LoPair Au Pair China: Learn. Care. Explore.

My host family are amazing! They've made things so convenient for me. We recently went ziplining and mountain climbing, and that was so significant for me, cause it helped me confront my fear of heights. I've had loads of fun, and really bonded with them, and I'm dreading to leave. China is Amazing. The beauty of its lakes and mountains always seem to leave me in awe. An amazing opportunity. I would definitely do it again.

I've always wanted to go to China. Since I was a little child I've been interested in China, it's culture and history. So becoming an Au Pair, living with a host family, was the best decision I've ever made.

China is complete diffrent from any western countries. But the people here are so friendly and I am happy that I matched with my wonderful hostfamiles.

I spent the first 6 months in Hangzhou. My host sisters were adorable children although, especially the little one in the very beginnging, were sometimes naughty. And I wished her older sister would have been more motivated learning English. She hated Englis and couldn't speak any English words although she had learned it for two years at school. But they both learned while having fun. At least words hey liked like puppy, cute and beautiful. We had lots of fun and many things in common.
Alice, 12 years old, also loved to draw, so we often drew on her blackboard. I loved it when she told her 'dog stories'. She gestured all of the time because she didn't know how to express herself. In the end of the 6 months she tried to speak as much English as she could and even translated for her grandma (But she still said: 'Grandma shuō' instead of 'grandma said') and didn't hate English any more.
Connie, 4 years old, was the more active learner and loved to Play 'puppy' and bulding tents with the curtains. She also loved to draw and write her name in English (always in the wrong order, no matter how often I corrected her) and simple words like 'cat'. We sang a lot of Disney songs like 'Let it Go' and 'Be A Man'.
My host parents and I got very well along. My host mum and I chatted a lot and she always had to translate for her husband and her parents.

When I look now at the photos they make me cry and laugh (especially our selfies) at the same time because I miss them so much. They became a second family

I loved to Explorer Hangzhou and the nearby cities with my friends and my host family.

I extended 6 more months with another family in Shenzhen. Form the very beginnging I wanted to extend nd I'm glad that it worked.

My current host family has two Boys. Both speak very good English although they're still in primary School. When I arrvied at Shenzhen Airport my host brothers welcomed me with Posters they wrote and they even wrote it in German, my mother tongue. The first Thing they told me in the car was that they fight often. And they do. They even fought about who can show me which room of their flat first.
Henry, 8 years old, always thinks he has to correct my pronunciation because he learns American English at School and I speak British English. He can be very stubborn and whe he's in a bad mood he avoids me. But when he's in a good mood he is so funny, likes to Play games with English words, Ludo and creating Power Point presentations.
Terry, 6 years old, loves to planes, Lego (currently we build about one new Lego set per week) and he loves to ride his bike very fast. He often daydreams and writes Chinese characters in the air when he actually should eat his meals or listen to what the adults saying.
Terry loves to teach me Chinese words and Henry's always surpised when I understand them talking in Chinese. When Henry and I Walking in the park we often have good talks.
All of my host family members are very nice. I played badminton with my host mum and often try to speak with the Ayi in Chinese.

I have now three months left but already know that I will also miss them very much. Especially the kids hugs.
And I hope I can keep in touch with them for a very long time.

When I arrived to China as an au pair, it wasn’t my first time in the country. I had been a student there for a semester already (although in a different city) and I felt like I hadn’t established…a real relationship with the country, if you know what I mean. As a foreign languages student, I also wanted to improve my language skills, which I wasn’t very satisfied with. Mandarin students out there, I’m writing this for you: towards the end of my program, Chinese people I met for the first time would ask me how many years I had been in China! Lopair’s program helped me develop not only much better language skills (my Chinese teacher was just AWESOME, one of the best teachers I ever had!), but also the skills to talk to Chinese people. I understood so much more about Chinese culture and society and, combining that with the language, I feel like I achieved a much more complete knowledge of China. My host family helped me a lot with that: every one of them, from my Chinese mom to the family nanny, was patient enough to answer my many, many questions (“What’s in that dish? What’s that guy doing exactly? Is that a traditional character? Can you SERIOUSLY buy all that stuff on Taobao?”) and they never missed a chance to point interesting things out for me. We also travelled together to parts of China that I would have never seen by myself, which was amazing.
Obviously, this doesn’t mean that everything’s going to come super easy. Chinese culture is very different from Western cultures, and it does require an open mind and a lot of flexibility and patience. What they say about Chinese children being spoiled is true most of the time, so expect to be baffled by parent’s and relatives’ behavior sometimes, and just bear in mind that you were raised in a different education system. Chinese people also tend to make decisions very quickly and to give you very little notice for either eating out that night or taking a two week trip to Korea the next day, which can be unsettling, but just until you get used to it. China has made me a much, much more flexible person and I also have to say, Lopair did a great job at preparing me and fellow au pairs for these and other situations at the arrival orientation camp. They have a good perspective of what Westerners find strange and they really give you priceless tips to handle your family life, your host kids’ tantrums and potential culture shocks at your best. For example, having minor control issues (before my program!), I found it very reassuring to get a detailed explanation of how culture shock works, so that when it happened, I knew it was just a phase and didn’t freak out.
My time in China really made me a better person, not even mentioning how nice it looks on my resume. I would most definitely recommend this experience, and if you’re undecided about which agency to choose (as I was, because of the aforementioned control issues), I’d definitely say go with Lopair. They take their job and your safety seriously, and if I had the option to go back, I’d do the same thing for sure!

