The Preparations Part 2
Finally, we had to specify the maximum number of children we were prepared to look after. Three seemed just right to me, I was used to that much from my siblings, and four would certainly take a lot of nerve. When it came to the age range, I opted for older than five, as you could at least talk reasonably with older people. Before we went home, Anna-Lena showed us some personal photos of her unforgettable time. It was reassuring not only to hear from advertising films and websites how many wonderful things were in store for us, but also to have this confirmed by real nannies.
Further spurred on by wonderful promises, I immediately set about perfecting my application again to make up for my blunder at the interview. As it certainly didn’t look bad to have a personal reference written by a teacher, I asked my history teacher. He was one of the few people who didn’t give me the feeling that I was a lost cause, and he actually agreed, albeit only on the condition that I had to translate it into English myself, as his language skills weren’t good enough.
Now there was only one major obstacle to overcome: the driver’s license. In order to get it as quickly as possible, I threw myself into the theory and driving lessons despite the stress of the exams, spurred on by the prospect of a year that would compensate me for all this. I even got a second childcare reference from a neighbor, even though I had only looked after the children there for a few evenings. And with that, the application was finally more than finished. By now it was the beginning of February. Satisfied, I leafed through everything again, three references, the elaborate collage, the letter – everything was just as it should be. Nevertheless, to get everything, but really everything, right, I decided to send all the documents to Anna-Lena first, who offered to check them thoroughly.
And so began the first of the many disasters that were to follow. The application never arrived. The post office had obviously chosen the exact time for delivery that Anna-Lena had also used to move house. I could already see my big dream shattering and feared the worst. Anna-Lena’s new tenants had simply thrown the documents away. They had disappeared in the chaos at the post office. Someone had stolen them to become a nanny themselves! This was followed by a number of medium-grade nervous breakdowns on my part and several phone calls to the post office, which the poor employees would probably remember for a long time. To my immense relief, however, the calls were crowned with success and the documents found their way back into my letterbox. We could move on.
Once my nerves were more or less calmed, I paid 35 euros for a preparatory meeting in Cologne. The group was again relatively small, apart from me there were only ten other girls and one leader, the very same student who had interviewed me in January and had been so impressed by my English.
She also spoke almost exclusively in English to demonstrate enthusiastically how her language skills had improved from “a few words”. Unfortunately, most of the group was still at the level of a few words and hardly understood anything. When it came to reading out some English sentences themselves, several of them failed impressively at this simple task. I slowly began to understand why my rudimentary knowledge of this foreign language had sparked such enthusiasm. However, the motivated leader Kerstin didn’t mind but used the meeting to rave about her fantastic year with a slightly transfigured look. Sometimes she sank into reverent silence in the middle of speaking and stared dreamily into the air, leaving it to our imagination to picture what wonderful things were passing before her inner eye.
You could really tell how envious she was of us that we still had all this ahead of us. “The only people who didn’t like the year so much were those who didn’t make much of it and didn’t travel.” So they were clearly to blame! Something like that would definitely not happen to me, I wanted to experience and travel as much as possible! After she finished going into raptures about her nanny time, the obligatory introductory games were of course on the timetable, and we were asked to explain why we wanted to become au pairs. One girl actually said: “Oh, I’m such a big Sex and the City fan, and I want to live like the girls in New York!” This statement was met with a rather pained smile from Kerstin.
Next, we were given a handbook, which we worked through together. Among other things, we were split into two groups and had to simulate telephone conversations, with one group asking questions, i.e. representing the host parents, and the other answering them. Of course, everyone tried to present themselves as well as possible, which made the whole thing a little protracted. Apart from a few important vocabulary words, we didn’t learn that much new. Except perhaps that it was important to speak politely with the host family, but you could have guessed that.
Kerstin showed almost admirable perseverance and used every free moment to continue singing the praises of America and being a nanny: “Americans are so nice, you get compliments from complete strangers, American supermarkets are paradise on earth, and driving a car is child’s play.“ But when she went on to claim that there was no racism in America, I wasn’t quite sure how much credence to give her words. When we escaped her adulation after eight hours and were allowed to go home, I think we were all quite relieved.
