just thought I would write you all an email to let you know how my stay has been so far in Holland.
The family is amazing! We have so much in common. They are very active and busy (which I love) and they have accepted into their home as if I were their own. They have been very helpful showing me around the city, with public transportation, and they even had a welcoming party for me so that I was able to connect with other AuPairs more easily. The children are also wonderful but very busy after school with activities.
Everyday of the week they have a sport to go to. Tomorrow is Caitlin's birthday and I am helping the Mom with that... They are doing a mermaid theme, so it will be a lot of fun for her and her friends. I have been spending a lot of my free time with their mother actually.
This past weekend we did a run in Rotterdam and we run together during the week. I did 10 km in 54.04 minutes with one of her friends placing in the top 10%. Larissa, the mother, did the 5 km and did very well also.
She has also been roller-blading with me during the week. I thank you again for this wonderful opportunity and I will keep updating you.
Au Pair meeting Paris
On the 5th, 6th and 7th of March we went to Paris. This is always a great weekend and everybody has the chance to get to know each other and of course to explore Paris. First we picked everybody up from our three pick up locations and then we drove by bus to Paris.
In the early evening we arrived in Paris and we all went on the boat to see all the highlights from Paris by night. This was a wonderful experience for everyone, as Paris is really beautiful by night. After this everybody went to our hotel and have some dinner.
On Saturday we all stood up early for breakfast and for the roundtrip by bus. Our driver showed us the most beautiful places of Paris, like the Eiffel Tower, Sacre Coeur, Notre Dame, Louvre and so on, and after a few hours everybody was free to do whatever they liked. Some went shopping, some went to the musea and others explored Paris on their own way. In the evening we had a trip by night by bus, so that everybody who wanted had a lot of possibilities to discover Paris.
Sunday we went to Montmartre, the old painters area. Some were tired of going out the night before, some had lots of energy and went up the stairs at the Sacre Coeur. Everybody had a great weekend and Sunday evening everybody arrived back home safely.
In this album, you will find all the pictures of this meeting.
Au Pair Holland meeting in Volendam!
On the 15th of May it was time for our annual Volendam meeting. One of the best meetings we have, in our opinion. We gathered at the central station at 9.30h. At 10.00h we walked to the bus stop and luckily the bus came after waiting for only 10 minutes. At around 10.45h we arrived at the Simone Hoeve and they demonstrated to us how cheese and clogs are made.
One of the Au Pairs, Min Zhu, assisted with making a clog! After the demonstrations we tasted some cheese and fruit wine, and at 12.00h we took the bus to Volendam centre. We dressed up like real Dutch people and took a picture.
After having lunch we visited the Volendams Museum. The museum shows an exhibition of i.a. Volendam (and national) dress and ornaments, various works of art i.a. of the international artists' colony, old interiors, fishery and related industry, home crafts along with a yearly varying thematic exposition and inclusive of a visit to the walk-in picture-theatre and cigar bands-house with mosaics and decorations of 11 million cigar-bands. It was a nice day, the weather was good and we hope you all have enjoyed it!
In this album, you will find all the pictures of this meeting.
Au Pair in Nederland - Ryan vertelt over zijn belevenissen!
It was only four short months ago that I arrived here in Hattem, Netherlands to begin my year-long commitment of being an Au Pair for the Van der Kruijk Family. I of course felt the typical symptoms any overwhelmed, homesick 20-year old would contain. It was definitely a rough couple of weeks and all because I only focused on what was different in my life- the fact I didn’t have my family, friends and the school I once knew so well. Luckily, my mindset soon shifted into genuine happiness and all because of five wonderful people.
From the moment I arrived I knew this family was unique. I was able to form a bond with the children on more of an emotional level because I didn’t know how to speak Dutch. Also, I connected extremely well with my host parents, Edward and Anne Marieke and learned more and more about the family, Dutch culture and life in general. I found this connection with all five of them immensely impactful and it was the sole reason I was able to adjust so quickly to my new life. I soon realized I had the best job in the world and I couldn’t help but smile every morning when the three children woke up and came into the kitchen for breakfast.
I never would have imagined learning as much I have by living with a family. All five of them have taught me so much and I could not be more grateful. This experience has been unlike anything I have ever gone through in my life. Every day is a new way for me to absorb and learn something I didn’t know or realize before. The children have brought me such joy- I do not look at taking care of them as a job but as a way of giving back and showing I care and love them very much.
This is such a loving family. They have shown me the proper way to care for one another and how important it is to have strong relationships with each other. They all have spoiled me with their kindness and everything they have done for me. I am beyond blessed to have been welcomed with open arms and warm spirits. I am constantly reminded with how much they care about me because time and time again they are here for me and always available to help me in anyway. If I did not have such a wonderful family to live with and work for, I would not have continued working here because there would have been no reason to. But the most wonderful thing is that every moment of every day all five of them give me hundreds of reasons to do my job the best way I know how to. I look to the months ahead and think, “Please don’t go by too quickly” because I have still so much to learn and I don’t want to waste one day in this family’s presence. The Van der Kruijk’s are all astonishing people and their next Au Pair will be the luckiest and have the best experience they could possibly imagine.
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