Hello everyone,
My name is Clara, I'm french and I'm an au pair since november 2016 (about 5 months now). My host family is composed with a journalist mother, an artist father and Chloe, my host child.
This program will make you discover China and chinese mentality. You will also take part in a lot of activities with you family (restaurants, hostels, trips, museums...).

But you have to know that your host family pays a lot to have you and they will expect a lot from you. For example, I am the first au pair of my host family and I have to plan a schedule every week for Chloe so she can make progress, the host mom also wants the proof of her progress !

But I have met a lot of people that I can now call my friends and a very good team at Lopair that will help you for everything (thanks Nancy for booking my tickets to Shanghai for an exam !).

I have lived a lot of things now and it worth it, but you have to work hard !

Getting off the bus in Hangzhou, from the Shanghai airport, was a little terrifying. My fears were quickly put to rest with a smile from my coordinator, who had a car waiting to take me to a hostel. Over the next two days I met other au pairs from all over the world. LoPair welcomed everyone like they were family during the short, but very useful orientation. After the two day orientation, each au pair went their separate way.

I stayed in Hangzhou. My host family lives in a beautiful northern section of Hangzhou, surrounded by mountains. My host family welcomed me and has done everything in their power to make me feel happy and accepted. In the evenings, I help my host child with her English homework, work on art projects, and teach her English by using an interactive method I created on my computer. While my host child is in school, I am free to do as I please.

China has such a vast culture that spans over hundreds of years, meaning there is always something to see or learn. On the down side however, during the day it is often difficult to meet up with other au pairs, so touring alone is common. Coming to a foreign country which does not speak your native language can be very challenging and lonely, but can be time for growth and learning. I don't think anyone can honestly say that living abroad is always fantastic, but with an open mind, any struggle can be looked at as a learning opportunity or an adventure.

My host family has taken me out on the weekends, to show me fascinating places in Hangzhou. They have been patient and tried their best to meet in the middle, when it comes to the difficult language barrier. I feel so blessed to be in a host family that loves each other, wants the best for me, and respects me.

Lopair has a great and reliable support system, as well as providing lots of resources to their au pairs and host families. I recently met a girl who came to China through a different agency I had considered using this agency but when their credentials didn’t check out, I decided against it. The girl I met was treated like a servant and was forced to give English lessons to large groups of people. Her host family would then make people pay for the lessons, keeping the money and not giving any to the girl. The host family was making money off her back. The girl left the family and dropped the host organization. She was taken in by Lopair, treated like family, and now has a new host family---set up by LoPair. I think Lopair has done a great job at giving their families and au pairs a good experience and providing what they need.
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Family Outing

Saturday morning dawned. After breakfast and a tearful homework session (handwriting sheets are not Josie's favorite thing). My family took me to a historic temple in Hangzhou. Entering the courtyard of the temple, we were handed 3 sticks of incense each. A large flame was placed in the center of the yard and next to it was a sand pit in which to place the sticks. Not sure on Buddhist protocol, I watched my mom, a is practicing Buddhist. She lit the three sticks, placed them above her head and bowed three times, in the direction of the first temple door. Then placed the sticks in the sand pit.

A temple is not just one building. A temple is made up of closed off grounds, with a number of buildings dedicated to specific Buddhist icons.

The temple was awesome. I was shocked and slightly mesmerized by how massive all the icons were. We went from building to building and my mom and little sister did a lot or bowing, while I awkwardly embraced the beauty of the icons.

Lunch time rolled around. Within the temple enclosure was a small restaurant. Since coming to China, I've eaten a lot of noodles because they're vegetarian and I'm vegan. At the restaurant, we were served a steaming bowl of noodles. These were no ordinary noodles, they were accompanied by fresh cut vegetables, mushrooms, beans from the ginkgo tree (only eat 5 ginkgo beans or bad things will happen) and served in a searing savory broth. I had reached noodle nirvana.

After lunch we went into what I guess would be a buddhist gift shop. Mom had me trying on these bracelets made of seeds from the Buddha tree. They were not CHEAP…so once again, the only frugal person in the bunch, I was being pretty passive, not really committing to anything that was put up my wrists. Finally my mom picked out two and the lady from behind the counter put them on me. (Internal thoughts: wow, these are beautiful! I love them...oh mercy...look at the price).

"You love. I buy." My mom placed a wad of cash on the counter and we walked out of the gift shop. With the sound of the wind blowing through the trees and classical Chinese music playing, I was getting my zen on.

An overwhelming sense of eat.pray.love-ish attitude was filling my soul. We made our way out of the temple and to the car. Feeling so wonderful, I decided to see if I could remember the name for tree in Chinese. Pointing to a tree I bluntly asked if we could get take-out food. My mom burst out laughing and corrected me.

