{"id":9856,"date":"2020-10-06T09:50:32","date_gmt":"2020-10-06T13:50:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.aupairusa.org\/au-pairs\/?p=9856"},"modified":"2022-08-19T16:56:09","modified_gmt":"2022-08-19T20:56:09","slug":"lucas-has-5-lessons-every-au-pair-should-know","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.aupairusa.org\/au-pairs\/au-pair-advice\/lucas-has-5-lessons-every-au-pair-should-know\/","title":{"rendered":"Lucas Has 5 Lessons Every Au Pair Should Know"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

Lucas \u201cPoppins\u201d was a great au pair. But he wasn’t born great – his success is the result of conscious efforts to develop his skills, patience, and open-mindedness. A few years ago, we chatted with Lucas on IG Live<\/a>, and he shared some tips with us. Here are five lessons that Lucas wants every au pair to know:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don’t Be Afraid of Your English Skills<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Lucas used to be an English teacher in Brazil, so he was initially confident about his language skills. But he quickly had to adjust his expectations when he got to the U.S. “When you arrive in another country for the first time,” he says, “you learn that your English is not as good as you previously thought it was.” You can study before coming, but the only thing that will really improve is actually being in the country and practicing. “You will mess up occasionally,” he says, “but you need to keep practicing.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
“Lucas practiced English with everyone he could – including his Au Pair USA Local Coordinator.”<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Spend Time Choosing the Best Host Family For You<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

When he was matching with a host family, Lucas knew immediately when he had found the right one. To use an English expression, “something just clicked.” He felt that his host family were like siblings, and he was confident that they would support him during difficult times. His intuition was proven correct, and he extended the program with his host family. Lucas’s host family advice is, unsurprisingly, to “take an opportunity to become comfortable with your host family before coming to the USA.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Be Open to New Experiences<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

It didn’t take long for Lucas to start missing home. That’s a normal part of traveling. The first thing Lucas longed for was home-cooked Brazlian food. But he opened himself to new experiences and dove into American fare. He came to love New Orleans for its range of food, including jambalaya and gumbo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lucas also opened up to other U.S. experiences: seeing American football and baseball games with his host family. Most impressively, he even entered a photo contest – at Baltimore festival Artscape<\/a> – and won<\/em>! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
“Lucas’s winning photo submission recreated an art installation of orange humanoid objects called “Sydmonauts.”<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Find Fun Ways to Connect with Host Kids<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Indeed, creativity was an asset to Lucas during his time as an au pair, and even before<\/em>. During the host family matching process, he impressed his future host family by dressing up as various superheroes in his introduction video. Lucas also used his own experiences and interests to connect with his host kid. Drawing on his experience as a former English teacher, he devised fun games to help his host kid read. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Find Positivity in Frustrating Situations<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Lucas’s creativity leads us to his fifth and final tip for new au pairs: find positivity in frustrating situations. Lucas’s time as an au pair coincided with the onset of COVID-19. But Lucas was undeterred. His inspiration – and Instagram namesake<\/a> – came from the American movie Mary Poppins<\/em><\/a>. He was impressed with the title character’s energy, enthusiasm, and positivity, and consequently redubbed himself “Lucas Poppins.” What advice would he give to an au pair feeling down? When you’re about to “lose your head,” he says, “apply yourself creatively!” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Lucas is amazing, he’s not the only one: there are many stellar Au Pair USA au pairs! Take a moment to learn about Maria’s experiences<\/a>! Or learn about how Una turned her au pair experience into a career<\/a> after her program! Ready to apply? Learn more here<\/a>! <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lucas \u201cPoppins\u201d was a great au pair. But he wasn’t born great – his success is the result of conscious efforts to develop his skills, patience, and open-mindedness. A few years ago, we chatted with Lucas on IG Live, and he shared some tips with…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":9858,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9856","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-au-pair-advice"],"yoast_head":"\nLucas Has 5 Lessons Every Au Pair Should Know<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Au Pair Life blog is a resource for au pairs visiting the U.S. as participants of the Au Pair USA program.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.aupairusa.org\/au-pairs\/au-pair-advice\/lucas-has-5-lessons-every-au-pair-should-know\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Lucas Has 5 Lessons Every Au Pair Should Know\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Au Pair Life blog is a resource for au pairs visiting the U.S. as participants of the Au Pair USA program.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blog.aupairusa.org\/au-pairs\/au-pair-advice\/lucas-has-5-lessons-every-au-pair-should-know\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Au Pair USA Life - Au Pair Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-10-06T13:50:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-08-19T20:56:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/blog.aupairusa.org\/au-pairs\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2020\/10\/souza-with-lc.