Au Pair River Cruise, Sunday 13 May 2012

The date for the annual au pair river cruise has been announced! The cruise has been tremendously popular in previous years, so make sure you book your place in good time!

Thames River Cruise

Sunday 13th May 2012

All day excursion from just £10 per person

Come and join 100’s of other BAPAA au pairs on a private boat trip to Greenwich. You will travel past famous bridges and historic buildings along the river from Central London, with many exciting views of Westminster including the Houses of Parliament and the London Eye, and then head downstream through the city to the Thames Barrier, Greenwich and back again. At Greenwich you will have time to have a look around – there are lively markets, historic buildings, the famous Royal Observatory and Meridian Line, the Maritime Museum and a beautiful park with wonderful views over London. Bring a picnic or buy lunch in Greenwich.

• 11am – boat leaves Festival Pier
• 1pm – boat arrives at Greenwich
• 4 pm – boat leaves Greenwich
• 5pm – boat arrives back at Festival Pier

The trip costs £10 per person or £12 for friends (non-BAPAA)

You must arrive by 10.45 am as the boat leaves promptly at 11am from Festival Pier, in front of The Royal Festival Hall on the South Bank. (Opposite side of the river to Embankment tube.)

Nearest tube station: Waterloo or Embankment. Nearest mainline train station: Waterloo.

If you wish to stay in London for the night of Saturday 12th May, hostel accommodation is available through International Students House, 229 Great Portland Street, London W1. (www.ish.org.uk) Telephone 020 7631 8310, quoting BAPAA.

Payment details: You can pay via PayPal – you do not need a Paypal account! Go to www.paypal.co.uk and make the payment to finance@bapaa.org.uk. You must include your FULL name, the name of your agency in the UK and your host family, plus the names of any friends going on the trip with you (stating BAPAA or non-BAPAA). You must print off the PayPal receipt or ticket and bring it with you on the day, as you will need to show it when you board the boat!

Remember to take your camera – Best photo will win a prize!!!

There will be prizes of shopping vouchers for the best 2 photos taken on this year’s Boat Trip – the theme is London 2012 Olympics – plus an additional prize of a Merlin Family Day Pass for the host family of the 1st prize winning au pair.

Entries are limited to 3 photos per person and are to be emailed to info@bapaa.org.uk and info@smartaupairs.com by 31st May 2012.

Smartaupairs will also select the best photo among all smartaupairs au pairs – and the winner will get a £20 Amazon voucher. BAPAA/Smartaupairs reserve the right to use any images from the boat trip for the purpose of future BAPAA promotions.

Tip: make sure you are in the photo (with your au pair friends perhaps) – this makes the photo much more interesting than just sending a photo of scenery alone.

Au Pair Life in UK

We asked our au pairs why they chose UK as their au pair destination and why they think it is a great place to be an au pair.

Here are a couple of responses & photos we have received:

“I think UK is a great au pair destination becuase it’s a really cosmopolitan city, so you get to know people from all different countries and cultures, and I think it’s a great thing to learn new things about other countries and know how other people live, different than yourself. Also it’s a great opportunity to improve your English. Even if you haven’t the time to follow classes, just talking with your family and meeting up with new friends, it’s a big help. The UK is also a relative big country, so you have the possibility to go visit lots of cities and see how big the differences are between them.” Isabelle, Netherlands

“I think UK is a great au pair destination because of it’s great history and the oppertunity you get there, of learning a valuable language. Other than that I can say, that beeing an aupair is hard work and, that children can be tough to handle. But it is all worth it when their faces light up because they want to tell you something and when they tell their teachers in school, that they miss you. It feels good to make a difference in a childs weekday and life ” Stine, Denmark

“To say a few words about being an Au Pair in England would be IMPOSSIBLE, because there is so so much to say… I’m From Denmark and I’ve now been in Surrey for 9 months.. Luckily there was a few families that were getting new Au Pairs in April, I didn’t think there would be and I had heard that it could take months to find a host family.. I found the perfect family with 4 children… :O yes I know, that’s a lot but they are all over 7 so no problem there Well The family knew another Au Pair in town and we started writing before I even got here.. //Well all in all I’m so happy I chose England, I love the language (the accents), the surroundings, the people and the books are SO cheap I’ll need another suitcase to take them home… Trine, Denmark

“I think UK is a great au pair destination because you can enjoy of nature because you can walk in a wonderful country, for example, in Birmingham, where I am right now, there are nice places to walk like Lickey Hills. There are a lot of historical and cultural places you can visit like museums, art galleries, historical houses, etc. and amazing villages like Stratford-upon-avon, Coventry, Derby, Worcester, etc. and big cities like London, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool. UK is the best country to learn a proper English and to know a different way to live, enlighs culture is so different of the res of Europe that I’m really enjoying to know it. Definitely there is not place like UK to be au pair.” Alejandra, Spain

Alejandra (right) from Spain

Nora from Germany with her Host Children

Carli (left) & Brenda(right) from Netherlands

Kent Au Pair Meeting

It is always nice to meet and catch up with local au pairs!

Our recent meeting was organized in Maidstone and we hope arrange another meeting very soon.

If you are already a smartaupair and would like to suggest ideas for the next meeting, please e-mail us at office@smartaupairs.com or get in touch with us on Facebook

Kent Au Pairs & Chloe from SmartaupairsAnne, Au Pair in Maidstone & Chloe from Smartaupairs

Anne, Au Pair in Maidstone & Chloe from Smartaupairs

Au Pair Get Together & Feedback

What a fantastic turn out! We would like to thank all our Smartaupairs who made the effort to join our get-together in London last Saturday.

