Claudia, jeune fille au pair : Herrliberg

My name is Claudia , I am 23 years old and I lived in Caracas, Venezuela with my family. My mother's name is Liliana and she works as an accountant in her own company, and my father's name is Luigi and he works as and administrator in his own company too. I have got a young sister name Paola. She is 20 years old. We are a very close, sociable and communicative family. My family is so large and I love it. My mother has four sisters, and my father has one sister, so I have many aunts, uncles and little cousins. I love children and I am the oldest one so I have been always taking care of my sister when my parents were at work and also my little cousins in summer, preparing their food, helping them with homework, playing and doing crafts together or going to the pool. I have been always surrounded by children!

When I finished high school, I decided to study Dentistry in Caracas, the capital of my country, where i currently live. For me, it was one of the most important decisions in my life. I learned a lot about the grown-up life, to take responsabilities of my actions and that if i work hard enough i could do anything i wanted. I have always been very active and hard working, so I tried to help at home combining my studies with different jobs, i worked as a ballet teacher at the dance company i was. I love working with children because they know how to get the best out of myself and I try to teach them to do their best. It is a very rewarding job.

In my freshman year, I met Camila, a Venezuelan girl who was my clinic assistant in the student residence and now is one of my best friends. She is from Caracas too, and during the years we studied together, she taught me so many things about her way of life and traveling stories to Switzerland that rose even more, my desire to know more of your country and culture. My family and my friends say that I'm a very motherly, responsible and loving person, furthermore, I love kids, so this year I decided to fulfill my dream of being an au pair in Switzerland. They support my decision and they are very happy for me. I'm de-lighted to have the opportunity to improve my English, meet your lifestyle, your habits and your country, which I greatly admire. And what better way than doing what I love! I love spending time with children and learning everything they can teach me every day. They learn a lot of us, but we learn more from them than we think. To me, it's wonderful see them growing up with us and learning, litlle by little, to be more independent.

I have experience in caring for children from six months to sixteen years old, girls and boys too. In 2019 I decided I wanted to be a camp counselor at one of the best camps in Venezuela, Camp La Fogata, and i have no regrets, it has been the best decision of my life! I have got to know so many people from differents parts of the country, also A LOT of kids from various ages. The experience was and still is great. I used to wake up the children, have breakfast together, help them to get dressed, going to the pool or play charades because they liked it. We also went to the woods, search for flowers or plants, ride horses, do a treasure hunt, go down the zipline, and so much more fun activities.

Afterwards, I took care of Juan Pablo (aka Juanpi), who loved watching how I made plasticine figures to later trying to make them on his own. Juanpi, was a very responsable boy so I used to help him with his class homework and when he finished we used to go to the swimming pool. Sometimes, I did some camp activities with him, we also played and dressed as pirates, searching for our treasure.

On the other hand, I liked Julieta´s experience. She was 2 years old and I had to prepare her bottles, fed her, help her to develop the skills that a baby of her age begins to learn, like learn the colors, pronunciate correctly mom and dad, entertaining her with toys or helping her to sleep.

Besides childcare experience, I also like doing exercise outdoors and playing sports, it reminds me of my childhood, playing the piano is one of my favorites hobbies, i also love reading books every day when I have some leisure time, listening to music and watching movies, traveling and learning about other cultures and ways of life, meeting new people, talking and sharing experiences, going out with friends or preparing lunch or dinner with my family or with my friends too. I like healthy eating, cooking and trying new flavors but, therewith, I love making cakes and butter or chocolate cookies, brownies, cheesecakes and fruit smoothies. I find very entertaining teaching children how to prepare desserts and funny smoothies.

I am so excited with the opportunity to know you better and to be a member of your family. I hope you had fun reading my letter and knowing a bit more about me and my dream.

I look forward to hearing from you!

Best wishes,
Claudia