#AuPair Programs

[aphfg]

How to prepare for your first interview as an AuPair or Host Parents

Hey there future and current AuPair’s and host families. If you followed my blog in the last post I shared how to pick an agency. Let’s fast forward a bit. So your paperwork is done and you’ve been accepted into the agency and now you are ready to start interviewing Host families and Au Pairs. The agency usually gives you a list of questions to ask, but how do you prepare for your interview?  1…

[bright-education-indonesia]

AUSBILDUNG, Bekerja dan Kuliah di Jerman.

Mungkin kalian pernah mendengar apa itu ausbildung? Atau masih ada pertanyaan mengenai apa itu ausbildung?

           Ausbildung merupakan salah satu program dari Pemerintah Negara Jerman yang memberikan kesempatan pada pemuda/pemudi dari seluruh dunia untuk mengikuti Program Pendidikan dan Pelatihan Profesi selama 3 tahun di Jerman. Ausbildung juga dikenal sebagai pelatihan kejuruan atau magang dimana pendidikan yang terkait profesi dan mengarah pada pekerjaan tertentu yang ada di Jerman. Pelatihan selama 3 tahun ini, setara dengan diploma D3 atau diploma D4. Setelah lulus dari program ini, kalian akan mendapatkan ilmu, keahlian berkualitas standar Eropa, dan sertifikasi keahlian standar Eropa yang diakui oleh seluruh dunia.

           Tanggung jawab utama dari ausbildung adalah belajar, berlatih dan bekerja sesuai dengan keahlian yang dipilih. Saat menjalani program ini, sekitar 70% hingga 80% waktu pembelajaran menekankan pada praktik sekaligus bekerja di perusahaan. Dan sisa 20% hingga 30% lainnya dihabiskan untuk menjalani proses pembelajaran teori dan praktikum pada sekolah kejuruan. Peserta ausbildung menghabiskan 3 hingga 4 hari seminggu di tempat kerja dan 1 hingga 2 hari mengikuti pembelajaran di sekolah kejuruan.

           Uniknya, mengikuti ausbildung ini kalian akan menerima gaji. Jadi program ausbildung sama seperti jika kita mengikuti magang di Indonesia.

           Setelah 3 tahun menjalani program ausbildung ini dan dinyatakan lulus, kalian akan mendapatkan sertifikasi profesi berstandar Internasional yang dapat digunakan untuk mencari pekerjaan di negara lain di Eropa serta berkesempatan mendapat penawaran kerja di perusahaan tempat kalian melakukan ausbildung.

           Apa saja sih persyaratan ausbildung?

1. Memiliki sertifikasi lulus ujian bahasa Jerman level B1 atau B2 yang dikeluarkan oleh Goethe Instutit.

2. Menulis motivation letter menggunakan bahasa Jerman.

3. Memiliki curiculum vitae dalam bahasa Jerman.

4. Menulis surat lamaran dalam bahasa Jerman.

5. Memiliki Ijazah pendidikan terakhir dan transkrip nilai yang diterjemahkan ke dalam bahasa Jerman.

Memiliki kemampuan berbahasa Jerman menjadi salah satu syarat wajib untuk mengikuti ausbildung ini. Lalu mengapa harus memiliki sertifikasi lulus ujian bahasa Jerman level B1 atau B2?                                                                                                                                                            

Tingkatan dalam bahasa Jerman ada 3, yaitu :

1. Level A1 dan A2 : pada level ini, kalian dapat mengenali, memahami, dan menggunakan kalimat-kalimat sederhana, seperti perkenalan diri, memperkenalkan orang lain, dll (level bahasa Jerman untuk komunikasi sehari-hari).

2. Level B1 dan B2 : pada level ini, kalian dapat memahami topik utama dari pokok bahasan tertentu, seperti pekerjaan, pendidikan, dapat menceritakan pengalaman, kejadian, harapan, impian, dll (level bahasa Jerman lanjutan yang dijadikan salah satu syarat untuk ausbildung).

