LoPair Au Pair China: Learn. Care. Explore.

I completed the Summer Educare programme; an experience which has left me with mixed feelings about the programme. It is an excellent opportunity to truly experience a different culture by being immersed into life in China with a Chinese host family. I was able to gain insight which wouldn't be possible when visiting for a short period of time as a tourist. Everyone's experience will be unique as host families have different interests and can introduce you to different cultural aspects. The mandarin classes are also fantastic as I went out to China with no previous knowledge of the language but came away after 8 weeks being able to communicate with basic mandarin.

I was supposed to be living with a lovely family in Shenzhen. Sadly, they pulled out of the programme last minute after much deliberation regarding other plans for their young son. With less than two weeks before starting the programme, Lopair helped me find new families quickly and really seemed to empathise with my situation. However, the family I ended up with in Beijing turned out to be an unfavourable match and I worry about their suitability for the programme at all. I want to give praise to all of the coordinators in Hangzhou who made me feel so welcome and took our small group (3 au pairs as we arrived earlier than other participants) around Hangzhou after orientation training. Unfortunately, Lopair's support seemed to dissipate.

There were numerous negative occasions with my host family but I will limit these to just a few examples:
- the family did not make me feel welcome or accommodated and I didn't feel like "a member of the family". Many mornings I had to go without breakfast because the parents or one of the three nannies would not set the table or cook for me. I was made to feel very awkward about asking for food and the nanny seemed to resent making me a fried egg (most of the time the only thing which my breakfast consisted of). There were no snacks provided for me (apart from the occasional bit of fruit) and I was not allowed out of the house so I couldn't buy any. One time the family went out for the whole afternoon until evening without telling me and I didn't get any dinner. I politely messaged them asking if they could bring me back some "leftovers" which they did a few hours later. As I sat down to eat, the three year old (who had already been out for a big meal) started to try and take the little bit of food I was bought back. He made a commotion and the family gave a large portion of my food to him! I was also hit on different occasions by the boy for no reason (punched in the nose and face as well as my legs) and the mother didn't even react to tell him off or at least check that I was alright.
- no privacy: the family got annoyed with me for shutting my bedroom door—especially locking it—but this was necessary to keep the three year old out of my room when getting changed or sleeping. I wasn't even allowed to lock the bathroom door sometimes (of which I did not have my own and had to share with the three year old and his nanny) which resulted in the boy catching me in the shower—something the family then blamed me for. Even in my free time I lacked privacy as I got criticised for shutting my bedroom door. This was a strain as I was prevented from recuperating and relaxing which had a damaging effect as the weeks went on.
- during week 7 the family had plans to travel to Tianjin and Jinan but this meant I was yo-yoed from one hot cramped car to the next with lots of travelling, no rest, and I was not always given any water. The trip made me very ill for my final week. As soon as we arrived back in Beijing (after a full day of travelling) my body couldn't take anymore and succumbed to the illness it was desperately suppressing under the constant changing of environments. I was up the whole night and the day after throwing up. I wasn't able to eat for over 4 days and it took a couple of days until I could start stomaching fluids again, meaning I was severely dehydrated (something especially uncomfortable in the heat). The family unfairly blamed me several times for being ill because I "ate too much" on the trip—something which was not even true. After the parents asked if my insurance covered going to hospital (to which I said I just needed rest and to try and get over the illness, unable to take anymore distress after the week of travelling) they lost interest. They did not try and look after me or even check up on me which made me feel incredibly isolated. Luckily, despite the difficult language barrier, the daughter's nanny (a different nanny to the one who usually cooks) started to look out for me and made me small portions of plain rice or noodles: a great relief after being neglected by the rest of the family.

To top this off, I had to plead with the mother for a lift to the airport at the end of my placement as I was still unwell. She refused to get one of their drivers (of which they had a few) to take me and insisted I use the subway. I then had to try and appeal to the father who eventually agreed to get a family friend to take me. Not the tearful sendoff I would've hoped for at the start of the programme.

A friend I made on the programme (who was also in Beijing) had messaged two different coordinators urging them to check on me because he was concerned about how unwell I was and the lack of support from the family. I wasn't aware of this until after completing the programme as I was shown the messages by said friend. Lopair did not bother to get in contact with me which was beyond disappointing, especially as I was experiencing such trauma. Even before this—during a misunderstanding with the family—I found my coordinator would favour the family above me despite assuring me in private beforehand that what I was feeling was completely justified and valid.

