This is my dream. I am in my graduating year of high school, and I am planning to go to Finland to be an Au Pair.
I would love to hear stories of Au Pairs, experience with reputable Au Pair sites, Finland adventures in general, and any facts that you deem important. How do you choose a good host family? How many hours will I work? How much money will I make? Do I get days off? Is there any customs that are substantially different from that of Canada (I live in British Columbia)?

I am excited to care for children in a different country. Any and all advice you can give me is much appreciated and deeply considered.

Thanks in advance,

Kathryn (helloFATE)

My first trip over seas was to work as a au pair in Switzerland. It was fantastic and I'm still in touch with the family. I was a bit older than you (27) so my experience was probably a bit different but I'm sure you'll love it to.

Every family is different but here's what my situation was like:

- I had a basement room with a private bath (kids used it when in the play room downstairs but not much).
- I was paid 750 CHF/month + room and board + 1/2 of my insurance.
- I worked about 25-30 hours/week.
- I was given a list of chores to choose from which would be mine while I was there (I chose ironing, sweeping the floors and cooking)
- I cooked lunch and dinner almost every day (kids came home for lunch) and did the groceries 2-3 times/week.
- I took care of 3 boys (8 years, 6 years and 8 months) but spent most of my time with the baby.
- When the family went on vacation I could go with them or have the time as either paid or unpaid time off. If I went with they'd cover all/part of my expenses depending on where we were going.
- They paid for a basic service cell phone (and I covered any addition costs).
- They paid for language classes
- They paid for 1/2 of my demi-tarif card

Choosing a family is the hardest part. I was offered 3 jobs. 1 in Barcelona, 1 in semi-rural Germany and the one in Geneve. I passed on the one in Barcelona when the dad asked how I felt about "giving up my freedom for a year" - um, yeah, I don't think so. I passed on Germany, even though it seemed like it would be a great family, because of the location. I'm a city girl and being that far away from a large city would have driven me nuts.

When making contact with your family, exchange emails and pics, and talk on the phone at least a couple times - to more than one family member if possible. Find out about the rules for the kids that you'll be expected to enforce. Ask what a typical daily and weekly schedule will be like. Ask about what chores you'll be required to do and how often. Ask how they handle holidays (whether you go with or not). Ask what your room/bathroom situation will be like. Ask if they require babysitting and how often (mine asked me to be available 1-2 nights/week but rarely used them. Ask if they've had au pairs in the past and see if you can talk to them. See what kinds of play groups the kids belong to or if the family has connection to people your age so you can meet people. Find out about the public transport in/around your area (you may not want to be stuck somewhere where the bus/train only comes every 4 hours).

That's it off the top of my head. Hope this helps and if you have any questions let me know or if I think of anything else I'll post back.

Wow, thank you so much! This is a lot of helpful information.
I did have another question that came to mind... did you use a website to help you with your search? If so, which one, because there are so many!! It's hard to know which ones are 'safe'.

Thanks again for your awesome response!

Yes, I used a website but I have no idea which one - it was over 6 years ago. I'd suggest registering with a few different ones (none that charge you) and then seeing what kind of family contacts you get that way.

Good luck!

i am currently an aupair in switzerland...

i used...

http://www.aupair-world.net/?ggl=de
you can register for free.
http://www.aupair-world.net/index.php/visa/finland/
this link has specfic requirements for finland.

the previous poster has some very good questions that you should ask.

Thank you so much! I was contemplating over websites, and this looks like a good one. The page on Finland was especially helpful!

Also, any help on Personal Identity Numbers in Finland? I plan to stay over 6 months. And I am also subject to taxation. Any personal experince with that?

Thanks in advance.

I have a good friend who is finishing here au pair time in Finland.

Here is the great deal that she gets from her family:
A private furnished studio apartment a few blocks from her family's home.
A Helsinki transit card.
Free trips to Cyprus and Austria.
80 Euros every 2 weeks.
All the groceries she needed to live from.

Here is what she does:
Take care of the toddler: talk to him in English and take him to the park to play for several hours each day. Even in the midst of winter.
Cook a few meals here and there, possibly do some ironing and watch the baby.
=25-30 Hours a week

Not bad? Ey?

Normally you don't worry about taxes as you wont be saving any money really. I don't know about the Personal Identity Number, I am sure the Finns will help you once you find a family. Do get your visa before heading over. Even if you have to switch families once you are there because the first one turns out to be evil.

Have fun in the beautiful Finlandia.

I just joined BootsNAll and saw your post.

You should check out www.finlandforum.org - it is the site for foreigners in Finland and people thinking of moving. Sometimes the opinions can seem a bit negative - but that is just people being honest when some posters seem overconfident about finding work in Finland.

I have lived here for 6 years and really love it. About customs in Finland:

-From BC you probably won't be shocked by the climate
-Finnish cuisine is not that different but xmas food and the pizza and makkara (sausage) take some getting used to - but you will learn to love them!
-Finns are quite shy-seeming, opposite to Yanks in that respect, can seem very quiet, Finns avoid small talk and talking to strangers, and the long silences take getting used to
-Biggest shock custom is probably sauna-related nudity. Sauna is single-sex but still the first time is a shock when you end up naked with your father-in-law, boss, football team, band, grandfather etc etc - or even your whole company

Finding work in Finland is difficult, so I would really make sure that you get into a good family or at least have enough cash to fly home because it can happen that you can't find a job there.

Also get some information from different other sites like Finland Forum (see above) or the Finland Community http://www.finlandlive.info . There are quite many people who have experience with this country.