An Interview with Au Pair Academy Director Marisa Lonic
This is it – arrival week! Your au pair will be arriving shortly to your home and you are excited! You know she is at Academy, but you have not heard from her yet. Is she here? Does she need anything? Why hasn’t she called? These are common questions-in fact; a host family emailed me these exact questions this week. To learn more, I went right to the source: Au Pair Academy Director Marisa Lonic for answers.
Erika: Thank you for taking some time to answer some common questions about Au Pair Academy, Marisa! Can you tell us more about arrival day?
Marisa: Thank for you asking about Academy. Upon arrival, all au pairs are told they should contact their natural families and their host families within the next day or so to let them know they have arrived safely.
Erika: That is great. Some of my host families have reported that they did not hear from their au pair when she arrived. Why might that be?
Marisa: We have computers set up on arrival day for AP’s to use, as well as after class on Tuesday and Wednesday; however, the days are still jam packed. On Mondays, many au pairs arrive in the evening. They’re hungry and exhausted, so after eating and settling into their room, many go right to sleep! On Tuesdays and Wednesdays, they are in class from 8:00am-5:00pm, with only a few short breaks. Afterwards, many head to New York City for the AuPairCare tour or to the Garden State Plaza shopping mall nearby. Needless to say, the downtime is minimal and after a long day of training, many au pairs just want to get out of the hotel and see some of the local sites during the short time they’re here.
Erika: They sure are busy, Marisa! Can you tell me more about how the au pairs call their natural and host families?
Marisa: Sure! AuPairCare does sell phone cards for any au pairs who are interested in buying them. They cost $20 and provide 60-80 minutes of talk time, given the au pair calls a landline. They can be used to call their countries, as well as anywhere in the USA and expire after 6 months. Many au pairs do purchase a phone card from AuPairCare and use this as a means to call their families; however, a handful of au pairs will also not leave a message if they don’t actually reach their host family! They’re shy, embarrassed or nervous to do so. We always promote doing this, and even practice it during training on Tuesday.
Erika: Wow, it sounds like you devote a lot of time to encouraging au pairs to call their host families.
Marisa: All in all, we do what we can to promote this connection when the au pairs arrive. We know it’s important for the host family to hear from the au pair, so we definitely let them know this is something they should do. We also keep reminding them throughout the week, in case they haven’t done so.
Erika: Is there anything else host families should know about connecting with their au pair after her arrival?
Marisa: Host families should know that they can also call their au pair at the hotel anytime throughout the week. They can ask for him/her by name and the hotel will connect the host family to the au pair’s room. If the au pair is not there, the host family can certainly leave a voicemail and the au pair can check it whenever he/she returns. Au pairs love hearing from their host families while at the Academy. Sometimes if they can’t get in touch with their host family or don’t hear back, they get really nervous and are worried their host family will not be at the airport or hotel to pick them up on departure day. If a host family has not heard from their au pair after her arrival at Academy, they should feel free to call him or her there.
Erika: Marisa, thank you for all the great information! I’m sure it will help arrival go more smoothly for our host families and au pairs.
Read more about Au Pairs of AuPairCare from http://www.flickr.com/people/23341217@N07/?search=aupaircare.
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