3. Level C1 dan C2 : pada level ini, kalian dapat memahami beragam teks yang lebih panjang dan rumit, serta dapat menangkap makna dari teks tersebut, dapat merangkum informasi dari berbagai sumber baik lisan maupun tulisan dan dapat menjabarkannya kembali (level bahasa Jerman dengan kompetensi yang lebih tinggi).

Sertifikasi lulus ujian bahasa Jerman ini diperlukan agar tidak terjadi miskomunikasi yang berlebihan. Jika kalian sudah memiliki sertifikasi bahasa Jerman level B1 atau B2, bisa dipastikan bahwa kalian bisa memahami dan mempermudah untuk menyelesaikan program ausbildung ini.

Bright Education memiliki program aupair dan ausbildung loh. Ingin tahu lebih lanjut mengenai program ausbildung ini? Kunjungi website kami di https://brighteducation.id/  dan ikuti media sosial kami di https://www.instagram.com/brighteducationidn/?hl=en untuk info lainnya ya. Be Bright with Bright Education!

[rod1on]

i have to stop looking up uni exchange programs, aupair websites and language school exchanges i dont have the money for any of it

[fangirlproblcms]

if the “thing” that you say isn’t out on the internet abt Matt and Sofia, how’d you all find out about it?

One of my college friends from here Turkey that graduated who was like 2 years above me went to USA with aupair program to babysit. She first started in New York then went to Connecticut and met a guy there. She got married to him and moved to LA. She’s still doing the aupair thing in LA. That’s all i can say about this.

[hideouspumpkin]

hello! hope you are having an amazing time in Paris ✨ i am about to start an erasmus program and i am a bit afraid, do u have any tips? how did u deal with the anxiety of doing this alone?

Hi !!! Tbh I find it a bit overwhelming but I do think I'm much better suited for smaller towns...im an old lady...the grind of a capital is too much

For Erasmus I haven't done it personally but I did move to another country on my own bcse I went to London to be an aupair when I was like 19 ! I'd say the first days are going to be overwhelming of course, so to make it easier for you, do some research beforehand : look up how the public transport works, if you need a card, do you top up as u go or do I need a plan etc etc ; you can also go on Facebook and look for erasmus groups in the town you're going to, you'll feel less alone in being a bit lost somewhere completely new and you can start talking with people even before you get there ; also maybe try to reach out to people from your uni who went to the same place you're going to ; to ease anxiety, use things, small things that will bring you comfort from home, like a blanket, food, pictures or whatever, it'll feel like a hug ! Also you could look up the restaurants that make your comfort food, so you know you can go there if needed ! Tbh planning helps me a lot, knowing as much as I can eases my anxiety ! If you really want to immerse yourself, don't hesitate to try and speak the language even if you don't think you're good, and as an Erasmus student, talk to your fellow students! Students are very often kinda fascinated by Erasmus students because you guys are like. Brave. And cool. So really just go have some small talk with the people in your classes ; also, to familiarise yourself, maybe try to go a bit before classes start, so you'll have time to get used to the new place before you have to go to the university (also, if you wanna live in the city like a native, walk everywhere, use Google maps and just walk)

I have many many other ideas but if anyone has more specific things, plus help anon ! And anon, good luck to you, its so cool you're doing this im jealous of you u have no idea ! Sending love to u

[salanaayuumiasis]

Why do I love being an Aupair? I love being an Aupair for a lot of reasons.

