what it all means.

hey there, cuppycakes! i had planned to write up about seven blog posts on sunday because it was my day off... but i ended up catching up on some television and doing some research about where i want to go once i get back home... and writing only one.
so, i promised myself that before i watched the united states of tara season finale this morning i would write up another of the ten or so that are floating in my head right now.
i wanted to share a little about what being an au pair really means. a lot of people, myself included, end up saying it's just another word for nanny. but really? that's not it at all. au pair is french term, obviously, which translates to "on par" or "equal to." when you live with a family as an au pair you become part of the family. rather than being just another nanny to the children, you're like an older sibling. through a little crawling over the interwebs i've seen that quite a few problems have come out of people expecting a nanny when they hire an au pair. granted, some people are just not meant to be caring for children or traveling as au pairs, but we'll get to that later.
i was really fortunate to find a family who really treats me as one of their own. if au pair work suits you, i'd highly recommend the experience. while backpacking adventures and sight-seeing tours are nice, getting to know a new place with the support of being part of a wonderful local family really is an incomparable experience.
next up: to be or not to be? finding out if you're cut out for the job.
but first: i want to know what you guys want to hear! you can comment to this post, e-mail me (my e-mail is listed on my contact page), or leave something in my formspring widget.