SCANDINAVIA - Norway, Finland, & Iceland

Until recently, the au pair system has not been popular in the countries of Scandinavia, probably due to the excellant state-sponsored childcare and the limited appeal for young foreigners to learn the langauages.  However, the concept is catching on and some of the many agencies, which send Scandinavian  au pairs abroad, are also placing young foreigner as au pairs in Scandinavian homes, incidentally, providing one of the feww ways to afford an extended stay in this very expensive region.

NORWAY 

Norway has an incrediible nature to offer, such as high mountains, well known for pine forests, lakes fjords and of course a beautiful coastline.  People mostly live in towns and villages, one important item to remember is there are not many large or big cities in Norway.  The largest city in NORWAY is its capital Oslo with approimately half million inhabitants out of the total population of the country which is 4.5 million.  The transport system is highly developed. This is a wonderful opportunity for Au Pairs to experience a different culture and of course broaden horizens.

In Norway the family is very important, they are generally small in number.  Families spend a lot of their time in the mountains or by the sea.  Norwegian children and up to teenagers are usually members of different youth organisations, sports clubs,  and school bands.  Au Pairs should consider joining some of these activities, as it is a good way to meet other people.

The Au Pairs responsibilities consist of:

• getting the children the children & fed in the mornning
• caring for them during the day
• going for walks with them
• playing and stimulating them
• delivering them to the school/kindergarten
• supervising homework
• cooking simple meals for the children
• bathing and putting them to bed.

Household duties could consist of :

• clearing and cleaning up after the children
• laundry and ironing
• washing the dishes
• dusting and vacuuming

The Au Pair works 5 hours per day, and a maximum of 30 hours per week. Entitled to one day off per week, this day should be Sunday at least twice a week.

The situation here is most promising for English speakers of all nationalities, though the red tape for North Americans is still considerable.  Atlantis Youth Exchange runs the largest  program for au pairs in Norway. Applicants must be aged 18 - 30 and willing to stay between 6 months and two years. The first step is to fill out an information sheet and application form.  

FINLAND

For many years the Finish Family Program accepted young people who wanted to spend the summer months helping a family with household chores and English conversation.  However, the program, formerly administered by the Centre for International Mobility (CIMO, P.O. Box 343,00531 Helinski, Finland; www.cimo.fl has been drastically reduced and is open only to students studying the Finish Language at univesity.  Openings for au pairs still exist but must be arranged independently through contacts or advertisments.

ICELAND

Interest in au pairing in Iceland is icreasing, and Americans can find a family through Au Pair Vistaskiptiin Reykjavik (the only mediating agency for au pairs licesed by the Ministry of Social affairs).  Families cover half the travel costs (if you stay six to nine months) and full cost if you stay nine months to a maximum of KR50,000.