I would like to work overseas but my family are worried about me!

A female age 36-40, anonymous writes:

Hi. I'd like some advice on this. Last year, i worked as an Au Pair in Spain, but unfortunately, it didn't work out, and i was sent home after only being there for two weeks. I dont want this to stop me from looking for another Au Pair position though. The problem is is i still live with my family, and they dont want me to do that kind of work again incase it goes wrong again. Some of the problems were that we didn't know each others languages very well, we didnt have the same kind of interests and it was difficult to remember the schedule and my way around the city because they hadnt written everything down. They only wrote it down a couple of days before they sent me home !. I also kept getting home sick, as it was my first time living abroad, and my first time living away from my family in general, and i got upset because the children had misbehaved a few times, and i didn't know how to handle it. However, i have thought of ways to solve some of the problems, for example, i could look for a family who knows how to speak English, either a foreign family or a family in the U.K, and i could ask them to send me the schedule before i even go to stay with them, then i am clear on what it involves, and find a family with similar interests to myself, and i could try to learn the language before i go out there,if it's abroad, or make sure that the family will let me go to some classes to learn the language. I had also been feeling ill, possibly because of the change in my diet, because i had been eating less ( the family didnt eat very much ) and we had the same food every day !. I'm not sure if i would get home sick again, but i guess i would need to think of a way to make sure that it wouldnt happen again. It didn't really help i suppose because my family kept contacting me a lot to ask how i was doing. Another problem was that i didnt sit watching tv with them in the evenings, but i felt funny about that because i wouldnt have been able to understand what was going on on tv as i didnt know the language, and i could have had a proper conversation with the family. However, they lived in a lovely house, and i loved the city and i felt safe walking around there because everything was within walking distance. I think back to it a lot and it really upsets me that i didnt have time to see more of the city and that i couldnt stay there longer. Do you think i should try again anyway, but how can i convince my family to let me go again ?. At first, they said they thought i should get a job in this country first, as it would be easier to come home if anything goes wrong again. Plus, it's hard to get used to a whole new culture, and i would be used to things in my own country. I dont mind where i work, but i would like to have another experience abroad. It did knock my confidence though, and i wouldnt want it to go wrong again. I was also thinking that it might help in a way if it's a single mother who is a similar age to me who only has one or maybe two children, expecially if we have similar interests. The parents of the last family were a lot older than me. They were in their forties. I'm not really sure what the best age group of the children would be though to work with. The children from the last family were 7 and ten years old. I also felt like i did well teaching the kids English, which was one of my duties, although i was only teaching them bits of it as i wasnt there very long. It was hard for me to pick Spanish up though, but i would like to go to Spain again, or another foreign country. I know there are some parts of Spain where they know more English and also, some British people live there.

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A male reader, yum yum  +, writes (24 October 2010):

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A female reader, Aunty BimBim  +, writes (24 October 2010):

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