Over 75 au pairs (of our autumn arrivals) came to the capital for our briefing and the language course presentation by Eurocentres.

In our presentation we  covered topics such as practical advice(e.g. registering with a GP and opening a bank account), entertaining children of different ages, making the best of one’s time in the UK (travelling, finding friends, finding a language school) homesickness (and how to overcome it) & communication and in particular how to maintain good communication with the host family. Au pairs also had the chance to socialize after the event – many  left with several new au pair friends!

We hope all the au pairs enjoyed the event as much as we did – it was great to meet everyone!

This is what our au pairs have thought of the event so far:

‘The place was perfect as it was so easy to get there from Victoria Station!! ‘ – smartaupair, Germany.

‘You were very kind and obviously open-minded’ – smartaupair, Germany.

‘One had really the feeling that if there are any problems one should not hesitate to contact you’ – smartaupair, Germany.

‘It was really nice to meet some people my age for a change!’ – smartaupair – Denmark.

‘I loved getting to know new au-pairs and what their experiences were like’ – smartaupair, Germany.

‘Your presentation was really helpful and I´d like the “English lesson” ‘ – smartaupair, Germany.

‘Going to the pub was also a great idea! A really fun way to meet each other!’ – smartaupair, The Netherlands.

‘You told us everything we need to know so I find it very useful! I loved it!’ – smartaupair, The Netherlands.

Au Pairs

Stephanie, Tuuli & Chloe from Smartaupairs

Eurocentres Presentation

Return to smartaupairs homepage: smartaupairs.com

International Friends Tours – September – December 2011

International friends offers a variety of tours in the UK and to nearby European destinations. Both day and weekend trips are available!

Attached you may find the tour guide for the September – December 2011 time.

Remember to quote the codes BAPAA5 and BAPAA10 when booking, to get the BAPAA discount of £5 off day trips and £10 off weekend tours respectively.

 

International Friends Tours

Return to Smartaupairs Homepage

Au Pair Australia

Our Australian au pair program is becoming ever more popular.  Please see some of our au pair’s in Australia talking about their experiences so far.  The Smart Au Pairs office in Sydney arranges a monthly surf camp for au pairs to meet up with each other and other travellers to learn a real ‘Aussie’ pastime! The girls are speaking directly from the surf camp in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

To find more information about the Australia programme we offer, please visit smartaupairs homepage or call 0800 917 8166.

Travel with International Friends

Make the best of your summer in the UK as an au pair!

International friends offer a great choice of day and weekend trips to varying locations in the UK and Europe.

Join one of the trips and as a BAPAA member you will receive £5-10 discount (upon quoting the discount code).

Please see the flyer below for more information:

International Friends June – September 2011

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To find more information about smartaupairs, please follow the link: smartaupairs

Already a smartaupair? Connect with us on Facebook (Remember to LIKE the page) and receive updates on further discounts and events!

Annual Au Pair River Cruise in London – 15th of May 2011

Every year the British Au pair Agencies Association (BAPAA) organizes a private River cruise along the Thames River for Au pairs to enjoy a great day out and have great views of the City of London, traveling past famous bridges and historic buildings.

Come and join hundreds of other BAPAA au pairs on the trip where you will not only have the opportunity to enjoy a great day out but will also meet other Au pairs who you could share your experience with.

The tour will commence in Central London, with many exciting views of Westminster including the Houses of Parliament and the London Eye and will head downstream through the city to the Thames barrier, Greenwich and back again. At Greenwich, the boat will stop for the Au pairs to have a look around at different stall markets, historic buildings, the famous Royal observatory and Meridian line, the Maritime Museum and a beautiful park with wonderful views of London.

Don’t miss your chance to hop on the boat with us – the cruise will take place on Sunday 15th May 2011 from 11am onwards and only costs £10 per person.*

Don’t forget to bring along your camera! The prize for the best photo of the year is an iPhone 4! Be original and creative and the phone will be yours!

Please read the following flyer for more information on how to book yourself a place:

 

BOAT_TRIP_FLYER_2011

More information about the organisation available via email on office@smartaupairs.com

*£12 for friends (non-BAPAA)

Excursions September – December

Please find below the brochure for the Autumn excursions arranged by the International Friends organization. Quote BAPAA10 for a £10 discount!

We would especially recommend the Edinburgh tour which two of the Smartaupairs team members attended in year 2009!

Leaflet

Useful Links for Au Pairs

Finding Friends

www.aupair2aupair.com

Au Pair networking page exclusive to au pairs placed by BAPAA member agencies

www.facebook.com

Use the search function to find au pair groups (for example: au pair UK/Au pair Surrey/Au Pair Kent/) Smartaupairs also has their own group – simply search the agency name!

www.aupairinuk.com

Au pair networking page for all au pairs placed in the UK.

Travelling

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/

Helpful information for travelling within London

http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/

Train timetables, easy search function

http://www.internationalfriends.co.uk/

Great tours all over the UK and also abroad – designed for all ages but popular amongst young adults. Affordable!

-          view our blog free time section for discounts!

http://www.ish.org.uk/

Looking for accommodation in London? International Students house provides centrally located, affordable and comfortable place to stay for your London visit.

Language Courses

http://www.englishuk.com/en

Find a local language school by using the quick course finder

http://www.eurocentres.com/en/language_courses/Part-time_Courses,c278.html

Language courses for London au pairs – view our blog for discounts: http://smartaupairs.wordpress.com/category/english-courses-for-au-pairs/