“Marina, make a list of things that I say and write about it one day.”
“You think you’re that quotable?”
“Obviously.”
***
When I moved to Australia to be an Au Pair, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I moved in with a family that I had never met before and who lived on the other side of the world. As much as the thought of it scared me, I was super excited.
At first, I saw this as an opportunity to live in Australia. I simply wanted to be here and figure out who I am and what I’m doing with my life (casual quarter-life crisis stuff). While I figured all of that out, Australia slowly became my new home.
Being a nanny for this incredible family opened my world to a whole new culture. Yeah, Australians and Americans have their similarities — but Aussies are so different and in the best possible way.
I thought a lot about how I was going to write this blog post.
Should I talk about my experience being a nanny?
Tell you if it’s worth it?
Tell you how I got this gig?
Share what I’ve learned?
Because a lot of you reached out to me wondering what it’s like and to put it simply—it’s just like being an active member of any other family. If you want to move abroad and are worried about the money thing, being an Au Pair is 100% worth it. You’ll have a place to live, food to eat and a host family who will support you (assuming you find a cool family to work with).
So what did I learn after 8 months of being an Au Pair?
I learned how valuable the iPad is in the art of negotiating, how to cook tacos, the beauty of innocence and that kids really do say the funniest things.
On that note, here’re a few quotes that I jotted down while being a nanny to the most legendary kids I have ever met. Flynn and Grace, this one is for you:
“I just had a glass of water and I feel so healthy.” – Flynn
“I thought Jesus was from Australia…” – Grace
“I don’t get why girls can’t be in the army.” – Grace (talking about Mulan)
“Is her mom strict?”
“No, she’s Filipino.” – Grace
“She wouldn’t be running that happily from that house if they just gave her tampons.” – Flynn (during our trick-or-treating adventure)
“Name 3 oceans.”
“Bondi, Great Barrier Reef, Pacific.” – Grace
“How was school today?”
“Mediocre.” – Flynn
“What do you want to be when you grow up?
“A Riverdale drug lord selling jingle jangle.” – Flynn
“Sit down, Grace. Be humble.” – Flynn
“One time, I asked for a frozen Coke at KFC and I didn’t know that they only had frozen Pepsi… I thought they were trying to poison me.” – Flynn
“Did you hear what happened at school today?”
“Yeah, something about Gus being taken away in an ambulance.”
“No, not that. Olivia isn’t vegetarian anymore…” – Grace
“Whatever you do, make sure split an Oreo open before you eat it. My friend found a spider in the cream once.” – Grace
“So you go after the older ladies, Flynn?” – Me
“Nah, the older ladies go after me.” – Flynn
“They only like you because you’re blonde and smart.” – Grace
“Like, Charlotte is annoying, but I’m still her friend.” – Grace
“What’s MySpace?” – Flynn
“How do you know this song?”
“Because it’s N’Sync.”
“What’s that?” – Grace
“My mom thinks I like cheesecake. But I like prawn chips better.” – Flynn’s friend, Brody
“Which country are the brands Adidas and Volkswagen from?”
“Asia.” – Flynn
Love it