To all my English readers, I'm finally back in English!
This is an interview that an ancient au pair made about my coming back in France. She asked me how it is to come back home after being away 1 year. Here’s my answer:
I would say that the hardest thing when you’re back home is… to put all your American life in a box of your mind! Called “MEMORIES”.
Forget the weekends with your international friends, forget your visits in American cities, forget the crazy prices when you go shopping… The agencies and all your friends talk to you a lot about your arrival in the USA. Saying it’s crazy. It is! But the leaving is tough too trust me!
The hard thing is that most of the times, you don’t really prepare your return. So when you’re back home, you’re maybe unemployed or waiting for your studies to start again… The time gets really long after being fast as an au pair.
My studies were finished so when I came back from the USA I was… unemployed! After being so active and always tired of working, being inactive was hard. I was feeling useless, the shock happened fast. And the money made me feel bad! Because even if it’s just pocket money, as an au pair I was making money! And I was spending it with friends to shops, pubs, trips… I felt “poor” after one month of doing nothing in France. So my first occupation was to find a job. I did after 3 months. I’m still working with kids now. In a school.
Another hard thing is that of course, without any job I was back at my parents. And even if I missed them a lot during my year, I was also glad to experience life without “mommy and daddy”. Almost by my own! Almost because I still had host parents shouting at me if I was too loud or if I wasn’t cleaning the table. But it’s another life anyway and I was going out every time I could. I had new friends during my year and I loved them so much I felt really good with them. I lived strong things with them: we left our families together, we talked how hard was the au pair job, had fun, made trips together…
So at home, all these wonderful friends are far away, I don’t see them anymore. And even if I find back all my old friends from before, my family, my room... I need to tell you something:
NOTHING IS THE SAME ONCE YOU ARE BACK.
Living one year in the USA changed me.
I feel good talking about trips and leaving far away from home. I feel bored to live in a small village after Boston, my host city for one year.
I feel comfortable with international people. I feel bored with people from my village without crazy stories to tell. I need more.
Ancient au pairs told me about this thing. Some of them are trying to find a job that makes them speak English again. I’m one of them. Some of them are coming back in the USA as au pairs again. I will never do it. I loved my friends there but I was just considered as a domestic in my host families, I hated my job. But some of the ancient au pairs are trying to go abroad again… to work and live an exciting life once again! And I’m one of them too! I want to move again to an English speaking country. And make the excitement last at least for a few months before settling down. And considering having a quiet life…
I think that the ancient au pairs are trying to find the excitement back. This fear about the unknown we had when we left our life as we knew it.
It’s not easy to be back at home after one year, it’s the end of a crazy busy time. But the positive thing is that we can prepare another international experience! Being an au pair is not that “risky” but it gives us the confidence to bigger projects. Like leaving by yourself to another country for one year or whatever! And do things hard to do without the experience gained with the au pair job.
Coming back home after being an au pair is not the end. It’s a re-birth!
(The interview on her blog: http://aupairing.weebly.com/back-home.html)
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