Je suis une fille au pair!

I have debated on when to start this blog, but I figure today is just as good as any other. So without further ado... this is me. I am a 21 year old recent college grad, and I am about to start my life as an au pair in Paris. A visa appointment finally opened up for July 19th, so I officially changed my flight today. I will arrive in Paris the morning of August 12th... a little more than one month. Since my my decision to be an au pair and finding a family in March, I have not known the exact date of my departure, so this is a monumental day for me. I finally know! (Not being able to plan this drove me absolutely cray).

How did I decide to become an au pair? Well the summer of 2011 changed my live when I studied abroad in Lille, France (as far north as you can get- a dreary and rainy, but absolutely lovely college town). The day I left Europe was a sad day indeed, but I knew it was a "see you later." I vowed to go back. (I kept a blog about this experience as well: http://francesummer2011.blogspot.com/).

So all through my last year of college (go wolfpack!), I contemplated how I was going to get myself back to France. I signed up with www.greataupair.com in August and didn't do a lot with it until 8 months later. I had ventured into other avenues to get to France-- grad school? a real job? backpack? But I finally decided au pairing would be my best (and most economical) option. So instead of spending Spring Break in a Caribbean paradise, I spent the whole week on my computer. I talked to numerous families. I skyped two, and the second one offered me a position! I took it a week later after seriously considering everything. In hindsight, I wish I had shopped around more, but I think I am going to be really happy with this family.

I am in contact with their current, American au pair. She stayed an additional year (she must have liked them well enough, right?), and she has been giving me all sorts of advice. Les enfants are 10 and 11 (so at least I am not changing diapers), so hopefully I will be more of their friend than anything else.

The one downfall is the family lives outside Paris (they say a 30 minute train ride). Not to sound unappreciative of this opportunity, but I wish I was living inside the city. But I am choosing to see this as a way to see more of France than just Paris. I will be able to escape the city and live with a real family-- not living that too-good-to-be-true fairy-tale Parisian lifestyle. Plus this town seems really quaint and cute-- I think I can deal with that.

I am also extremely lucky because I am moving to Paris (well-- close enough) with an already good amount of French friends and (yes!) a French boyfriend! Another reason my beloved N.C. State is awesome-- it partnered with a French Business school, so I made a lot of friends with French students this past semester including mon petit ami. Now my au pair in France idea came way before I met mon petit ami, so I did not make the decision based on him, but I am all the more excited now because of it.


So my next step is this visa appointment in Hotlanta. Hope everything goes smoothly. My airline flight cuts the 15-21 visa processing time pretty close (22 days), so I am in contact with the Senator's office (yes, I recently learned they can help you with "federal agencies"). Hopefully they can speed up that processing time a little bit, so I will be 100% in the clear!


Au revoir for now!