… I was an au pair! After finishing school I did not know what to do because I wanted to become a teacher so bad. But after the big changes in East Germany people just stopped having babies and there wouldn’t be anyone to teach once I get out of college. So my Dad came up with that idea of going to America and spend a year with a family overseas. I did not tell anyone except real close family members and friends that I applied because it seemed so unrealistic to me that I would be in the United States in summer 1992. But I was accepted from EF Au Pair Hamburg to join the program and so I found myself getting onto a TWA airplane on August 14, 1992.

As I arrived in Washington, DC, my new family waited for me to pick me up. I was there but my luggage was gone. I had to describe what my bags look like but in school we were never taught the name of colors like purple and gray… And of course, my luggage was gray and purple. I spent the first days without my own toothbrush. But I had my own bedroom, my own bathroom in that wonderful house in Oakton, Fairfax County in Northern Virginia. And the coolest thing was: I had my very own telephone. We never had a phone at home (can you imagine, I grew up without a phone??), so promptly my first four salaries were taken to pay off the phone bill…

I took care of Virginia, born May 9, 1982, Stephanie, born August 17, 1984 and Meredith, born November 3, 1991. Oopps, and of course, I took care of Muffin, the dog. The first dog, I got closed to. Unfortunately, my favorite dog in the world died this winter because she ate a toothpick. But I was so lucky with my host family! I got along great with the parents, Chip and Becky, and I had a wonderful time.

A lot of my friends switched families during their stay as an au pair but I am convinced both parties are guilty if it won’t work out. Such a job, even though I never considered it to be a "job", is all about compromising. I was also available on weekends but therefore I could see the German soccer team playing the Brazilian team in RFK stadium on a Wednesday. I cooked dinner from time to time when it was really busy at work for Chip and Becky, but I was in DC on Bill Clinton’s inauguration day in January 1993.

They treated me as a responsible adult and I really appreciated it. We are still in contact, as a matter of fact, I just spent my birthday in Hickory, North Carolina, where they now live happily ever after...

 
And here they are:

Ginny, Steph and Meredith and the very first picture of me in the United States in August 14, 1992 when I just arrived at Washington National Airport

And the girls now:

 
And hey, I also look different now!