Jenny Berryman Horne

The Scavenger Hunt was a huge success with over 150 au pairs this year!  This video is fun to watch and so many of you are in it!

It is time for the Annual Cultural Care Au Pair Scavenger Hunt on Saturday, May 8, 2010!!!

The Scavenger Hunt starts at North Point Park outside the EF Center at 12 noon.  You get together in teams of 6 and get a game packet.  (If you don’t have a team, no worries - we’ll introduce you to other au pairs and help you assemble a team when you get there.)  Teams have 3 hours to answer questions and find various items throughout downtown Boston.  At 3:00 pm, there will be a prize ceremony for the top teams. 

Register yourself and your friends by Wednesday, May 5th: https://culturalcare.wufoo.com/forms/boston-scavenger-hunt-2010/

Prizes will be gift cards to venues like Cheesecake Factory, California Pizza Kitchen, Starbucks, Loews Movies, Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, iTunes, Dicks Sporting Goods, Phone Cards, etc.  Teams who turn booklets in on time with the most items found will win! 

GRAND PRIZE will be 2 TICKETS for each team member to a RED SOX GAME at FENWAY PARK!

Awesome, I want my team to win!!  How can I get EXTRA POINTS?  Donate at least $1 per team member to Cultural Care’s Kids First charity.  You get extra points for each au pair friend you bring from an agency besides Cultural Care.  And, of course, wear a Cultural Care t-shirt for extra points, too!

Stratgizing in the Sun…                                                             

Top 10 Reasons the Scavenger Hunt will be the Most Fantabulous Event this Year*          

3. You will discover many new areas of this beautiful city together.

2. Just imagine Paul Revere in a Cultural Care t-shirt

1. Your participation will make it fantabulous!

Hey, did you notice that it said Top 10 Reasons, but then there were only 3 reasons listed?  Good eye!  YOUR team is even more likely to win!

Okay, so WHO is invited?

• YOU!  All au pairs in the Greater Boston area are invited.  (Please plan to attend as this event counts  as your mandatory monthly meeting.  If you’re unable to attend, talk to your LCC about it.)
• ANY OF YOUR FRIENDS.  Extra points for au pair friends from other agencies.
• Cultural Care LCCs and Staff members.  Come meet friendly staff members who work in the office and other LCCs.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Many families and au pairs have expressed that they would have liked to know more about how to file taxes related to the au pair year.  We’re pleased to announce that we have recently created a very helpful Tax Resource Guide for families and au pairs.  This guide is now available online in your host family or au pair accounts.  It will come up if you type “taxes” into the InfoSource search box.

I encourage you to read this document and contact me with any questions.  (Please understand that I will redirect you to your tax professional or accountant for specific tax questions that go beyond the scope of this document.)

I hope you will find this guide to be helpful.

Au Pair of the Year Nominee

Congratulations, Carina!!  We’re very proud of you and all that you do.

Medfield, MA-FEBRUARY 12, 2010-Caring, dependable childcare is hard to find­­­­–and exceptional childcare even more rare. But the Carpenter-Regan recently struck gold when they welcomed German au pair Carina Kinzelmann into their home. Kinzelmann provides live-in childcare for the Carpenter-Regan’s four children, and her outstanding dedication and enthusiasm in caring for them led the Carpenter-Regan’s to nominate Kinzelmann for “Au Pair of the Year.” Sponsored by the International Au Pair Association, the Au Pair of the Year Award recognizes au pairs around the world who are supportive, responsible and exceptional providers of childcare to their host family.  

Carina is living with the Carpenter-Regan family in Medfield as part of the Cultural Care Au Pair cultural exchange and childcare program. She cares for the family’s host children, ages 10, 9, 8, and 7, in exchange for the opportunity to live in the United States and become part of a real American family. This year, Cultural Care received dozens of nominations for the International Au Pair of the Year award. “Cultural Care has a strong record with this prestigious award, with au pairs from our program winning in both 2008 and 2009″, says Susan Robinson, Vice President of Communications for the organization. “We were overwhelmed with the number of nominations we received this year and wanted to do something to recognize more of these exceptional young women.”

“She quickly helped the children establish a comfortable routine to ensure that homework was tackled immediately after school and that there was plenty of time to play outdoors. She immersed herself in the children’s interests and began organizing soccer games and board game play-offs in the afternoons. When winter arrived, she led friendly snow ball battles and helped build snow forts. She developed individual relationships with each of the children and became an important part of their day - every day. Not too mention that she became exceptionally skilled at tracking down and matching four kids’ worth of missing socks,” says host mother, Jane Carpenter.  Carpenter continues, “Carina handled it all with a positive, upbeat attitude. From the very beginning, she showed great dedication to our family and we are immensely grateful to have her as our au pair.”

