Au Pair Cultural Immersion Gap Year in Italy

This past year in the race of trying to find a summer job I stumbled upon Scotia Personnel on my university's job listing site. The job listed was an international Au-pair/ English Tutor and I knew that I wanted to go to Italy, but I didn’t know how I would make it happen. I applied anyway and I received a call. From there, everything was explained to me clearly and professionally. Scotia Personnel helped me realize that it was beyond possible for me to go! So, with all the program information in mind, I decided that I would go. When it was time for me to pick a family, they made sure that the families I chose from were safe and fit well for me. Through them, I found a wonderful family that I stayed with for 3 months in a small medieval town called Sarnano (near Ancona). It was amazing! We went to Rome, Tivoli, Florence, and Turin. By myself, I traveled to Milan, Bologna and even Ibiza in Spain! I learned so much Italian while I was in Italy, I went with a basic understanding of Italian and expanded my knowledge far beyond what I ever thought I would learn! Now I can read books and watch shows in Italian with little difficultly which feels amazing as I’ve been monolingual for most of my life. While I was away, Scotia Personnel checked up on me every so often to see if I was doing well and that I was happy. I’m so glad that I au-paired through them because they provided me another level of support that’s necessary when traveling abroad. Thank you so much Scotia Personnel!

This summer of 2019 I traveled abroad with Scotia Personnel. I stayed in Spain for one month and also Italy for one month. I had an excellent experience from start to finish. The associates at Scotia Personnel helped me through every step of the application process. I was paired with two wonderful and very accommodating families who went out of their way to make me feel like I was a member of the family! While working I was able to safely venture out into the city and explore with ease. Being completely immersed in the culture was such an incredible experience giving me memories to last a lifetime! I would recommend this program to anyone interested in travelling and networking! This is an opportunity you absolutely can't miss!

Teaching English in Verona, Italy was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. Working with Scotia Personnel to further this experience was an incredible journey. The staff at Scotia Personnel are very easy to talk too and incredibly friendly. At first, I thought travelling and Nannying would be a cool experience but I never thought in my wildest dreams that it would come true, would be as seamless and easy as it was and that I would get to live in Italy with such an amazing family that I now call my Italian family. Going to Italy to live for two months was very scary…I didn’t speak the language, I didn’t know anyone and I was away from home in a different country for two months. To say the least this trip was life changing.

I arrived at the airport in Verona and my family was waiting for me with flowers. They were so excited to meet me and I felt the same. The language barrier was hard at first because I wanted to say so much to them and they wanted to say so much to me… thank you google translate haha!! I remember the little girl when I first met her had the biggest smile on her face and she kept hugging me and holding my hand. I immediately made a sister. She grew up with two older brothers so she was pretty excited to have an older sister. We did everything together. She especially loved it when I styled her hair.

Every person in their family opened me into their family with open arms. I went to a family party with about sixty extended family members attending. I was nervous because their English wasn’t great and I had to socialize with all these new people for the afternoon. Everyone was so excited to meet the “Canadian” girl. I was welcomed in by so many and it made me feel like family. The family offered me many things such as the option to travel, go out and explore, meet new people, have evenings out, taste new foods and see a new part of the world. The family was so excited to show me around Italy. We went to Venice for the day and got to see the canals and do a gondola ride. We also got to see a city that is all built on water which was unique.

Feeling nervous and anxious is normal and it just means you’re going outside of your comfort zone. I truly believe to have the greatest experiences of your life – you need to be outside of your comfort zone. This trip made me go out of my comfort zone because everything was a new experience in a new culture, which is why I truly believe this was the most amazing experience I have ever had. I have some new family members and a forever connection to Verona, Italy.

Scotia personnel is an incredible company! The vast opportunities they offer has something for everyone. They treat everyone like family from the moment you walk in their door. Creating opportunities all around the world with your safety being their number one priority. I could not say enough good things about this company.

I just recently came back from tutoring in Italy and I wanted to share how amazing my experience was! It was honestly the best summer of my life and I am so grateful for every thing that Scotia personnel did for me; Thank you so much. I made so many friends while travelling who I am already planning on going to go see. The food was so good In Italy. I have done a fair amount of travelling but have never had an experience as authentic as this one. Living and working with a host family I picked up Italian so easily being completely immersed in it. Obviously the locals no all of the best spots and my host family was so excited for me to fall In love with their country that they took me everywhere. Paying for everything. They also took me to Switzerland and Germany so not only did I get to go to one country I got to experience 3. The two little girls will forever be like little sisters to me. I encourage everyone to participate one of the many programs offered the hardest part was choosing what country to go to. The experience was extremely safe and organized and I am very happy to have worked with Scotia personnel.