A few days later, Anna-Lena finally received my application – after all, it had worked on the second attempt, and she called me enthusiastically. “Congratulations on the great application, it is one of the best I’ve ever seen! As soon as I have a copy of your driver’s license, the whole thing will go to Berlin and then the staff can start looking for a host family for you. With this foundation, it’s certain to be a really, really great one.” Of course, I was happy to hear that, so all the work had paid off after all.
It was the beginning of March when I proudly held my driver’s license in my hands and was able to submit a copy. Now all the hurdles had been overcome, and the application was on its way to the capital. Or so I thought.
But a few weeks later, the phone rang, and I had the pleasure of talking to the agency people from Berlin for the first time. An icy female voice started speaking: “So, we finally have your application and I have to ask why you ticked no when asked if you would go to a family from another ‘race’.” I was so perplexed that I didn’t even know what to answer, after all, we had been assured at the preparatory meeting that we could tick whatever we wanted and wouldn’t have to justify it. Because I couldn’t think of anything better in a hurry, I simply came up with the same argument as the supervisor, who had put a no everywhere. After all, she had to know, as she said she had had no problems and had a great family. “I just didn’t want too much of a change,” I stammered, although the opposite was actually the case. I wanted nothing more than a complete turnaround in my life.
I was just about to continue with the explanation but was interrupted by a contemptuous snort. “You do realize that you’re going to America and that means a 180-degree change! If you have an attitude like that, you should think carefully about whether the program is really right for you!” It almost sounded as if I was about to be blacklisted as an unmatchable nanny. A little shocked, I mumbled a reply into the receiver. Of course, I knew that the year would mean a complete change and I would be more than ready for a change, I would even want one. Yes, I would think that the program was right for me.
However, the woman seemed to see it quite differently and now seriously expressed her doubts about my suitability for being a nanny. It was slowly becoming too much for me, and I cautiously dared to mention the preparatory meeting, where we had been assured that we could tick whatever we wanted for the year without any consequences. I also reiterated my willingness to adapt to different circumstances. The only venomous response was that such a “no” would be very noticeable and would considerably prolong my matching process, as they had many families from other cultures in their program.
Nice to hear that now, but shouldn’t such information have been included in the preparatory meeting? So I tried to give in, saying that I didn’t want a delay under any circumstances and that they should tick yes for my sake. I then tried desperately to convince the woman that I was not a racist by explaining my reasons. I just wanted to get to know a typical American family during my year in the USA. I probably didn’t sound very convincing and was told that America was a “melting pot”, that most families had their origins in other countries, and that there were no typical families! Her voice was now well below freezing. It sounded to her like I was wishing for a German family. Well, certainly not that, I already had one!
But all attempts to explain myself failed, and the conversation ended extremely unsatisfactorily. I stared at the phone in uncertainty, almost convinced myself that I had racist views and had personally insulted the woman. As a precaution, I called Anna-Lena again and asked her to reassure the agency that I was not a racist and was ready for change. She kindly picked up the phone promptly, explained the situation, and referred to my detailed application. That smoothed things over a little, but I couldn’t help but wonder if the No Cross girl had received the same call. But maybe I had just been unlucky enough to get in touch with the wrong person.
In the days that followed, I found out that both the friend who had given me the idea of becoming a nanny in the first place and the friend who had been at the preparatory meeting with me had changed their plans. The former decided at short notice not to go after all, as the English spoken in the USA was different to what you learn at university and so the year would be irrelevant to her studies and a waste of time. I saw it a little differently, as I couldn’t imagine anything more useful than a year in which you could experience so many new things, travel, and get to know another country. But her decision was made. The second friend, on the other hand, unexpectedly got an apprenticeship at the hospital.
That left only me, and I spent the next few weeks checking my online account every few minutes full of hope, only to read the sobering words “No current match at this time” every time. My hope dwindled with each passing day, perhaps I really had been classified as unemployable.
As I started to look for university places, I finally became aware of an email from AP that had been lying dormant in my inbox. I first had to fill in a few things and the following morning, at the end of April, I received my long-awaited first match.