Step 1: Be Determined to Get to x Country.
It's been
my dream since I was a small child to learn French and go to France, even though I don't know what started the dream. I started taking French classes in the seventh grade, and began dreaming of living in France and how to do it. I would also like to travel to as many other countries as I can, and maybe even to every continent, but going to
France is my primary goal. I would never be able to live with myself if I never made it to France, so I'm using this opportunity of being young and fresh out of college to realize my dream!
Step 2: Weigh Options
At first, I thought the only logical option for going to France would be to go to school there full-time in order to become fluent, while living with a French family. Through the many programs I investigated, it was going to cost at least $20,000 for me to go abroad for one year and attend school; the first and most publicized program I researched was through EF Tours, which was particularly expensive. Since I am not made of money, I then began considering options to raise the money, including starting a scholarship fund.
Then I realized I could get the money on my own by being an assistant English teacher in Japan through a program that my sister participated in, the JET Programme.
However, I had just missed the December applications and would have to wait an entire year after finishing school before starting the program, which would mean waiting even more time to go to France and finding a job at home for the time being.
I
first got the idea of being an au pair from two of my language teachers at school, who had students that had been nannies in France; I dismissed the idea at first, thinking that wasn't something I wanted to do, but later changed my mind as
I realized how well it could work. When I began researching, I initially found a site that had an au pair program in which they placed you with a family in your desired country; however, the program costs about $500 and doesn't have a very large salary, so I determined that it would probably end up costing me money instead of the program paying for itself. Then I found
greataupair.com, which is basically just a networking site that helps au pairs and families that need au pairs find each other; this method did not have any program cost, and making a contract directly with the family meant that I would also have a larger salary. And going the au pair route rather than simply taking classes 24/7 means that the experience
will pay for itself (except perhaps some money for airfare), and I still get to take a few hours of class each week as it is required as part of getting an au pair visa.
Step 3: Networking for Free
There is an option on the Great Au Pair website to get a subscription so that you can have additional features to help you find a family, but I found that such a subscription was unnecessary. I
created a profile for myself, which included a long typed interview, and
searched for a family that had matching criteria to my credentials and interests. Simply by "favoriting" some families that I liked, I had several families email me asking me more about myself and telling me more about themselves. I
ended up with two families that were both interested in me, and I had to choose one! The website was really easy to use; the only time-consuming part was answering all the questions for the interview on my profile! The
best part was that it took me less than three weeks on the site to find the family I ended up with!
Step 4: Pick a Family
I ended up having two very different families that were
interested in having me as their au pair, and as it was so hard to choose between them, I had my family and my best friend help me weigh my options. One family ended up having more qualities and perks that benefited me, and they were located very close to a large city that would also benefit me greatly, so we decided that
they would be the best. The only slightly frustrating thing about this process was that with the time difference, the emailing process was a little slow. Patience is a virtue! But it worked out pretty well, and
it finally set in that I was going to get to go to France! I was excited, terrified, anxious, and then all those emotions at once! But I knew that the most nerve-wracking part was yet to come: the technicalities of getting to France, and starting my job taking care of two young children!
Step 5: Fall in Love ((but don't forget the paperwork))
The more I talked to the family (the mother, really), the more
excited and comfortable about the situation I got. The mother is really outgoing and upbeat and understanding, so she's fun to talk to and makes me feel more at ease because she had been an au pair once, too. She also sent me some pictures of their family, which are adorable. So,
I got more and more excited!
The not-so-fun part is all the paperwork. I had to renew my passport, request documents from my school for both proof of attendance and proof of 150+ hours of French studies, get an au pair contract (which I got in just enough time!
whew!) and an enrollment letter for the French school I'll be attending from my French family, and then take those items along with a visa application form and a fee (of course) to Houston to apply for my long-stay Au Pair visa. It wasn't so great to have to go to Houston to get the visa, but
it was worth it, obviously! Once in France, I have to register with the OFII (French Office for Immigration and Integration) and get a bank account (it's not a requirement, but it will make managing my money easier).
And
voilà! I'm an au pair! Let me know if you need help in becoming an au pair, as I now understand how it all works! :)
