Exploring Hungary as an au pair

It had never occurred to be before to travel to a new country and work as a live-in au pair for a family I have never met until my wise, Cypriot friend suggested the idea. It wasn't until I met a lovely, sweet Hungarian girl in Finland that I even knew what an au pair was. Upon our first meeting, Eni said she was an au pair and I, ignorant to the meaning of 'au pair', just smiled and nodded politely. Thankfully Eni asked, "Do you know what that is?" and I admitted my ignorance. Still, it didn't even cross my mind as an option that I might take myself.

Nevertheless, I found myself on a ten-hour train journey from Biel, Switzerland to Vienna, Austria, where I would be picked up by my new au-pair family. I would be living with them for 6 weeks in July and August in a charming little city known as Sopron, just across the Austrian-Hungarian border. Little did I know that that summer would be one of the hottest on record, with most of the days ranging between +30-39C. It's funny how the heat didn't seem to affect the children, who remained equipped with boundless energy while I suffered in my own sweat on many an afternoon.

They are a family of six: Mum (E), Dad (I), 3 girls aged 8 (J), 7 (S) and 3 (H), as well as a baby boy, aged 10 months (A). My initial concern before arriving was the potential problem of sleep deprivation but this fear was quickly dispelled after I realized that all of them slept through the night without disturbance. Another slight worry also crossed my mind regarding a potential language barrier; would the children understand me? As it turned out, they are incredibly advanced for their ages and the 3 year old, H., in particular showed rapid language development during the 6 weeks I spent there.

Having said that, the development didn't come from nowhere. Justifiably, the Mum believes passionately in early language aquisition and thanks to her pursuit to involve the English language in her children's lives, this meant H. already had an impressive passive vocabulary that I only had to tease out of her. After the many hours spent together on stifling hot summer days, even the elder two girls, J. and S. found themselves arguing over which language to speak in, Hungarian or English - that is certainly progress! 

It's funny now to think that before this au pair experience, I was afraid of being given responsibility for a baby, and the biggest threat for me came from the 10-month old baby boy. It wasn't long before my naive mind realized that this baby is a joy; he slept well, and I could feed him and change his nappy with ease. The real challenge was managing the three girls together at one time - to try to find an activity that would engage all three was more or less impossible, unsurprisingly considering the 5 year gap between the eldest and youngest.Somehow, though, we managed to find our way and I can say that they have undoubtedly left strong footprints in my life. It has even been mentioned that the eldest girl, J., could one day become an au pair for my future children - the delight of the idea and inevitable karma that would bring can't help but make me smile!

In addition to the evident life experience I gained, it was also an opportunity to explore and learn

about Hungary. Thanks to the Dad, I., and the Mum's father, the Grandpa of the kids, I developed a much greater understanding of the complicated and dark past behind the humble and culturally-rich country of Hungary; as it used to be and as it is now. We shared so many interesting conversations, they easily surpassed all of the history lessons I ever had in school, combined. The Grandpa has lived through huge changes, communist and socialist times and could engage me with his stories for hours on end. As he showed me around Budapest with J. and S., I absolutely fell in love with this city and was thrilled to coincidently be there at the same time as some visiting friends. As a result, I roamed the city as much as possible, from Buda to Pest, day and night, to enjoy the atmosphere and dazzling beauty of it with great company.
 Budapest was one of the highlights of my summer in Hungary, but there were many other memorable experiences in there too. As a family (I had been welcomed and accepted as one of them), we went on many day trips and excursions to other parts of Hungary and nearby Austria. These included Lake Balaton, where the mosquitoes quite often got the better of me; Rust, a charming little town next to lake Fertő that simply blossomed with romance; and to the middle of nowhere by canoe, along narrow waterways battling amongst tall reeds to finally reveal the open water of a lake, in the midst of a spectacular view. Furthermore, I relished in every opportunity to try some of the local cuisine and left with a firm knowledge that Hungarian spices, paprika, salami, Lángos and more will follow me wherever I will go! Perhaps the other, more obscure, delicacies such as the internal organs of animals, as well as their bone marrow, will not appear in my diet so much, with the possible exception of goose liver (that turned out to be a rather tasty, yet expensive, treat.)

In retrospect, I am filled with these joyful memories as the more challenging times had retreat and dissolve before probably disappearing completely. It's amazing how the human mind works that way and with this I will move forward but hopefully retaining the one true lesson that rises above all that I learned as an au pair: to enjoy my 20s while I can!