That is not to say I never enjoyed my time as an au pair because, despite the hurdles, I did have some memorable times with the children. In fact, I got on with the ten year old daughter very well. However, the family generally did not treat me very well. I completely lacked the freedom that I was entitled to, even on my one day off a week. The family were not flexible on their 9pm curfew (I even received texts demanding I start coming back at 7pm on my day off to ensure I was back way before 9pm). I was always with an au pair friend but they would try and justify their control over me by saying I was unsafe. I was rarely allowed out of the house and I had no front door key to aid any independence (I politely spoke to the parents several times and they refused to give me one).

I had an amazing time in China itself and it has undoubtedly helped me develop as a person and gain invaluable cultural insight. I visited some amazing sites like the Great Wall and my days off were by far the happiest of my time in China. Nonetheless, the positives of my experience are not down to Lopair and I can't imagine how my experience might have suffered further had it not been for the support of other au pairs when Lopair were more than inattentive. To give advice for anyone thinking of doing a programme with Lopair, make sure the family you are matched with are right for you. I believe that if circumstances had been different and I had a more accommodating family my experience would have been even better.

I went in China with lopair, a partner of my french agency. My experience as an au pair was amazing, it makes me grow and develop my patience.
My family was really nice, kind with me and thanks to them I discover a lot of things about China (like food, a lot of food and culture).
When you get used to Chinese customs, it’s really easy. People are really nice and helpfull with you. I really love China 🇨🇳

I spent 6 weeks in Hangzhou in a very nice family with two 5 year-old twin girls. The matching process was made rather easy by Lopair even if I had asked to go to Shanghai in the first-place (in retrospect I am really happy I spent these few weeks in Hangzhou and not Shanghai as Hangzhou is a better place to explore traditional China).

BEST PARTS ABOUT THE PROGRAM :

- Being able to discover/explore China on my own was definitly what I was looking forward to the most. After 6 weeks, I can say I have become a lot more confident in travelling by myself, meeting new people, trying new things and starting conversations with locals.

- My Mandarin has improved a lot as the program is a chance to be fully immersed in a Chinese family and the Mandarin lessons I had twice a week were taught by a great teacher.

- The people you get to meet. Spending 6 weeks (or more) in China can get very isolating if you don't make an effort to meet people and make friends. I was very lucky I got along so well with my classmates and also got the chance to go out with other au pairs in my free time. I also made a few Chinese friends that I keep in touch with over wechat and hope to visit in the future !

- The support provided by Lopair was great for me. Both my local coordinator Yvonne and June were amazing, checking up on me and taking me (with one or multiple other au pairs) for coffee and dinner. It really made me feel like I had someone to turn to in case of an issue.

THINGS TO TAKE INTO CONSIDERATION / NEGATIVE ASPECTS :

- One thing I would say to anyone considering doing the programme though is to not underestimate how much effort and energy needs to be put in teaching and supervising kids. It is a real job that requires commitment and a love for kids. 6 weeks can be long if you don't like being around kids all the time.

- The biggest downside to my 6 weeks in Hangzhou was that, because my host family's house was so incredibly far from the city center (about 2h30!!), I wasn't able to go out with friends in the evening or even in the afternoon and stayed in the house even when I was supposed to have some free time. So do ask how far the house is from the language school and the city center !!
In the end it turned out fine because my host family went to Japan for 10 days and paid for a hotel for me in the center so I did have these days to explore more by myself and hang out with people my age.

In conclusion, my 6 weeks in Hangzhou truly were an amazing for me and it really has reinforced my love for China. I am incredibly grateful to my host family who was wonderful in every way and tried their best to share their culture with me. I hope to go back to Hangzhou very soon :)

I've had a great time here is Beijing and it's all thanks to the family I was staying with and the friends I got to make. Making sure you're with the right family is key to your enjoyment of the program. But don't worry, if you are unlucky enough to get a family that you don't click with then it is easy enough to switch. LoPair are great at finding new matches and making sure you are housed and comfortable.

Overall I've enjoyed myself a lot and I will be very sad to leave. I am very glad I got to experience China and I will definitely be coming back!

Everything was really good. I got a beautiful family and that make my cultural shock shorter. Learning Chinese was very interesting and I love it. Totally recommend this experience because it’s the cheapest way to get to china, easiest way to stay there longer, funniest way to learn Chinese, best way to improve it, richest way to get connected to the culture. I loved living with a family and sharing with them their culture!

