Wanderlust Cultural Homestay Tutoring (Au Pair in China) Program

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.

Going to China has always been something I wanted to do. Taking a gap year finally meant I was able to do this. Looking online for the right program so I could stay in China, I ended up with Wanderlust Exhange.
After arriving in my host family, the beginning was quite tough for me. However, the family has been very kind and gave me the time to get used to everything here. After a few days it went better and better.
Connecting with the hostchild was maybe the most challenging part of my experience. After a few weeks our relationship improved: the child was open to learn more English besides just playing with me.
Over the weekends I would join the family in their activities (having lunch outdoors, going to a park, visiting the grandparents, going to a park etc.) and during weekdays I'd have time to see more of the city and attend my Chinese classes.
Besides seeing more of the country and learning a little bit of the language, I also learned more about tutoring a child and finding ways to make learning more fun.
So I would say this program is a chance to experience the best of both worlds and I would recommend this program to anyone who's up for a (learning) adventure!

First I wanted to be in Shanghai but when I discover the host family who wanted to be with me it was a perfect match !

WAC helped me in all my steps to be able to come to China by answering my questions. more the welcome and the approaches to my arrival were warmest. I am happy to have been with this company during my 6 months in China and I thank them very much for finding me the perfect family in China.

followed in approaches for visa, hosted on arrival in Shanghai, filed at the hotel to leave the business and rest with documents the agency more a small card welcome, the next day visit the agency to focus on the progress and operation in China, followed a visit Shanghai and next day take the train to go to the city of destination Ningbo ! where to me I have been received by the mother very warm with a bunch of flower. even if I were stressed in the plane before arriving in China and despite some technical problems staff this experience with the agency and my family home will forever engraved in my memory and is for me the most beautiful it is !

Wow, I can't believe my two months in China as an AU Pair is already coming to an end!

What an experience, not an easy one by any means, but definitely a completely fulfilling one.

Wanderlust has made this journey a very smooth and simple one. From the airport pickup to the constant support no matter what the issue is (including numerous phone calls while I was in Hong Kong to renew my visa, they were with me every step of the way.

The family I have was matched with have been incredible, the 2 kids are great fun and we enjoy playing sports, games and doing homework everyday. The family have been amazing, they have really shown me around this great city and made me feel at home. In addition, we went on a 2 week holiday to Africa and saw amazing things together. It just goes to show if you put yourself in these kinds of situations anything can happen :)

As an Au pair in China, you shouldn't expect an easy ride, but you should expect a new cultural experience with new things to learn and see everyday . Dive right in and you will be able to make the most of it!

To those contemplating going to China as an Au Pair, I can highly recommend Wanderlust, they have made my journey here so great and I haven't once felt as though there was a problem I couldn't overcome, they have been such a great help to me!

Thanks everyone :)

Mike

I always knew that I wanted to do something different after I graduate. All my friends kept talking about going to the US or Australia, but somehow that didn't have too much appeal for me. One day I accidentally stumbled upon China and I figured, why not? So I packed all my stuff and went on my adventure in the far east.
I have been living in the beautiful City of Shanghai for nearly 6 months now - with another 6 months to go. Time is flying way too quickly.
From the moment I stepped into the country I was treated like a part of the family. I have a 5 year old host kid that I absolutely adore, she really makes my day brighter. My Hostfamily gave me the amazing opportunity to visit Hangzhou, Tonglu and Beijing with them. Who doesn't want to stand on the Great Wall once in their life? I made so many amazing friends along the way. I even traveled 18 hours in a train with one of them to visit Guilin, in South of China. This year already gave me so many amazing opportunities and it is not even halfway over.
Adjusting to the local 'Lifestyle' and Food had been no problem at all for me. Especially since I like to eat spicy. Seriously, that makes your life a lot easier.
What had been quite of a challenge at first for little ol' german me was the spontaneity of the people here. I tend to stick to plans and if you're like me, that might take some adjustment time.
Now, a few months later, I am proud to say that I got way more spontaneous though.
I also love the fact that we're able to study the language in a local language school. After 6 months I am able to understand quite a lot, but I must admit that speaking is still very hard for me.
Shanghai has quite a lot of English speakers, sometimes you gotta push yourself to speak Chinese in public - to leave your comfort zone.
I am very thankful for everything my Hostfamily did and still does for me. They take me out for amazing activities, and make sure that I always feel comfortable and welcome. They grew so close to my heart and I feel very grateful to be able to stay in such a wonderful family.
Hazel, Ginger and Lisa have been very helpful and are always there for you if you have any questions. I really made the right decision to come to a country with such a diverse culture, amazing food and the nicest people.
I'm looking forward to see what the next 6 months will bring me