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"740\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Matt Wallace\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Matt Wallace\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.aupairusa.org\/au-pairs\/au-pair-advice\/lucas-has-5-lessons-every-au-pair-should-know\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.aupairusa.org\/au-pairs\/au-pair-advice\/lucas-has-5-lessons-every-au-pair-should-know\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Matt Wallace\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.aupairusa.org\/au-pairs\/#\/schema\/person\/d6c4f099a1ec684616e6a38afddca44d\"},\"headline\":\"Lucas Has 5 Lessons Every Au Pair Should Know\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-10-06T13:50:32+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-08-19T20:56:09+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.aupairusa.org\/au-pairs\/au-pair-advice\/lucas-has-5-lessons-every-au-pair-should-know\/\"},\"wordCount\":610,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.aupairusa.org\/au-pairs\/au-pair-advice\/lucas-has-5-lessons-every-au-pair-should-know\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/blog.aupairusa.org\/au-pairs\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2020\/10\/souza-with-lc.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Advice for Au Pairs\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.aupairusa.org\/au-pairs\/au-pair-advice\/lucas-has-5-lessons-every-au-pair-should-know\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blog.aupairusa.org\/au-pairs\/au-pair-advice\/lucas-has-5-lessons-every-au-pair-should-know\/\",\"name\":\"Lucas Has 5 Lessons Every Au Pair Should Know\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.aupairusa.org\/au-pairs\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.aupairusa.org\/au-pairs\/au-pair-advice\/lucas-has-5-lessons-every-au-pair-should-know\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.aupairusa.org\/au-pairs\/au-pair-advice\/lucas-has-5-lessons-every-au-pair-should-know\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/blog.aupairusa.org\/au-pairs\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2020\/10\/souza-with-lc.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-10-06T13:50:32+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-08-19T20:56:09+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.aupairusa.org\/au-pairs\/#\/schema\/person\/d6c4f099a1ec684616e6a38afddca44d\"},\"description\":\"The Au Pair Life blog is a resource for au pairs visiting the U.S. as participants of the Au Pair USA program.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.aupairusa.org\/au-pairs\/au-pair-advice\/lucas-has-5-lessons-every-au-pair-should-know\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/blog.aupairusa.org\/au-pairs\/au-pair-advice\/lucas-has-5-lessons-every-au-pair-should-know\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.aupairusa.org\/au-pairs\/au-pair-advice\/lucas-has-5-lessons-every-au-pair-should-know\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blog.aupairusa.org\/au-pairs\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2020\/10\/souza-with-lc.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/blog.aupairusa.org\/au-pairs\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2020\/10\/souza-with-lc.jpg\",\"width\":740,\"height\":500},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.aupairusa.org\/au-pairs\/au-pair-advice\/lucas-has-5-lessons-every-au-pair-should-know\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/blog.aupairusa.org\/au-pairs\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Lucas Has 5 Lessons Every Au Pair Should Know\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.aupairusa.org\/au-pairs\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blog.aupairusa.org\/au-pairs\/\",\"name\":\"Au Pair USA Life - Au Pair Blog\",\"description\":\"Blog for Au Pairs\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/blog.aupairusa.org\/au-pairs\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.aupairusa.org\/au-pairs\/#\/schema\/person\/d6c4f099a1ec684616e6a38afddca44d\",\"name\":\"Matt Wallace\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.aupairusa.org\/au-pairs\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ead926d9488b5364d96a5ea7331ec70562a791c41eef168fbd44583d1cf7ea20?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ead926d9488b5364d96a5ea7331ec70562a791c41eef168fbd44583d1cf7ea20?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Matt Wallace\"},\"description\":\"Matt Wallace was previously the Community & Digital Content Manager for the InterExchange Marketing team. He received a Master of Science in Global Affairs from New York University, and worked with the State Department and two New York organizations with missions to introduce young people to multiculturalism and international relations.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blog.aupairusa.org\/au-pairs\/author\/mwallace\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Lucas Has 5 Lessons Every Au Pair Should Know","description":"The Au Pair Life blog is a resource for au pairs visiting the U.S. as participants of the Au Pair USA program.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/blog.aupairusa.org\/au-pairs\/au-pair-advice\/lucas-has-5-lessons-every-au-pair-should-know\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Lucas Has 5 Lessons Every Au Pair Should Know","og_description":"The Au Pair Life blog is a resource for au pairs visiting the U.S. as participants of the Au Pair USA program.","og_url":"https:\/\/blog.aupairusa.org\/au-pairs\/au-pair-advice\/lucas-has-5-lessons-every-au-pair-should-know\/","og_site_name":"Au Pair USA Life - Au Pair Blog","article_published_time":"2020-10-06T13:50:32+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-08-19T20:56:09+00:00","og_image":[{"width":740,"height":500,"url":"https:\/\/blog.aupairusa.org\/au-pairs\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2020\/10\/souza-with-lc.