“Carina has gone above and beyond to create a healthy and enriching environment for her host children, while also challenging herself to learn a new language and culture. She is a great role model for her host children and other young women and men in the state,” said Jenny Berryman Horne, local program director for Cultural Care Au Pair. “Carina’s commitment and dedication to her host family and community certainly make her the ‘Au Pair of the Year’ in Medfield!”

Cultural Care Au Pair is the leading provider of intercultural childcare and educational exchange. Since 1989, Cultural Care Au Pair has placed more than 75,000 au pairs in welcoming American homes. A division of EF Education and a U.S. Department of State regulated program, Cultural Care Au Pair is headquartered in Cambridge, MA, with an extensive network of recruitment, screening and orientation offices worldwide. For more information about hosting an au pair, visit www.culturalcare.com or call 800-333-6056.

Did you know that Boston’s Chinatown dates back to the 1870’s and is the third largest Chinatown in the US (after San Francisco and New York)?   Located in the heart of downtown, Boston’s bustling Chinatown attracts tourists, locals, and lots of Chinese-American suburbanites, especially in the weeks before and after Chinese New Year’s Day.  This year, the beginning of the Year of The Metal Tiger will be celebrated on Sunday, February 14th. 

With lots of drumming and small bangs from street firecrackers, Boston’s Chinatown celebrates the lunar new year with it’s annual Lion Dance Parade.   This year, it will take place on Sunday, February 21, from 10 am to 5 pm.  The dance troupe will visit local businesses and bring good luck and fortune to all. 

If you’re interested in participating in the parade and festival, start with the kick off at the Main Stage in Phillips Square (Harrison Ave @ Essex Street) at 10 am.  Note that this is NOT the meeting this month - it is just a fun alternative you can do with your friends! 

See the Calendar for this month’s meetings.

February 14th is Chinese New Year!  2010 is the year of the Tiger.

Here’s some craft ideas to do with your children for the Chinese New Year:

Chinese Paper Lanterns

A fun paper lantern craft for kids to decorate your home for Chinese New Year. Make many lanterns of different colors for decorations and hang them around your home.

What you’ll need:

• Construction paper
• Scissors
• Tape
• Stapler
• Ruler
• Pencil
• Glue, glitter, sequins, if desired to decorate your lantern

How to make it:

1. Use your ruler to measure and cut one inch off the short end of your paper. Set aside to use as the handle.
2. Fold your paper in half lengthwise.
3. Draw a line one inch from the end of the long edge of the paper opposite the folded edge. This will be the line where you stop cutting.
4. Measure and mark lines one inch apart starting at the folded edge and moving towards the “stop cutting” line. (see photo)
5. Cut on the marked lines up to the “stop cutting” line.
6. Unfold the paper.
7. Re-crease the paper in the opposite direction. This will hide any pencil marks.
8. Match the long edges together on the lantern and use tape to hold it in place.
9. Staple the handle to the top of the lantern. (see photo)
10. Make as many lanterns as you wish and display them around your home.
11. If you wish, add glue, glitter, sequins or other things to decorate your lanterns.

For more children’s Chinese new Year craft ideas, visit

http://crafts.kaboose.com/holidays/chinese-new-years/chinese-new-years-crafts.html

Amazing Day

 Amost 40 au pairs mounted bikes and took on the Beantown, aided by fearless guides at Urban AdvenTours who held such an organized ride that we weren’t even honked at as we tooled around the city streets of Boston on a Sunday afternoon.  After learning about bicycle safety and sports injury prevention, our intrepid au pairs were ready for anything and no one was injured.  It was a wonderful day!

http://www.urbanadventours.com/gallery.php?photoset=72157622302240933&Submit=View

Scroll through the pictures to find the ones you like and save them to Facebook.  There’s a great group shot near the end that’s close enough to see everyone’s faces.

As you know, we had a great event in November for the premier of New Moon.  It’s a great video and I was so happy to see so many of our group there and showing up in this video!  You long mahvelous, dahlings!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHn521_BO3o&feature=player_embedded

By the way, there will be an equally fabulous event in June for the release of Eclipse, the third installment in the Twilight saga.

Twilight Movie - Nov 22nd

The exclusive screening of New Moon for Cultural Care is only 39 days away!  The event will be on November 22 at 6pm at the AMC Framingham, next to the Natick Mall.  Yes, Cultural Care will fill the ENTIRE theatre for this!  Tickets will be $10.50 and Twilight t-shirts will be sold as a fundraiser for Kids First Charity.  Details coming soon.