Au Pair in America blogger Maria is back with the second installment in her Springboard Series!
Hi Spring boarders!
Some of you may be wondering about the things you’ll do, the people you’ll meet, and the ever-so-new places you’ll discover as an au pair in America. Despite coming here from a large home town, the thought of making new friends and being totally independent still had me a little on edge.
One word: Clusters! In fact, two. Exploration!
I am quite lucky to be a part of an amazing au pair cluster in Indianapolis. My counsellor is great, my peers are even more great, and the atmosphere provided at these clusters is bittersweet in a way; where thoughts linger in your head if one or some of these people will end up being life long friends.
Cluster Meetings
I have been to every cluster meeting since I started my au pair year and I have absolutely loved them all. We eat amazing food, play fun games, and socialize and learn new things about everyone. At every cluster meeting there’s always someone new so you must play the “Icebreaker” game every single time. If you’re like me, you’ll be stuck asking hundreds of questions because everything about other people’s life stories intrigues me! One of my all time favourite cluster meetings was at a fellow au pair’s home named Nayla. Nayla’s host family have an amazing farm, we all got together to play some friendly volleyball (although most of our skills were questionable). They then showed us around their farm and we saw the cutest little baby chicks. They would hop around on top of each other, their little legs felt like the lightest feather strokes on your hand.
Despite the robust smell of the manure with the pigs, everything felt quite relaxing, as if I was one with nature. Seeing what farm life is like was a new sight for me. I learned how the animals are kept warm in the winter and the many competitions they enter their animals in. Without these cluster meetings, I would not have met some of the amazing people that I can now call my “Indy family.” ❤️
Exploring!
Now, if you’re not already exploring, you may be missing some “once-in-a-lifetime” opportunity to see all the wonderful things this world has to bring. In the last couple of months, I have been able to visit even more new states, such as Missouri, Kansas, Kentucky, and Ohio. While Kansas, Missouri and Kentucky were great places to see, I had the absolute most fun in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Cincinnati
I went to the best concert of my life: The Imagine Dragons Concert. The drive was rather long, but straight forward. I was a little bit intimidated because it was my first long distance drive in a new country by myself. I actually really enjoyed the drive and felt pretty proud of myself when I arrived!
Imagine Dragons Concert
I also visited the Cincinnati Zoo; there was lots to see but the coolest area was their Halloween themed animals. I saw bats hanging upside down, owls peering into our eyes. Finally, it was time for the concert. I was so overly excited that when they finally came on stage, it was magical. I felt goosebumps on my arms, feeling the music through my body, letting myself go and letting the music speak for me. It was like nothing I have ever experienced before. Imagine Dragons cannot be surpassed.
I hope you enjoyed living through some of my au pair explorations with me through this blog post! It is amazing that I am finally starting to feel like I belong in this new place, with all the new friends, companions, and places I have seen.
See you next time! 😊
