Au Pair in the Netherlands: visa information

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Great experience with Smriti. She handles kids well and kids absolutely love her. She also helps around the house when she can which is very helpful as a working mom.

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Oh wow, I am not sure where to start from. First I’d like to say if I had the capacity to film a documentary. I totally would make one about the cultural shock and difference between Africa and Europe. Well My name is Myra and I am from Africa (Uganda) I joined the program early this year as a means to fully embrace my passion which has always been working with children and what better way is there to explore it, than engaging in child care internationally. I met the family about a month in and they were so warm and welcoming, (we exchanged all necessary details and fast forward about 2 months later I joined them) The first few weeks were sort of hard because I struggled with communication to the children as they did not speak or understood any English at the time, but I persisted and took it one day at a time until we found a common ground (I call it Greenglish) basically I mix English words and Greek words to be able to teach them some English and they are really learning a lot in fact the eldest child now communicates to me with more English words lately and my relationship with them is fast growing in that they are more receptive to ideas and I can reason with them better upon making some decisions like brushing teeth(you know how kids can dislike this), washing hands, going to sleep etc.. I have visited so many beaches and places within the country and made a few friends courtesy of the family. Onto the cons, of course it’s not always merry around the house as I said earlier the cultural shock caught me by surprise the kids are pretty aggressive and have so many mood swings as well as luck of a proper communication manner as they always raise there voices while talking and being the quiet persona that I am that sometimes gets overwhelming. As well as a lot gets lost in translation which in turn can be reason for some misunderstandings. I am struggling with the issue of boundaries as I live where I work and because of that I end up working overtime and doing a lot more than I should be and at times it is hard to talk about with the hosts because I feel like it might create some sort of tension but then I end with a bit of anxiety and I am somewhat always tired from the extra workload which in turn makes it difficult for me to engage in other personal activities, also the time schedules make it impossible to fully explore unless with the family. But I am sure I will find the right way to communicate better and hopefully that can help eliminate the problem, other than that the family is really nice and welcoming, very interesting and I glad I get to live and experience everything fast hand. Also I am learning some great intel to help me make an informed decision on what next.

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Perfect match! Benjaphorn is a part of our family now for almost 6 months, she is taking very good care of our children and speaking Dutch :)

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We found Matilde thru this website and she is already the 4th au-pair we hired with this service. Very positive about the service (not about the high price for the premium membership everytime :( ). Matilde is a great au-pair and a good help for us as parents and a big sister to our two kids that love and adore her. Unfortunately for us also this au-pair will be starting her study again (good for her though). But i know for sure that we will find a good replacement for her thru aupair.com again.