Self-Intro
Hi, I'm a 4th-year university student, male, 20 years old and Asian Canadian (my parents are from Central Asia). I found out about this program through a library recruitment I came across which mentioned a cultural exchange program in Shanghai during the summer. I had a free month in summer I felt like it could be a fun experience (spoiler: I was right!!).
Pre-trip
So before the trip, I registered online gave them my general information and a Canadian company called Scotia-personnel helped me organize my documents and set up the trip for me (they were really nice and helpful btw). I made a profile which included my resume, letter to the family and some references. After a while a family contacted me and we had a video interview. After that, I completed the confirmation documents and the trip was booked for 6 weeks. I actually ran into some problems with a test I was writing that summer (it had to be moved later) and the test ended up being in the first week that the trip was scheduled. The family and LoPair were really helpful and wanted to accommodate me anyway!! So, in the end, I ended up going for a total of 5 weeks to Shanghai to live with my host family.
Trip itself
So the family was kind and wanted to pick me up from the airport, LoPair arranged my flight tickets and gave them all the information they needed. I lived in Pudong area during my trip which was conveniently close to the downtown area where my language classes were. The classes were every Monday and Wednesday from 10-12:15 and were mandatory time off from the family. The host kid I was matched with was 11 years old and spoke basic English and was enough for us to communicate at a basic level, as time went on his English skills and our overall communication skills improved greatly. I had time off every Friday night and all Saturday, which was great since I had time to go out and see the city with my friends :D. I met some great friends in the language classes and outside of class, the only difficulty was that we didn't all have our free time off at the same time. The family was kind and got my train tickets to go see other cities nearby on my days off if I asked them, sometimes we would go out together as a family for dinner and see city landmarks. For my orientation which took place in Hangzhou, I had tickets provided for me and my whole trip planned and paid for me. During the orientation we went to see the famous West Lake and the pagoda located there, then we went to a shopping district and finally for a Chinese dinner! We all stayed in a small hotel (which was really clean and nice) after one of the coordinators (Saigon) was amazing and took me to see the city on her free time because I had some free time after the orientation was over. During the work days, I had a plan outlined by my host mom for each day which was really helpful because it gave me an estimate of how much work and how much play time I needed to spend with the host kid. Overall my host kid was very funny and kind but like any kid, he could get annoying. We would spend time together from breakfast to dinner, playing games, reading books, studying, eating, drawing, talking all the time about random things. It was really fun but it did get really tiring after 4-5 days, which meant that days off were really nice to spend outside the house. Since in the summer it gets really hot, many of the days were spent inside, that means that having good books and fun hands-on things to do is a must. I got to see the best parts of Shanghai, either with my friends or with my host family. Living in a family with a different culture is challenging but its a great and fun experience and taught me about our similarities and differences. I will keep in touch with my host family and this is a relationship I have for life.

Before arriving in Shanghai, Lopair did a very good job in helping me build my profile and putting me in contact with potential families. They provided good assistance and advice for the Skype interviews with the families, and once I had been matched with one, also provided valuable webinars to prepare me for teaching in China and adapting to Chinese customs and overall lifestyle. These webinars were useful in calming my nerves and feeling supported while preparing my trip, but also made up for the 3 days training they organize in Hangzhou, but that I could not attend. Therefore, if a future Au pair has dates that differ from the travel packages suggested by Lopair, the company will more than gladly adapt to them and fill them in on what they will miss.

Lopair also made the visa application clear and straightforward, and was always available to answer any questions I had, which was very appreciated. Lopair made sure I was put in a suitable level for my Chinese classes, and arranged a change in classes when it was needed.

Other than these services, Lopair also organized a trip to Hanghzhou for other Au pairs and I, which was a fantastic experience and an amazing opportunity to travel a bit and see another city. We were greeted at the train station and taken sightseeing all day by some very nice coordinators.

However, Lopair has unfortunately failed to keep up one promise, which was to organize meetings with the local coordinator. I am aware that in my case, my host mother was rarely available for a meeting with my local coordinator, which delayed our eventual meeting, but that did mean that I received my welcome package one month into the program. As of yet, my local coordinator and my family still haven't met in person, as Lopair requires. Although this has not impacted my stay here at all, as these meetings are mostly to make sure there are not any issues between the Au pair and the family - and there have been none for me - it does remain the only unfulfilled task on Lopair's part.

Other than these examples, I believe Lopair is a successful and mature company, that manages the whole program and experience very well. I am very glad to have been able to participate in this experience with them, and am very grateful for all their help.

I would definitely recommend it!

This is my second time back aupairing for Lopair in China and my first time on the summer programme.
It has been an absolute dream, my host family is absolutely amazing, they have accepted me into their home and from day one I have had absolutely no problems. I love spending time with my host kids as well as the rest of the family, could not have asked for a better placement.
I'm addition to a lovely host family I have really enjoyed going to school which is included in the programme. I feel as though my Chinese has greatly improved and I've met some lovely people.
I've also had an amazing time exploring Beijing. In the 4 weeks of being here I've managed to do a trip a week with friends I'd made because of the aupair programme.
I think for anyone who's interested in seeing China and loves working with kids this is a great experience. I've grown to be more resistant and understanding due to my work as an aupair as well having widened my horizons.