1. I'm still young, and I can travel around the EU using a Schengen visa. I'm taking advantage of that.

2. I love to meet different people from different cultures.

3. I have the freedom to do what I want to do.

4. It's just so good being here in Eu.

At first, I thought being an Aupair is hard, haha. Because when ate joy introduces me to this program. I thought it was a scam because it's in Europe. If you don't have relatives who will get you, in Eu it will be hard but no it's not hard, the thing you need to do if you have a European dream first, is to find a host family who is looking for an Aupair you can register to these websites, https://energyaupair.no/, https://www.aufini.com/en, https://www.aupairworld.com/en/login. Second, once you choose a host family, you and the host will sign up a form. In Denmark, you will go to Siri. Udi if Norway, I don't know about other Schengen countries, but you can check their websites, third, you will go to VFS to process your temporary visa Fourth, you will wait for the decision of your application. If the result is positively approved your host family will book you a ticket going here in Europe yay if you have a European dream, this is just a stepping stone, and if you don't want to be an Aupair anymore, you can choose a different path. Some go to Spain, Portugal, Paris and some continue their studies, have a great day! 🌞

[lhaewiel]

2, 3, 11 and 25 for the language learner asks, please❤️

Hello!

2. Can your friends and family members speak a language you can’t speak ? Would you like to learn it ?

Yes, several people in my family can speak German and Spanish, which I cannot speak at all - I can understand to a certain degree, but speaking them? Nah.

3. What is the first foreign language you’ve ever (tried) to learn ?

In Italy we start learning English when we are little, about 6-7 years old, so English would be my first foreign language, followed closely by French. I used to listen to MTV, when it was still good, because a lot of the programs, like charts, were presented in English, plus my Elementary English teacher used to teach us English in a very playful way, so it stuck more.

11. Have you ever been on a school exchange ? Where ? What language(s) did you speak ? Was it a good experience ?

I have never been in one. The first would have been in my 3rd year of high school to Ireland, but I never went because mine was the only year this exchange was cancelled. I had the chance to go 1 month or 2 months in Japan when I was at uni as aupair, but mate, let me tell you the costs, which were and still are a lot, especially because in that period my mum got really sick and my dad lost his job, so yeah. I stillwant to go to Japan though.

25. Have you ever studied/worked/lived abroad ? Where ? Was it a good experience ?

I have been working and living in the UK for the past 7 years. Now I can say that it is good, but I can say that because up until November 2019 I had to fight tooth and nail for a single inch of respect and acknowledgement.

The thing is, the UK is still a very racist country, in general. Of course ou find open-minded people and good friends and good workplaces, but there is a lot of racism going on. It is worse if you are a POC, but I have been disregarded in conversations just because I had an accent. I have been treated as a stupid person because I am not British. I have gone to group interviews and I would know IMMEDIATELY that I would not be considered because I am not blonde with blue eyes and definitely not British. People, especially at the beginning, took advantage of me, because I did not know all the rules that would usually apply - and that includes payroll rights, working hours and salary.

When Brexit was passed in 2017 my British colleagues treated me and the other 2 poor Estonian girls like literal doormats, until the manager had to request a formal apology from them and had to take the 2 girls and me on side and reassure us that we would not be stripped from our beds at night and shipped back to our countries in a van - because that is fucking illegal, first of, second we are paying citizens with a residence.

It took me several house movings and several job changes - and whilst I am now ok, I am helping my husband fight these fights, because he is still getting the brunt of all of this for the simple reason that his English grammar is not an A+. And the accent.

For some reason here they really hate accents.

On this I have been told in previous roles that I had to “reduce my accent” and “sound as British as possible”.

I have had customers asking me if I was able to speak English or I was not applying myself enough and get angry at me just because I was not British, hence I was “inferior”.

Like, I got this, but my friends and colleagues who are POC get even worse than this just because their skin is not white, if my experience already sounds really bad, for them it is worse.

And let’s say that UK is very good at erasing one’s cultural background just for the sake of conforming everyone.

I have several colleagues who are Italians born in the UK and they do not speak and/or understand a single word in Italian. I am honestly scared of this.

So yeah, in conclusion, whilst some things were very positive, a lot of them were and still are quite negative.

[sheiscoffeeholic]

#1 After THEM

But who are THEM?

