It's an experience

I'm currently completing the 6th month of my Au Pair in China, Shanghai.
I had a great time here. Of course there were good times as well as bad times. I was lucky I got a family where everyone could speak English. Means less misunderstandings because of different languages. But there were still a few things I had to get used to due to the cultural differences.
The highlight of the Au Pair were definitely the mandarin classes. I had a wonderful teacher who has a lot of patience. Of course the classes are challenging but my Chinese improved fast. The school is a great way to meet other people and get some social life going on even with a busy schedule.
My local coordinator, Yvonne, and the other lopair staffs always tried their best to help me when I had troubles. Yvonne is always very sweet.
My advice for people who consider doing an au pair:
Be 100% sure that this is what you want. You'll probably sacrifice a lot of your time for the family. Even if you like kids you need to understand that it means living with and being around kids most of the time. It's a difficult task and sometimes you also have to alter your own viewpoints on education/parenting to meet the standards of the host family (as for me, my host mom handles a lot of situations differently than I would've done if I had my own kids). You have to be mentally flexible