Philadelphia, PA Au Pair Cluster Activities
Philadelphia, Berks, Chester, Delaware, Lancaster, Montgomery and Northampton Counties

Provided by the Lisa Arnett cluster

Being a host family has made the world smaller for my family. My children have been introduced to some cultures from all over the world from South America to Russia. As a host mom, preparing for work in the morning Is now a breeze! The kids' lunches are made, their beds are made and they are left with someone they have come to view as a sister. I have not used any sick time because my au pair can stay home with the children or pick them up from school in an emergency.


My favorite time of year for being a Local Coordinator is from Halloween to the New Year. Most Au pairs have heard of Halloween but don’t celebrate it. They are always so amazed by the excitement and fanfare on Halloween. I frequently do my meetings with Sandy Green’s cluster. Every November Sandy invites us to her house to bake traditional apple pies. I hold the December Holiday festivities at my house. Au pairs share their culture with the cluster through songs, descriptions of these holidays in their country and best of all we all sample foods from around the world. I think this is especially important because au pairs are so immersed in American culture that they enjoy bringing a little bit of home to the group.

 

Each month, we try to find a new social event that the au pairs will enjoy. We have seen a Japanese cooking demonstration, went to hear the music of Disney's Fantasia at the Kimmel Center/Academy of Music, and gone rock climbing. Perhaps next month we will see a local performance of the musical "Little Shop of Horrors". Other recent events included:

 

July: Outdoor Concert at Valley Forge Memorial Park

Valley Forge is where one of the biggest battles of the American Revolution took place. Now it hosts a park commemorating the American Revolutionary War, and we attended one of their historic concerts - an authentic military carillon and bagpipe marching band! The uniforms and the spectacle were amazing!

 

April: Bowling Party
The au pairs got to try the very American sport of bowling for the first time. It took a little while for them to get the hang of it, but they loved it, and they were so excited when they did well! Everyone cheered when they bowled a strike!

 

February: Ice Skating

This month, we decided to try Ice Skating! We all met up and drove to Penn's Landing Ice Rink, which is in the heart of the historic old city Philadelphia. Philadelphia has lots of restaurants, coffee houses, and nightlife.

 

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