Them are the best family I talked to. They stole my heart and I stole their. But even if we want each other strongly, we can’t nothing to the fate and so...I’m back in the research.

I need to find a new family if I want to be an Au Pair in August and we all know that time flies.

So here we are: the first family after THEM.                                                       Today I talked with the host-mum and she was...happy. She has a big smile on her face, she couldn’t stop talking, smiling, moving. She’s great, but she isn’t one of THEM. It will be very hard to move on and try to be objective. She wants to talk to me again this weekend with her husband and their three daughters, but before ore meeting I need to change my mind, I need to move on and to focus about finding someone without thinking how perfect THEY were.

I’m quite sad, but life goes on and I really want to leave to live the best experience of my life!

[aphfg]

How to pick your AuPair Agency

How to pick your AuPair Agency

Hey there future AuPairs and Host families.To start the AuPair proses could be very overwhelming especially because there are a lot of agencies out there. The best advice I can give you is,DO YOUR RESEARCH . Talk to different agencies and see what they offer. It might be small differences but believe me it really does make a difference. Don’t know what to look for ? That’s why I’m here to…

[fadwaima]

How´s My Job Looks Like

Mungkin beberapa dari kalian banyak yang bertanya sebetulnya apa yang aku lakukan di Jerman?

Setelah masa Aupair berakhir, aku ikut program FSJ (Freiwilliges Soziales Jahr) atau yang berarti kerja sosial. Aku kerja di sebuah asrama untuk orang-orang berkebutuhan khusus (disable people) tepatnya di kota Stuttgart. Nama asramanya Haus am Killesberg. Nah di asrama ini tinggal 30 orang berkebutuhan khusus dan setiap orang punya kekurangan atau penyakit berbeda-beda. Ada yang cacat fisik, cacat mental, bahkan cacat mental dan fisik pun ada. Jadi cara penanganan tiap orang pun berbeda-beda. 

Nah kesehariannya ngapain aja sih kalau kerja di asrama untuk orang berkebutuhan khusus? Bisa dibilang kerja kita ga beda jauh seperti perawat di rumah sakit. Jadi sistem kerjanya di shift. Shift pagi dimulai jam 6.00 sampai 9.00. Lalu dilanjut dengan shift siang dari jam 9.00 sampai 16.00. Kemudian ada shift sore mulai jam 16.00 sampai 21.30. Dan shift malam jam 21.30 sampai jam 6.00. By the way, yang boleh shift malam cuma Fachkraft (tenaga ahli) atau karyawan yang sudah lulus Ausbildung. So, karena aku ga pernah dapet shift malam karena cuma FSJ. Tiap shift ada list kerjaannya masing-masing. 

Oke kita bahas dari shift pagi mulai jam 6.00. Rumah aku tuh jauh banget sama tempat kerja jadi kalau aku kebagian shift pagi harus berangkat dari rumah jam 5.00. Kebayang ga? Gausah dibayangin lah ya.. pokoknya mah effort banget deh apalagi kalau lagi musim dingin. Oke mulai jam 6.00 kita dapet übergabe (laporan) dari Mitarbeiter (karyawan) yang semalem kebagian shift, kejadian apa yang terjadi tadi malam dan tugas tambahan apa untuk pagi ini. Nah setelah itu kita mulai membangunkan Bewohner (orang cacat yang tinggal di situ) untuk berangkat ke tempat kerja. Membangunkannya juga ga segampang itu pemirsa.. ada beberapa orang yang gampang dibangunin dan mandiri langsung ke kamar mandi, pakai baju sendiri, dan langsung sarapan. Tapi ada juga beberapa orang yang butuh bantuan untuk ke kamar mandi buat mandi, sikat gigi, ganti popok, ganti baju, bahkan ke toilet pun butuh bantuan. Dan ada juga beberapa yang sulit dibangunin, kadang Mitarbeiter pun suka berantem sama orang-orang yang susah dibangunin ini. Termasuk aku juga pernah dipukul pake sepatu sama salah satu orang karena dia ga mau bangun tidur. Pokoknya rada hektik shift pagi ini, karena jemputan Bewohner untuk pergi ke Werkstatt (tempat kerja mereka) atau Tagestätte (tempat penitipan) semua dateng jam 8.00. Sebelum dijemput mereka semua harus selesai sarapan dan minum obat. Oya, ada juga beberapa orang yang memang harus disuapin kalau lagi makan. Jadi yaa... emang hektik banget deh pagi-pagi tuh. Belum lagi ada juga yang harus pindah kursi roda. Maksutnya kalau di rumah dia pake kursi roda biasa tapi kalau berangkat kerja pake kursi roda elektrik, supaya mempermudah gerak mereka yang ga bisa jalan. Terus kalau semua Bewohner udah dijemput, kita harus cuci piring dan beresin bekas sarapannya. 