I love Shanghai and would not trade this experience for the world! It is not for someone who's intentions are to travel the world and not be willing to put in the work. Get ready to have your patience tested and to be put in uncomfortable situations. These things have helped me grow so much as a person. Being an au pair means being able to be spontaneous and sometimes you probably will feel very confused on what you're supposed to do. But don't worry! If you have any questions or ANY concerns Wanderlust helps with all communication barriers you might have with your family. They work very hard to help you settle into Shanghai upon arrival and will try to help you feel comfortable through meeting the other au pairs immediately! I've learned to really care about my host kid and the family, you will definitely create bonds that are unforgettable with the people you meet :)

How many people are out there sharing the same thought: ‚I want to see the world!‘ Maybe they just finished high school and want to spend some time exploring more places before starting university, or they are just looking for a new adventure and want to spend some time abroad, doing something different. I was one of these persons. After finishing high school I just wanted to grab my bags and go see the world.
But with going to see the world there comes a lot of stuff to organize. Where am I going? What am I doing there? Where do I get the money from? What if I get lonely, all by myself? Who has my back there, if anything goes wrong or I need some help? All these questions arise when you plan to go on a big journey by yourself. There is an answer to all these questions.
If you are reading this review, you are probably already considering to go to China. You probably already informed yourself at least a bit about this country. So I will just skip the part of telling you how amazing China is and how many opportunities and beautiful things this country has to offer. I will just skip telling you about the kind people you can meet here, the unbelievable amount of good food and the funny language, definitely worth learning!
In fact I will just skip the question of where you should go, but come to the next point, that will answer all the following questions.

When I thought about what I wanted to do, I asked myself what priorities I have for my big journey. I didn’t just want to see the culture, but experience it. I didn’t just want to listen to the language, but learn it. I didn’t just want to watch the people, but talk to them, get to know them, live with them.
I did some research back then and all my concerns seemed to have a solution with the one thing: being an au pair.
As an au pair you can enjoy and experience the country to the fullest. So in the next step I looked for a suitable program for me and this is how I found out about Wanderlust Exchange China.
With this program I you can have everything at once. I lived with a chinese family in Beijing. My duty was it to take care of their son and help him learn and improve his English which was a lot of fun and a great experience. Combining the work with children with travelling a country is probably one of the best things I could have done. Being a part of a chinese family gives you a whole new vision of China and its culture. There are so many things you can never understand about this country if you don’t take the step to make the decision to actually live here. Besides the normal daily life, the host family also took me on several weekend trips and holidays to show me more of China. And as we all know, travelling a country with locals is always a great thing, as they can tell and show you so many more things, you never would have known, travelling by yourself.
Another unique thing about this program and being an aupair in China was that I could attend Mandarin classes and learn the language myself. It was amazing for me to see myself suddenly understanding what people around me were talking about, if it was just at home or even in the streets.
Moreover there were monthly cultural activities included in the program, like cooking traditional chinese food and stuff. That’s how you got in touch with many other au pairs which- if needed or not- made you not feel lonely. I always enjoyed these meetups as it is always great to have someone to talk to who is experiencing just the same as you are.

To sum up, with this program I had an answer to all my questions. I am so grateful for the opportunity I was given to experience China to the fullest and I can recommend it to anyone who is open to something completely new and looking for an adventure out there.

I stayed 5 months as an au pair in Shanghai, this was for me a wonderful experiences that made me mature, living with the Chinese family allowed me to be in total immersion in the country's culture. , there is occasionally misunderstanding between me and the family, but the agency has always been there if ever I had a problem. I was educated at the "Mandarin House" which is a very good school with a very good atmosphere and a remarkable quality of work, the other good point that I appreciated are the cultural outings with the other au pairs of the agency every month . It was for me a big change in my life, I had good as less good time, but I would recommend this experience to everyone, It is very enriching . And I can not wait to return in china to see the host family with whom I created strong links!