Best AuPair Guide

It would be easy to fill pages and pages about life abroad. Of course, some places are easier to live in as a foreigner than others. Some things will seem “just like home,” while others will be as foreign as aliens from outer space. Today we’ll look at two examples of similarities and differences - Burger King and grocery shopping.

What do BK and supermarkets have to do with au pair work? Well, everything, really. In today’s world it’s easy to feel closer to your native land through simple things like fast food. It’s also easy to feel even more foreign when dealing with things that aren’t quite so much like at home.

Burger King was my refuge whenever homesickness would strike. All it took was one Whopper value meal, and I was happy to be in Europe again, despite whatever else was happening. For the most part, a meal at BK was just like that at home. For a set price (albeit a higher one), you get a drink, fries, and burger, and it tastes pretty close to the ‘real’ thing.  You can ‘have it your way’ with onion rings, but you’d only get five tiny, cold ones to an order. Drinks are also smaller and come with little (as in two or three cubes) or no ice, so if you’re from the South you might have trouble. The only other differences are that the employees, for the most part, tend to be more with it than those at home, and the place is usually cleaner. There is also a lack of free items we expect in the US - refills and condiments. That’s right - you pay per ketchup or mayo packet and only get one fill of your chosen beverage. Which isn’t so horrible - how much Coke do you really need with a meal? And ketchup - at least the packets are bigger than in the States.

While meals at certain chain restaurants are only slightly different from those at home, grocery shopping, as an example, is foreign enough to make you feel like you just landed on Mars. In Germany, shopping for food is not the quick and easy process it is in the States where most of the work is done for you. For starters, you have to park. Either you park on the street (difficult) or you maneuver your vehicle in the cramped parking garages, trying desperately not to hit another car (even more difficult), then search for the elevator that takes you to the store. You have then play the guessing game as to which floor gets you where you need to be.

The adventure continues when you try to get a shopping cart - these require coins that you get back once you dutifully replace the cart (Germans are all about duty). The carts tend to be a bit small and wobbly, which makes it difficult to move them around the store, although everyone but the au pairs seem to be used to them.

By the time you’ve managed to get everything you need, you face the checkout line, which can be especially painful. Waiting in line is bad enough, because personal space is a different concept in Europe than in the US, and you almost always will have someone breathing - quite literally - down your neck. Then you bag your own groceries while the checkout girl sits and stares at you. If you aren’t quick enough, you’ll pick up plenty of ugly looks from those in line behind you, and there is no waiting for you to finish and collect your goods. The next person in line will be ushered through, their items mixing with yours, until you’re on the brink of a panic attack. Then it’s back to the car with all your stuff, back to the cart line with the unruly cart, and home sweet home, if you don’t back into anyone leaving the parking deck. Wow - by that time you just about need a drink!

So yeah, while some things overseas can be relatively familiar and simple, others take a little more adapting. It took me the better part of the year to manage in the supermarkets, especially the shopping trips with a toddler and baby in tow - which is an entirely otherworldly experience altogether.