My time as a Chongqing au pair!

I’m just over two months into my three month stay in Chongqing. If you’re anything like I was before deciding to become an au pair, this is about the fifty-first website you’ve checked out in your research to find the program for you. Let’s be honest, integrating yourself in a totally new culture, especially one with a language different from your native tongue, is hard. But I can tell you that Wanderlust will help you every step of the way.

Ashley, Hazel, and Ginger have been a pleasure to work with, facilitating the interview process to find my host family, helping me with the (rather complex) visa application process, registering me for my biweekly Mandarin courses, showing me around the city my first week here, and providing a short orientation to help ease the transition into Chinese culture.

My host family has been nothing but kind to the bumbling foreigner that’s stayed with them for the past two months, and though teaching and taking care of a child is no easy feat, it really is wonderful to see her English improve every day.

So, to those of you who are ready to take the plunge and become an au pair in China, I say good luck and have fun! There’s really nothing else quite like it.