My name is Dararat Rattanapoomee. It’s easy to call me Dara. I am an au pair in my second year with Go Au Pair agency. My first year I finished with a family in New York and moved in for my second year with a family in Towson Maryland. Now I am living with the Donald and Batho family taking care of three kids. They are two boys and one girl.
The first one is Nick is 18 years old. He is my navigator even though we have a GPS but he’s better. He knew every way to get to a direction around the area that we are living in. He’s also my weather report. The second is Emily. She teaching me how to bake cakes and cookies. She is the only one in the house who is the best baker. The youngest one’s name is Jacob is so sweet and funny. The kids are so nice to me.
Most of my responsibilities for them is driving to pick up and drop off for school and activities, cooking and playing with them around.
How My New Host Family Welcomed Me Into Their Home
On the first day that I had moved here, I was so excited, concerned, and nervous again because I knew that is was a big change for my life, like when I first moved from Thailand to the US. New people, new environment, new kids to take care of, new locations, etc. In the first moment that I arrived at the house, they made me impressed with my country flag. I was still uncomfortable with things around me but Jacob, one of my kids, came to sit next to me and hug me. In that moment, it really meant a lot to me.
After that, I had the motivation to continue with the family and be his au pair. Also, my host parents are so kind. All of the kids that I’m taking care of are adopted kids. When I first know that they are not his child, I just realized how big their heart that made me say “AHA” again.
How My Host Parents Support Me
Also, they are so caring and sharing. Especially, they understand and make their au pair feel comfortable to work with them. My host parents are always smart to solve problems and made me feel like part of the family. I love the way that they teach the kids to be respectful and polite to their au pair since everyone is reaching teenage years. Sometimes, working with teenagers was hard because of unreasonable things. But finally, when I gave a good reason and explained, they always said sorry and promised not going to do it again. Which make me so proud of them. I have been living with the family for almost one year. Every single day is I am growing step by step and learning how to handle a situation or problems. I am a lucky girl from the other side of the world that I have the opportunity to be an au pair and be able to do things that I want to do, and do it very well. Also, it has made me become more confident to live on my own, be more independent, be responsible and learn a lot about things that are done differently than in my country. Such as driving in Thailand, we drive in the left lane. But here, we drive in the right. It took me a while to become familiar with driving on the “right” side of the road, American food and culture, and speaking English, etc.
I would like to say thank you to my host family for having me to be a part of the family and chose me to be their au pair. I got a really good opportunity to live and learn with you.
