Au pair Brooke, tells us about her time as an au pair in La Bella Italia!
1 Why did you choose to go to Italy?
I actually originally never thought I would end up in Europe.
I had many offers from Germany, France etc and then a few from Italy. The
first person who contacted me was a lady from Italy and after talking with a
few other families it seemed she had the best "deal" and so i
thought... why not!
How long did you go for?
I went for 6.5 months- from early April 2015 to end
of October 2015
Did you meet other au pairs when you were there?
In the city I lived in in Italy (Torino), there were so many
Au Pairs! I met so many wonderful Au Pairs who I still keep in contact with.
Torino is known for its great Au pair base.
What did you find the most different about Italy compared to
Australia?
I think the culture in general was very different to
Australia. Everyone wanted to feed you with amazing food and wanted you to love
Italy as much as they do. I also think that the mentality of Italian women was
very different. They were very much traditional in the sense that they would be
the housewife and their husband would work long hours in order to provide for
their families. Everything also had to be perfect. Every household I visited,
there was a specific way things were to be done- even in just setting the
table. They fussed over little things that Australians would not even think
twice about.
What did you enjoy most about Italy?
The FOOD of course! I ate some of the best food in the
world. It was definitely worth the few extra kilograms. Italy's
architecture was absolutely incredible as well. Everywhere was beautiful, even
if it was a little run down.
What advice would you give to other au pairs thinking of going to
Italy?
My advice- don't think that every day will be amazing.
Sometimes it will be really hard, but its your friends you make that make it
easier. Try your best to find other Au Pairs who you can relate to and even
ones who you can travel with. Its more fun with friends!
Brooke Woolley is 19 years old, from Brisbane Australia and spent 6months as a Kangaroo Au Pair in Italy.
For other related stories see the following:
au pair programme Italy
5 reasons to become an au pair in Italy
Irish au pair Siobhan's account of being a summer au pair in Spain
Spanish au pair Elena's video about being an au pair in Ireland