Shift pagi selesai, dilanjut sama shift siang. Shift siang ini kerjanya agak santai yaa walaupun kadang bikin stress juga sih. Tergantung keadaannya. Jadi intinya shift siang ini kerjaanya mengurus Bewohner yang ga berangkat ke Werkstatt atau Tagestätte karena sakit atau lagi ambil jatah cuti. Enak tuh kalau emang bener-bener ga ada yang sakit dan ambil jatah cuti hehe.. Selain itu tugas kita di shift siang ini bantuin Hauswirtshaft (karyawan khusus untuk menjaga kebersihan di asrama) untuk mengganti seprei di kamar Bewohner, membagikan pakaian bersih yang udah dicuci dan disetrika, atau kadang bantuin masak untuk makan malam juga. Oya, ada satu tugas spesial buat shift siang ini. Yaitu bantuin satu Bewohner yang amat sangat spesial namanya Jutta. Jutta ini spesial banget karena dia punya mengidap autis plus skizzofernia. Merawat si Jutta dari mulai bangun tidur, mandi, pakai baju, sampai sarapan tuh butuh waktu 4-5 jam perhari. Pokoknya harus ekstra sabar banget menghadapi dia.

Lanjut dengan shift sore guys.. mulai jam 16.00, dimana saat Bewohner pada pulang dari Werkstatt dan Tagestätte. Shift sore ini juga kerjanya sama kaya shift pagi sangat hektik. Karena harus banyak yang minta bantuan buat mandi setelah pulang kerja atau peri ke toilet atau minta bantuan buat cuci baju, kadang ada juga yang ngajak main uno, minta dianterin belanja, dan segala macam lainnya. Terus Mitarbeiter juga harus menyiapkan makan malam dan membagikan obat  plus siapin sarapan untuk keesokan hari. Supaya pas besok paginya ga terlalu hektik. Selesai makan malam dan membereskan dapur, mulai lagi jam-jam hektik. Kita harus bantuin Bewohner siap-siap tidur, seperti bantuin ganti baju, mandi (buat yang tadi pagi dan sore belum sempet), sikat gigi, dll. Pokoknya semuanya harus selesai jam 21.30 dan Feierabend!!! Yeaayy!!

Jadi begitu lah sekilas tentang kerjaan aku selama FSJ. Awalnya aku shock banget waktu pertama kali disuruh mandiin Bewohner laki-laki. Secara selama ini ga pernah liat laki-laki bugil, terus karena tuntutan pekerjaan harus dihadapkan dengan situasi seperti ini. Tapi ya udah lah ya balik lagi ke niat awal, kita mah cuma mau kerja dan menolong orang sakit biar dapet Ridho Allah ya ga? 

