My Year Away

At the beginning I was just like the others. I was afraid and lonely and I needed someone to tell me that it was ok, that I was ok. When I remember this i can understand why some people continue to attend, why they make the trek to the small Swiss town of Nyon every week for the meetings. For me that feeling went away once I made a group of friends who cared about me. I wasn’t lonely anymore. But some people never get there, so they continue to go, looking for affection and reassurance. Because It’s not easy being an au pair, sometimes it’s really really hard.
The first time I left home I was 18. Fresh from high school and ready to see more of the world than my small Canadian city, I took a job in Geneva, Switzerland. I arrived with no friends, no family and no idea what I was getting myself into. My host family suggested I check out a local group called Link that brought au pairs together from around the community. They hosted weekly meetings where we could talk about our families, jobs, or get advice and consolation when things weren’t going well. I thought it was a brilliant idea. So I went.
Stepping into that church basement was like being taken back in time to junior high. We were shepherded through name activities, songs and presentations. The Link group was run by an American couple who had fallen in love with Switzerland. I didn’t enjoy the meetings much but the energy and love Paul and Becky put into them was contagious.
For me, the real pull of the group were the trips they took. In December I piled onto a bus with 50 other girls and headed to Zurich. The Christmas market was the main attraction for the weekend and it did not disappoint. Tipsy from the mulled wine, we strolled by stalls filled with toys, decorations and lots and lots of food. The train station where the market was held was located by the historic old city, and no more than a ten minute walk from Lake Zurich. We spent only two days in the city but we filled them both, exploring the cobbled streets, dipping candles by the lake and enjoying the holiday spirit of the market. My memories from this trip are warm and every Christmas from now on I will be reminded of the group that took me in and got me on my feet during my first months in Switzerland.