Wanderlust Cultural Homestay Tutoring (Au Pair in China) Program

My year in China was an experience I'll never forget. It was an adventure in every sense. I spent my time across three incredible cities: Shanghai, Beijing, and Chongqing. Wanderlust's staff was kind and helpful every step of the way. They provided support with almost every type of issue that arose, be it visa issues, language barriers, or culture shock. They went above and beyond, not just in a professional capacity but also in providing comfort and a listening ear when situations got tricky. Coming to China wasn't an easy decision to make, but now that I've been here for a year I can successfully say that it's been one of the most enriching ones I've made. The amount of personal growth I've seen in the past year is unparalleled. I am so grateful to Wanderlust for being a part of this journey. It was a real pleasure working with them and getting a chance to explore this awe-inspiring culture.

To be honest it’s very difficult to move to a different country but I felt at home with my second family, they were always nice and caring, and took care of me.

I also fell in love with Shanghai, is a cosmopolitan city and it’s very different in day and night. The good thing about Shanghai is that in winter is not as cold as other cities, but the bad thing is the weather in summer, because is very hot.

Learning Chinese is very challenging but unfortunately there aren’t a lot of people who speaks English.

I always wanted to travel to China and see the culture from inside so this program was like a golden ticket to me. Of course I felt a little bit uneasy moving 7000 km away but the agency did its best to make me feel comfortable and safe which was a big help for my mental state as I faced many difficulties on the way to my host family. I can’t find the right words to describe this year. It felt like one day and eternity at the same time. I fall in love with this culture, nature, cuisine (of course) and people, especially my host sister. It’s not that I was sceptical about developing true feelings for my host kid but I was uncertain whether we would become family-like close. But we became vital parts of each others lives. This baby stole my heart. I watched her growing up and learning more about this world and there’s just something so special about knowing that I played a big role in this process and did make my impact on her life. Needless to say it wasn’t all butterflies and unicorns being an AuPair but I would have never changed a thing about this experience. It helped me to grow a lot and changed the way I saw many things in this life. Also, my hosts family introduced me to plenty of really beautiful and fascinating things here. We’ve made a lot of memories and I’ll be thankful to them and Wanderlust for this forever.

Being an Au Pair was one of the best experiences I have made.
I was in rematch, when my German AuPair agency recommended Wanderlust Exchange as one of their partners to me. with the help of Wanderlust I found an amazing host family in less than two weeks.

My host family was just great, they helped me to learn a lot about Chinese culture. Together with my host child I practiced calligraphy from time to time, but of course her writing was always much better than mine. We also made dumplings with her grandma, visited the museum and played games. Sometimes we went to the cinema and she would summarize the movie afterwards for me, just to make sure that I understood.
When she had evening classes, my host mom and I sometimes went out to have a look at the area around or to drink some tea.

I did not experience any problems with my host family, but I know, that if there would have been any, Wanderlust would have helped me. They really care about their Au Pairs and occasionally asked, how we were doing and if everything was alright, which I really appreciated.

It's been two years already since I finished the Au Pair Program and I am thankful to Wanderlust Exchange and to my host family for making my stay in Shanghai something I'll never forget. I hope to travel back to China one day again. (^_^)

I joined the Wanderlust Au Pair China program in 2018, my first year out of high school. This was definitely a big change in my life. The next 6 months were by far the most adventurous I had ever had. I got to learn a new culture the best way possible, by living with a family. It was difficult to adjust to my new life at first, but with the great support given by this program in was not impossible. I look back at those 6 months and do nothing but a smile. They really were some best days of my life.

I am living in China as an Au Pair since last June. First I have been in a family in Suzhou until December. Then I changed to a family in Shanghai where I am currently living. The Au Pair Team helped me with everything. When I changed the families they helped me with every step. In December I went to South Korea to renew my visa and I could text the Au Pair helper all the time and they really helped me a lot at that time. If I have problems they will always help me very fast. You can text them all the time and they will respond really fast.

The monthly cultural activities are also very nice and you can always meet new friends and learn a lot.

Another thing that I really like about the team is that they always ask me if everything is fine or if I have any problems. They really care about how we are doing and if everything is okay!

Wanderlust Exchange is a very good opportunity to see the real China and learn a lot of things about the country and history. But it’s not only that. You will also meet new friends from all around the world. The Hostfamily will be like your second family forever and you can always come back to visit them.

I would always choose wanderlust Exchange again. I never had problems with the agency and they really helped me a lot! It was always my dream to come to China and learn a lot about the country and live here for a few months. Wanderlust Exchange made my dream come true.

I stayed in Chengdu for 6 months this year, it turned into the best 6 months of my life and I fell in love with China! Everyone who I talked to from the agency was beyond helpful every step of the way and I really feel like they cared about me, I never had problems with my host family but if I did I know they would have been extremely helpful. I was really scared going to China by myself at 18 but it is now my favorite place in the world (specifically Chengdu). I was mostly scared about the language barrier since I only spoke basic Mandarin but everyone I met was so nice and helpful.

I had a really great time in Nanjing! I was matched with a great family and even though I was the only Au Pair of Wanderlust in Nanjing I was still able to make great friends and explore that beautiful city, even travel to other surrounding cities!
China is so beautiful and the people are super nice, I definitely recommend going there!
And especially if you're going there with Wanderlust!
The service was great, I was able to contact them any time and they always replied too (even past midnight haha). The staff are very nice and are also very understanding. With some of them you can even talk to like a friend (so it's not just business). They weren't even mad at me when I had to leave early.
The only downside were the Chinese Classes. Since I wasn't in Shanghai I only had online lessons which were over after 3 out of 6 months Also I barely learnt any Chinese from it, but that's the school's fault not the agency's!
Definitely a great experience, would recommend to anyone.
So sad I had to leave early and I really miss China.
I hope to come back soon!