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Matt Wallace","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Matt Wallace","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/blog.aupairusa.org\/au-pairs\/au-pair-advice\/lucas-has-5-lessons-every-au-pair-should-know\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.aupairusa.org\/au-pairs\/au-pair-advice\/lucas-has-5-lessons-every-au-pair-should-know\/"},"author":{"name":"Matt Wallace","@id":"https:\/\/blog.aupairusa.org\/au-pairs\/#\/schema\/person\/d6c4f099a1ec684616e6a38afddca44d"},"headline":"Lucas Has 5 Lessons Every Au Pair Should Know","datePublished":"2020-10-06T13:50:32+00:00","dateModified":"2022-08-19T20:56:09+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.aupairusa.org\/au-pairs\/au-pair-advice\/lucas-has-5-lessons-every-au-pair-should-know\/"},"wordCount":610,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.aupairusa.org\/au-pairs\/au-pair-advice\/lucas-has-5-lessons-every-au-pair-should-know\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/blog.aupairusa.org\/au-pairs\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2020\/10\/souza-with-lc.jpg","articleSection":["Advice for Au Pairs"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/blog.aupairusa.org\/au-pairs\/au-pair-advice\/lucas-has-5-lessons-every-au-pair-should-know\/","url":"https:\/\/blog.aupairusa.org\/au-pairs\/au-pair-advice\/lucas-has-5-lessons-every-au-pair-should-know\/","name":"Lucas Has 5 Lessons Every Au Pair Should Know","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.aupairusa.org\/au-pairs\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.aupairusa.org\/au-pairs\/au-pair-advice\/lucas-has-5-lessons-every-au-pair-should-know\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.aupairusa.org\/au-pairs\/au-pair-advice\/lucas-has-5-lessons-every-au-pair-should-know\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/blog.aupairusa.org\/au-pairs\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2020\/10\/souza-with-lc.jpg","datePublished":"2020-10-06T13:50:32+00:00","dateModified":"2022-08-19T20:56:09+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.aupairusa.org\/au-pairs\/#\/schema\/person\/d6c4f099a1ec684616e6a38afddca44d"},"description":"The Au Pair Life blog is a resource for au pairs visiting the U.S. as participants of the Au Pair USA program.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.aupairusa.org\/au-pairs\/au-pair-advice\/lucas-has-5-lessons-every-au-pair-should-know\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/blog.aupairusa.org\/au-pairs\/au-pair-advice\/lucas-has-5-lessons-every-au-pair-should-know\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/blog.aupairusa.org\/au-pairs\/au-pair-advice\/lucas-has-5-lessons-every-au-pair-should-know\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/blog.aupairusa.org\/au-pairs\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2020\/10\/souza-with-lc.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/blog.aupairusa.org\/au-pairs\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2020\/10\/souza-with-lc.jpg","width":740,"height":500},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/blog.aupairusa.org\/au-pairs\/au-pair-advice\/lucas-has-5-lessons-every-au-pair-should-know\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/blog.aupairusa.org\/au-pairs\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Lucas Has 5 Lessons Every Au Pair Should Know"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/blog.aupairusa.org\/au-pairs\/#website","url":"https:\/\/blog.aupairusa.org\/au-pairs\/","name":"Au Pair USA Life - Au Pair Blog","description":"Blog for Au Pairs","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/blog.aupairusa.org\/au-pairs\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/blog.aupairusa.org\/au-pairs\/#\/schema\/person\/d6c4f099a1ec684616e6a38afddca44d","name":"Matt Wallace","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/blog.aupairusa.org\/au-pairs\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ead926d9488b5364d96a5ea7331ec70562a791c41eef168fbd44583d1cf7ea20?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ead926d9488b5364d96a5ea7331ec70562a791c41eef168fbd44583d1cf7ea20?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Matt Wallace"},"description":"Matt Wallace was previously the Community & Digital Content Manager for the InterExchange Marketing team. He received a Master of Science in Global Affairs from New York University, and worked with the State Department and two New York organizations with missions to introduce young people to multiculturalism and international relations.","url":"https:\/\/blog.aupairusa.org\/au-pairs\/author\/mwallace\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/blog.aupairusa.org\/au-pairs\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2020\/10\/souza-with-lc.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.aupairusa.org\/au-pairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9856","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.aupairusa.org\/au-pairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.aupairusa.org\/au-pairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.aupairusa.org\/au-pairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.aupairusa.org\/au-pairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9856"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/blog.aupairusa.org\/au-pairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9856\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10694,"href":"https:\/\/blog.aupairusa.org\/au-pairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9856\/revisions\/10694"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.aupairusa.org\/au-pairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9858"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.aupairusa.org\/au-pairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9856"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.aupairusa.org\/au-pairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9856"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.aupairusa.org\/au-pairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9856"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}