Linda from Sweden about being an Au Pair for a wonderful family in Wellington.

Linda in New Zealand...

I've been in Wellington for 7 months now, working as an aupair and living in the Blackett family with Chrisitine, Erica, Jess and Nate. It's been a different but wonderful experience and I have learned heaps of things and have grown as a person.  I have done things I have never even thought about before. I went a course on Wellington high school, called ' Outdoor Adventures' where we got to try abseiling, rockclimbing, windsurfing and more. It was a great mix of people and I made lots of friends.I have to confess that from the beginning I had doubt about whether to go or not. But I decided to go and have never ever regretted it.

I remember standing at the airport in Wellington being so nervous waiting for someone to recognize me. Christine and I were just talking the other day about the first meeting and the first time.

She told me she was probably just as nervous as me. It's a big change for both aupair and the family and that is good to have in mind. All went very well and it turned out to be a perfect match.

To go to another country (in this case one very far from home) living with another family is very brave so I think it's OK to be a little nervous. The family did a great job letting me in their family and pretty soon I felt like one of them. Even though the kids were a bit confused in the beginning and called me 'the big girl' and wondered why I was there. I don't want to think about when my year is over and it's time for me to say 'Good Bye'.

We have been on a vacation on the South Island. It was wonderful,  it's such a beautiful country and we had a great time together. We’ve been on day trips on the North Island and I have had plenty of time to travel around and explore New Zealand on my own. It's been birthdays, parties, we have gone out for dinner and in between we had a lot of fun.

It's been interesting living in another culture and I've done my best to show them the swedish traditions. It's been a real mixture of swedish, american and new zealand traditions. 'My family' is now moving to the USA and asked me to come with them. But first we all going to Hawaii for a great vacation before the big move.  So, my time as an aupair have been a positive experience and turned out better than I expected. I got the chance to explore New Zealand and looking forward to new adventures in America.

Linda Norstrom