On foreign ground

Fayetteville grad immersed in Germany as au pair

Two German children and traveling have taken up the majority of Darsha Dodge’s time the past six months.

Dodge, 18, is an au pair - or nanny - in Berlin. She took German at Fayetteville High School for four years, graduating in May, and wanted to travel, so she said it seemed logical to her to find a way to get paid for it. She grew up with several cousins and nieces and nephews, and “being around kids is just natural,” Dodge said during a video interview via Skype Nov. 15.

“I think it’s a great way to take a gap year,” Dodge added.

Some students choose to take a year off and travel after graduating from high school and may have a lot of expenses, she said, and she believes getting the work experience, living in a foreign country and speaking the native language will help her when she attends the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville next year. After returning to the United States in mid-May, Dodge plans to study German and international relations with a goal of becoming a foreign service officer in an embassy.

To start the au pair process, Dodge searched online for agencies, which she saidis safer than contacting someone yourself to ask if you can move into their home. Ayusa International connected her with a family within a month, and she left for Berlin on May 17, the day after graduation. Ayusa is part of Intrax Cultural Exchange, an international exchange program with headquarters in San Francisco, and Intrax runs the AuPairCare Program, according to AuPairCare-Germany.de. For 30 hours of childcare per week, an au pair receives a monthly stipend, two days of paid vacation each month, insurance coverage and free room and board, according to the website. The maximum stay on an au pair visa is 12 months.

Along with wanting to take a gap year, Dodge said she chose to do this now because there is “a short window” to be an au pair. An au pair in Germany has to be between ages 18 and 26, she said.

‘PART OF THE FAMILY’

Dodge is an au pair for a single mother and her two children, Maxim, 8, and Lucia, 7.

She lives with them and has her own room in their apartment. The children’s father lives about an hour away and has the kids two days a week. The children speak very good English and have had au pairs from English-speaking countries for about four years, Dodge said. She speaks English with them and reads them English books. She added that they know many words, but it is her job to teach grammar and how to form sentences.

A typical day starts when Dodge wakes up a little before 7 a.m., and they all have breakfast together. The children’s school is about a five-minute walk away, so she walks them to school. She is then free most days until about 2:30 p.m. Depending on the day, she will then take them to after-school sports, music lessons, swimming lessons, the library or the playground.

She noted that they usually walk everywhere, because most things are a 35-minute walk or less. To get around in Fayetteville, she drove and “couldn’t imagine walking to school.” She added that Germans walk a lot, and most people bike too. In her free time, she takes the train or bus since it is easier when she wants to go somewhere by herself.

Lucia and Maxim are opposites in personalities, and she said she has to balance what they’re doing to fit both of them.

“Lucia is always full of energy and just curious about everything. She has to have something to do with her body, otherwise she’ll just explode,” Dodge said.

“Maxim is very reserved and quiet, and he daydreams a lot.”

She spends so much time with the kids, “you really do become a part of the family,” she said.

LANGUAGE, CULTURE

In her off time, Dodge has been able to travel and spend time with other au pairs in Berlin. All the agency au pairs are notified when another au pair starts, so they get together to go to parties, hang out at each other’s apartments, see movies or go to clubs, she said. She said it is nice to have a group of people sharing the same experience and understanding what she is going through.

Before becoming an au pair, Dodge took four years of German in high school, and she said she speaks the language very well.

“All the other au pairs think I’m fluent, but I wouldn’t say that,” Dodge said.

A language course is included in the contract, and the levels range from A1 to C1, with C1 considered a native speaker, she said. She completed the C1 course a few weeks ago.

“It’s what you have to have to study at a university in Germany,” she added.

Tamara Stassen, a German teacher at Fayetteville High School, taught Dodge in German II, German III and Advanced Placement German, and they have corresponded through email while she has been in Berlin. Dodge scored a 5, which is the highest, on the AP German exam, Stassen said in an email. Dodge was great to have in class and “willing to take risks with the language.”

“She would attempt harder structures and maybe not be grammatically correct, but real communication was her goal,” Stassen said.

Stassen believes living in a foreign country is “the only way to become truly fluent in a language.”

“With her strong school background, it will all fall into place just being totally immersed in the language and culture. The study of a language is actually only the beginning,” she said.

“The culture plays such an important part in the way a language is used, and she is so lucky to have the opportunity. I know she will make the most of it.”

While she has been in Berlin, Dodge has tried German and other foods.

Doner, which is a Turkish food sold at street vendors in Berlin, is pretty great, she said. It includes meat and is like a big burrito folded into a sandwich, she described.

Currywurst, a sausage with curry sauce on top, is also popular.

“It’s so popular that they have a museum about it,” she said, which is called Deutsches Currywurst Museum in Berlin.

Dodge said one thing she loves about living in Germany is that it is so easy to go anywhere she wants to go. The country has a great public transportation system and long-distance trains, and she said she can just hop on a train and go to Moscow in the morning.

She added that there are also many inexpensive flights.

Something that surprised her about Germany was the weather. Berlin has “weird wind storms and some days that are just gray,” she said, adding that at 4:30 p.m. Nov. 15, it was pitch black outside. It gets dark early in the winter and rains about three days a week, she said.

Shops close in Berlin about 8 p.m. on weekdays and are closed Sundays.

She misses being able “to go to Walmart at any time, any day, to get anything you need.”

Dodge said she doesn’t believe she will be an au pair again in the future, but “it’s a great opportunity to have for one year.”

FAST FACTS

Au pair requirements for Germany

Be between ages 18 and 26

Have previous experience looking after children

Be a high school graduate or equivalent

Be in good health, a nonsmoker and have no criminal record

Be unmarried and childless

Be able to commit to at least six months

Be interested in learning about the German culture and language and have basic knowledge of the German language

Source: AuPairCare-Germany.de

Style, Pages 27 on 11/21/2013

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