Banyak banget suka dan dukanya juga selama FSJ ini. Salah satu sukanya adalah aku berhasil menaklukan Jutta. Yang awalnya susah banget untuk nyuruh dia bangun tidur dan mandi, karena the power of sabar, Jutta bisa lebih nurut dibanding sebelumnya. Dan dia juga lebih nurut sama aku dibanding sama Mitarbeiter lain. Selain itu entah kenapa aku sayang banget aja sama Bewohnernya, karena mereka ramah-ramah dan sabar menghadapi aku yang kemampuan bahasa Jermannya masih terbatas. HAHA. Tapi dari mereka pun aku belajar banyak. Jadi merasa lebih bersyukur karena ga punya keterbatasan fisik dan ga harus mengandalkan bantuan dari orang lain. 

Kemaren waktu hari terakhir kerja juga sedih banget rasanya meninggalkan mereka. Sampai ada yang meluk erat banget, nyium pipi, ngasih hadiah, ngasih surat perpisahan, bahkan si Jutta yang biasanya sibuk sama dunia dia sendiri juga kemaren ikutan sedih dan minta foto bareng untuk yang terakhir kalinya sebelum aku pergi. Terus dia juga nganterin aku sampai pintu keluar begitu aku pergi. 

[maxworkarm]

We offer #Aupair program in #USA #Germany #Spain #France #Italy

[777gwynnie]

if you wish you were manic, read some of my past manic decisions

(i have bipolar 1, sooooo my manic episodes get BAD and excruciatingly long and exhausting, so here is some highlights that i try to remember how bad i felt about these things to attempt to not repeat :<)

pre-diagnosis:

- signed a contract with a russian family to be their aupair IN russia, without telling anyone, but luckily got out of it

- insanely risky situations and sexual behavior (like i once went with a plumber i met on bumble a few hours before to his trailer in the middle of the woods, with no way out and i literally busted my lip open sucking d!ck)

- impulsively decided the way to come out was to post an instagram story, and got lots of unfollows ah (also in the throes of covid, and when i had to go back to school (univ of alabama :/ and went into a deep depressive episode and had to medically withdraw a month into the semester and go home and i ended up in treatment centers for exactly 3 months, 9/8/20 to 12/8/20, sooooo yeah and that’s where my medicine and diagnosis journey started)

post-diagnosis:

- manipulated my parents into letting me go back to school for spring semester and not go to the next treatment center i was supposed to go to, and i ended up withdrawing again after a month

- adopted a dog that attacked my dad and my sisters boyfriend and i had to take him back

- convinced myself and my parents that my new career should be surgical technology (i hate science) and enrolled in a surgical technologist program and took most of a class and then lost interest and left)

- i have opened 5 credit cards in the past year and a half and have myself thousands of dollars in debt and i’m only 21

- hooked up with one of the techs at one of my rehabs i was at twice (oh yeah during that 3 month stint i was at 4 places but 2 of them twice, and i got hospitalized once since then a week after my birthday because a new psychiatrist messed my meds regimen i had been on for 7 months up so badly)

[the-cackling-magpie]

When you get this, please respond with five things that make you happy! Then send this to the last ten people in your notifications anonymously. You never know who might benefit from spreading positivity!

Hi sweetie thanks for asking! Today s quite a good day so here are my top 5 things that make me happy:

1. today is snowing, which is quite rare in my city (like once or twice a year)

2. I might go to glasgow next month! I’m starting an aupair program and it’s in a city that I’m really excited about and I’ve already quite clicked with the host mom (yet to speak with the kids tho)

3. my dog Lucy, especially when she’s sleeping (bonus points if she s snoring)

4. discovering new music, but in particular discoverin Franz Ferdinand last november was pretty cool

5. being cozy under a warm blanket is just the best feeling in the world

[deadgirlwalkingagain]

🇨🇿

I am super proud to have been able to represent my country not only in the sport I love, but later also as a part of a cultural exchange program.

First a swimmer, then an aupair, but always Czech.