Once in the car, my family decided to take me to some historic streets in Hangzhou.
I have never seen so many asians jammed into one place. Everywhere the eye could see, something fascinating was going on. Children were peeing in the street, awful smelling dumplings (made with fermented beancurd) were sizzling and steaming on a grill, vendors were yelling, ancient medicine shops were brimming with hopeful customers, odd meat products were being carried around on sticks and consumed.

"What do you love? I buy," said my mom. My mom kept trying to buy me random things that I knew wouldn't fit in my suitcase when I decided to go home.
"I help you find thing to love," continued my mom. Feeling bad, I let her buy me a little hedgehog ornament. I plan on taking it home and giving it to my older sister, Sarah, who has an odd love for the prickly rodents. As we headed home, I felt so happy to be in China with a family that wanted me to be excited about a new culture and was willing to give me such wonderful experiences.

I am currently in Beijing. This is definitely a good program if you want to be an au pair in China. A few things to keep in mind:

1. The families pay LoPair a lot of money, so they expect a lot from you. Follow their house rules and do your best to meet their expectations, but don't be afraid to speak up if they ask too much of you. You want to get something out of the program just as much as they do.

2.If they can afford an au pair the families are usually very rich, so you might get to go on expensive trips and stay in fancy hotels. Enjoy it and don't feel bad about it, they really do have a lot of money.

3. Learn Chinese. Even if the family speaks English or your native language it will be a huge advantage in your everyday life. Being able to have conversations with the kid's grandparents is great, too.

4. The au pair program is still relatively new in China and many Chinese families host au pairs for the first time, so your might run into some issues with the family. Don't be afraid to switch families if nothing works out. I switched families after a month and I'm much happier now.

5. Chinese children can be incredibly spoiled. In my first family, a temper tantrum would result in the child getting a new toy. Go along with it, you're not there to change them. When you get tired of it just ignore the child until he or she calms down.

LoPair's support is great, the Chinese classes are helpful and you will make many new friends. Just be sure you are ready to spend lots of time with young children and aren't afraid to try new things.

Living in a family or community without any direct communication between the people was the biggest challenge in my gap year in China. I had to get used to the fact that my hostfamily didn't tell me anything. 'We are going on vacation.' 'When?' 'NOW! Pack your bag, we are leaving in 5 minutes.' Yes, Chinese people are not talking and they are very, very spontaneous. One time my host brother woke me up at 6 o'clock in the morning to tell me that we are going on vacation. There even wasn't enough time for me to take a shower. Of course they planned the trip a few days before, but it wasn't necessary for them to tell me, not even the evening before, so I could have got up earlier. But however, after a while you get used to it. They don't want to be mean, that's just their way of life, their way of behavior. It was one of my biggest challenges in China, because they always seemed so inflexible even when they were spontaneous, but it made me a lot more open-minded to an other way of life. Yes, I do a lot of things different at home, but that doesn't mean my way is the right one. Trying to live different for a certain amount of time is the challenge of a gap year and now, after living for six months in China, I can say that this challenge and new thinking made me a better person.

I lived 6 Months in a Chinese Family. They have two Children and live in a cool place called Ningbo. I was hired as an Au Pair, which was quite a lot of fun and a cool experience. Most Host Family was awesome. Before i went to China we had several Skype talks to make sure that we are a good match, LoPair helped a lot to find a good Host Family and in the End they found the perfect one for me.
Under the week I mostly had to take care of the little daughter. She is 8 years old and a really lovely kid. In the morning we only did study related things, which means one Chapter in her English book, Math, Chinese writing (my host sister insisted that I always have to write the characters too, so it was a challenge for both of us) and often we also did some homework for her Pinyin class. Than we had lunch together, which was prepared by our amazing ayí who cooks very well. After lunch we always had time to do some fun stuff outside. On the weekend we always had some cool adventures, my host parents always planed some interesting things. They are very outgoing people, which I liked a lot. I have really seen a lot of China. My host family showed me many places. I have never imagined that I will see so much of China in this time. A big thanks to my host family for this! I think we saw almost all the interesting things around Ningbo and we had two big trips. In January we went to Sanya, which was absolutely amazing and over the Spring Festival we went to Beijing, which was really cold but still an amazing place to visit. We also went to Hangzhou and Taizhou. My Host grandparents live in Beilun, and I stayed with my host sisters their for a few days. It was a very interesting experience to see the „older“ Chinese way of living.
I think the sentence that helped me the most to life in a Chinese family is „ just flow with it“. Don´t overthink things. Be prepared to be spontaneous and to meet a lot of different people who will not understand you and you will not understand them either. But it doesn’t matter. Appreciate the difficult communication; it can be a lot of fun!
And most important! Be patient and Relax. It can’t be always sunny and smiley. Sometimes you have a bad day or your host parents or your host siblings. It´s normal. And it is normal if some days you don’t really have something to talk about. Don’t stress yourself about this. It happens. You can’t talk all the time. If you think about your own family, sometimes you have quiet dinners too. And the next day everything is all right again. If you worry too much you just see things that are not there, or if something really bothers you just ask if everything is all right. Only talking people can be helped.