First Things First.

The original premise of my blog was to be an aid for those interested in au-pairing. However, owing to the lack of love for my last blog hosting site and a dreadful posting history, I've decided to begin again with a clean slate. My new, rather anachronistic slate is really more of a travelog/manifesto/record of my doings throughout my life idea. Not to worry! Au pair tips and tales will still heavily feature.

As a disclaimer, of which there will be many,  these are the lessons I've learned. Do with them what you will, but there will come a day when knowing someone else has been there and survived makes all the difference.

Moving right along.

Things you need to know about me:

1. I'm a new blogger. If you've anything to say about it, please comment. Tips, tricks, criticism, and hate mail are all equally welcome, so no worries there. My only stipulation is that an attempt is made at proper English. Along those lines, typos will be made in this blog. If you catch them, again, please comment, so I can fix them.

2. I am a citizen of the USA working for a host family in Potsdam, Germany. I was placed by mutual agreement through an au pair agency called AYUSA. (Why, yes! That was a shameless plug!) All of my knowledge of visas, contracts, rules and regulations regarding au-pairing, au pair agencies, and so on are specific to my situation. Feel free to contact me with any questions you have, but I won't know all the answers. When this is the case, a magical thing called the internet can provide you with information about the specific situation in which you're interested.

3. I've been au-pairing for eight months as of this publication. By now, I'm pretty well versed in what to expect. Most of what is on here is based on my personal experience, but I've a whole slew of au pair friends that have contributed as well.

4. I'm a wickedly awesome au pair, but I'm not perfect. I came into this more open-minded than most other au pairs I've chanced to meet. Because of this, my experience is something like 98 percent positive. The less expectations you have coming in, the easier adjusting will be. That's not to say you can't create some guidelines with your new host family before arrival, but we'll cover that later.

Things you need to know about this blog:

1. A lot of my beginning blogs are going to be retrospective because I'm starting over. This helps me avoid that pesky if-I-knew-then-what-I-know-now situation mostly. Until my blogs catch up to present time, they'll be predominantly written about long ago events.

2. You may have to dig for au pair advice and information once I get started. I have a lot to say, and I'll probably spin out a lot of entries in the beginning. Not all of it is specifically geared for au pairs. It's one part au pair info, one part letting my family and friends know what I'm up to, and one part how I lucked into a pretty fantastic life. Happy hunting!

3. I want to be of help to those interested in au-pairing and those who are currently au-pairing but also still need advice and support. Feel free to contact me with questions or concerns. 

4. I'll try to keep entries manageable, so you can read them without feeling like you're reading a novel.

On that note, this is all for today. 

Cheers and thanks for reading.