My niece as an au pair

Sorry for the lack of a post last Friday. Blogger was down and the blog was in "read-only" mode.

Obviously I've said many times that I want to help people live and work in other countries and in the "putting my money where my mouth is" department, my wife and I have offered my niece Kiara an au pair position here in the Netherlands. She's only able to do this for a month before she returns to college. We'll be giving her room and board, a small amount of money every week, a tram pass for the month, a pay as you go phone and three days a week to do as she will. On her side, she has to do a bit of light housework, babysit occasionally, and, because she is studying to be a linguist (she already speaks Japanese), I've also said she has to study either French or Dutch for a half hour a day, five days a week (I'm such a jerk, eh?).

I've also been talking to folks and trying to see if there are any local folks her own age who have time to hang out with her and show her Amsterdam. Looking forward to seeing her again and hope she has a great with her first trip to Europe (note, this and similar offers have been available to other nieces (I have a few), but time constraints have made it impossible for them).