Become an Au Pair in The Netherlands

My review title can only make sense if you read my review. A true Stompwijker; the title my host family gave to me only after a few weeks of living here. I was already accustomed to the small town feel of Stompwijk; the smell of cows and sharing the road with tractors and horses. It felt like home from the start. I met my first group of friends at the horse races; with the language barrier being a bit of an issue for some of them we just laughed it off by kicking the soccer ball around and dancing to the DJ. The next few weeks I was invited to BBQ’s, boating and tent parties. All these things made me feel completely at home, from the very start. Shortly after I was tagged on a Facebook post on the towns Facebook page saying they were looking for girls to join their soccer team. Being that I played soccer all my life and went on scholarship to play at university I could not resist this opportunity. I quickly reached out and had another connection that felt like home. With practicing and getting to know my team even better, I felt my true self really appear. During my year abroad I took personal trips where I truly wanted to experience myself and a different culture, I cycled all around the Netherlands and I even cycled from Amsterdam to Antwerp, Belgium. I took a train to Paris with my boyfriend, who is a “native Stompwijker” and I did fun cultural activities with my host family and friends. I indulged myself completely and fully into the Dutch culture. I fell in love with bitterballen, stroopwaffels and cycling.
Looking back at my experience I would not change a thing because every situation led my Stompwijk soccer team to winning champions and celebrating by riding around on a tractor kart through town, it led me to being able to ice skate on the canals that make the Netherlands unique, and every situation gave me another reason to come back and visit.
I’ve only lived in Stompwijk for one year but that’s 365 days of waving to the same people on my daily routine, smiling and saying “goedemorgen” or “hoe gaat het?” My host family says I’m a true Stompwijker because I never said no to any experience, I was up for anything. I wanted to jump into the Stompwijk culture and that is exactly what I did. I came to the Netherlands labeled by everyone as the American au pair but I left as a friend, a true Stompwijker.

While the organization itself tended to be more hands off than I would have expected in terms of individual engagement; I found that staff was generally reliable and often hosted group events for people living in the same area. I happened to be matched with a perfect family, so in many ways I was lucky; but, it is definitely a program geared towards the “self-starter” and not for people who may need a little bit of extra guidance.

Living a year in the Netherlands as an au pair was life changing. Dutch life is so fun and relaxed, and the au pair communities within cities are so much fun. The Netherlands is an ideal place to experience Europe from as well. Because of the location, I was able to visit over thirteen other European countries, like Germany, France, and the UK. Plus, the Netherlands itself is pretty incredible- it's bikes and tulip fields and canals are pretty unforgettable. And the major cities always have something fun to do. My Dutch host family was kind, and their children were lovely as well. If you'd like, you can read more about my personal experiences on my blog-- jessicajwolfe.blogspot.com (all the posts from 2015 are about my year there).