New Experience in China

After working in a different industry in Australia and Hong Kong for three years, I was planning to move to Shanghai in late 2016 to commence studying Chinese language in university. In early 2016 I decided that I wanted to move to China earlier to accelerate my Chinese learning by immersing myself in the local culture. I considered a few options such as English teaching or staying in my previous industry but I decided to apply to be an Au Pair because I thought living with a family would be an excellent way to improve my Chinese language and cultural understanding while doing something I really enjoy - teaching and looking after children.

I'm currently in the middle of my program and I am really happy. Being an Au Pair has indeed been challenging at times, but also very rewarding. You may be helping a family with children and parents that speak limited English. This can be hard at first but with the support of Hazel (Wanderlust Program Director) and building the relationship with the host family I am now confident that any challenge can be overcome. I have seen improvement with the language learning of the host family's child that I have been looking after which is very rewarding to me.

I chose Wanderlust over other Au Pair organisations as I was very impressed with the application experience, communication with Hazel was very direct, clear and timely. This good support continued once I arrived, she helped me with my visa, communication with my host family and orientation to Shanghai (bank account setup, SIM card etc.) and induction to how to be an effective teacher / Au Pair with children who are learning English as Foreign Language.

What I really love about being an Au Pair is that every day is very different. I may be doing some English teaching, helping with mathematics homework, completing puzzles or building Lego, playing sports or going outside on various activities. Along with the day to day activities with the host family, Wanderlust also organises monthly cultural activities which are fun - we recently visited Wuzhen on a day trip with my fellow Au Pairs.

I've been really impressed with the program so far as I see it as a win-win for the host families and the Au Pairs. The children will get support for their English learning, will get a new big brother or sister and the family gets an experience interacting with a foreigner every day - helping to bridge the cultural divide. For me, I get a lot of satisfaction of seeing my host child improve his language ability, I get to have a lot of fun and get to live in a new city (Shanghai is amazing by the way!) without many of the challenges I would normally have as the host family and Wanderlust helped me get setup in Shanghai.