Thanks to the consistent support and determination of the staff at Scotia Personnel, I was able to, not once, but twice able to explore Northern Italy. The families withwhich I stayed were always kind and welcoming to this stranger. With their help, I have been able to explore Milan, Turin, Sauze, Siena, Pisa, Ferrara, Lazise, Bardolino, Garda, Venice, Bologna, Ravenna, Punto Marina, Rome, the Vatican, Modena, Bussolengo, and Verona. I have seen works of art that I would have never dreamed of witnessing, like Michaelangelo's David, Leonardo's Last Supper, or Bottecelli's Birth of Venus. I have had a sip of Italian culture and it was worth every second.

The work was difficult but fair. I am a laboratory technician by trade and conversing with children does not come naturally for me. However, the challenge has made me into a greater person with more compassion than before. I have expanded the limits of my patience and have learned new strategies for communication barriers.

My time in Italy was spectacular, I wish I stayed longer. I fell in love not just with the beauty of the country but also its people, the food, and culture. It was such an amazing, and eye opening experience. I was so grateful to be able to experience Italy not just as a tourist but it was as if I was one with the people and culture, it made me miss home a lot less; it felt like I had another family here, and it was such a great feeling of being welcomed with open arms. I hope that I have the opportunity to go there again and experience the people and culture all over again. I hope that reading this will help you decide to go, because it's just too much of an amazing opportunity to pass up. It might seem a bit frightening to go when you know nobody and might not know the language all too well, but once you get there honestly all those thoughts of doubt get thrown out the window and excitement rushes in.

Hey my name is Shae-Lynn Way and I was so lucky to have had the opportunity to travel to Italy this summer and tutor children in English. I set off on June 19th and flew to Milan where I was greeted by two wonderful 8 year old girls and their families! Alicia and Chiara are best friends and I worked closely with both their families. With Alicia I travelled to Varenna, which is a small, quaint town on Lake Como, just on the southern side of the Alps! Varenna was definitely my favourite part of the trip. The views were absolutely breath taking and the overall culture of the town was very unique. I then travelled with Alicia, Chiara and their families to Livigno. Livigno is located right in the Alps, so the drive there was absolutely beautiful! Livigno is known for their ski slopes and trails so it was a wonderful place to get out and explore!
During the day I would work with the girls for one hour on English homework. I would assist them on different activities in their work books and helped them if they had any questions. Throughout the day we would play and go on different excursions with their mothers. There was always something different and new everyday. This was a perfect time for me to communicate in English with the girls and have conversations out in the real world opposed to their work books. It wasn’t always easy, because of the language barrier but we managed to made it work and it was great stimulation for the girls English skills.
On July 12th I unfortunately had to cut my trip short due to a sudden death in my family back home. On July 20th I was supposed to travel to Trento, Italy to stay for another month with a twelve year old boy named Luca who I would also tutor in English and travel with him and his family to the Dolomite Mountains. I was heartbroken to leave Italy and I am still so sad I never got the chance to meet Luca and his family! But I had such an amazing time while I was there and learned a lot . I gained so much valuable experience and was able to explore at the same time. It was definitely a trip of a lifetime and I can’t wait to go back and finish the rest of my trip next year!

Working as an English tutor in Italy was an experience I won't ever forget. I would like to thank Scotia Personnel for the opportunity. Having the opportunity to live in Italy for three months was amazing. My host family was great, they were very accommodating, generous and welcoming, and the kids I looked after and tutored became like younger siblings to me, and made me feel like part of the family. They even invited me to stay with them again next year.

When not working, I had time off on the weekends, where I would travel to amazing places around northern Italy, or hang out with my host family, where we would go on their boat around Lake Como, where we would swim, wakeboard, and occasionally watch fireworks. I also got to eat so many delicious foods as well as have ice cream or gelato almost every day, something I don't get to do in Canada.

My experience working in Italy gave me the confidence to solo travel and I was able to meet new and interesting people, as well as getting to experience a different culture, cuisine, and environment that I hadn't before. I would definitely recommend this wonderful opportunity and experience. Overall my time in Italy, and working as a tutor was great, and I would love to get the opportunity to go back again.

Scotia Personnel is a great company. They have helped my dreams of going to the UK possible. I had an amazing experience with a lovely host family in the UK for 2 years. I also was able to teach English in Italy for a month in the summrr which opened me up to a whole new culture. Scotia Personnel are very friendly and helpful, they make sure that you are safe and taken care of. I highly recommend this company to anyone with an interest to travel, make memories, experience cultures and just have fun.