[thoughtfulcheesecakebear]

the other day, I commented on Kerstin status, asking her whether she was doing IKIGAI thing at her work, the next morning, I was asked : what ikigai is. after our talk that day, I keep thinking to which direction I want my life to be. what is actually my purpose of life? wait, do I even have any? or all this time, I have just lived the life with no directions and just follow the flow? it sounds scary. I scroll through post and someone out there said that it is okay to not have figured things out yet, but I guess it is better to ever think about too. so I was stumbling on a post in Twitter about ikigai again this afternoon. and this time, I want to give my time to think about it again, and clear my mind through this writing. so, ikigai is an exercise to find your worth or purpose you want to bring in your life. ikigai can be split into four categories :

1. something you love in doing. when I was asked : what do you like to do, or was machst du gerne? it always takes sometimes to finally find the right answer. though this question has no wrong answer but saying : I dont know what I like to do, it might sound bad. but seriously, I enjoy doing several things but never make it as a hobby. I enjoy being outdoor, but in summer I complaint that it is too hot outside and that I got darker skin due to sun exposure, and so on. I enjoy running, one day I run and then stop doing it for sometimes. I enjoy cycling, it is perfect summer activity, but again, I do not do it regularly. it is not that I dont have the time for it, it is summer now and day time is longer but I have long list of excuses. I always fall for excuses. my host mom once said : why do you have so many excuses?

2. something you are good at this is another question I find hard to answer. I believe that it can only be said from other people's perspective. oh, I guess I depend a lot on people. but seriously, what I am good at? I dont think I am good at cooking, or taking care children, or at any sport, or at any kind of art, in academic field, I dont think I am as a bright smart-ass student either. I am just a regular student with regular marks, nothing is really remarkable. I dont have any publications up to this moment. if I am being too dependent to people, so I ask you people, what do you think I am good at? that can bring purpose to my life? 3. something you can be paid for for now, I got paid for taking care children. not that full hours professional work, more like a helping hand in taking care children. I am currently doing an Aupair Jahr in Austria. I have an education in engineering before, but I never got a real job as an engineer. the only engineering related work I have experienced was during my internship with this German company in Indonesia. but it wasnt long since pandemic hit and all intern was sent home. after aupair and study, I am wondering : is there any professional work to try? will a company recruit me, as I dont have any experience? considering I am already 25, will it still be ideal to start a career in 27? what potential do I have so that I can work on it and be beneficial for my career ahead?

4. something the world needs when I got the notification that I am admitted to study master program in chemistry and physics of material, I was over the moon. I come across some materials research journal and excited to take part in it. based on my short research, the world is changing its resources to renewable energy. when I said renewable energy, I specifically mentioned the sun and the energy we get from it. photovoltaic has been my new thing. I took a course in coursera for photovoltaic, to understand basic concept of it, but as you may know, I stop and do not continue it again. managing the excitement is somehow hard, or it is not something I actually like? or I actually like this subject but my insucre-lazy side takes over myself completely. it is all hard work to achieve something, why making myself to do the hardwork is soo hard? ah, do you think I am living in this so called 'comfort zone'? this part needs urgent consideration since I will start my study in the beginning of October, which means 2 months for now and it is not that much time with holiday for most time in August, it leaves me only September to focus again on my study. one thing I am sure about, the world needs engineer, but I need to keep in mind that I am not the only engineer here and if I want to survive then bear in mind that it will take hard work, a very hard work!!! and putting all together, one and the others has its intersection. and putting all the intersection together, that what ikigai is for. have you found your ikigai? have you ever think about it? what was on your mind? are you working on it now? how is it now? how far have you come with your ikigai? how do you work on finding your ikigai? do you find it better living your life with ikigai? in my case, how do you fight your lazy-insecure side? do you have mentor? who is your mentor?

for now, I havent found my ikigai yet, I will think about it again and again and have more selftalks.

[jalanteruss]

Saat itu, ketika siapapun bertanya kepadaku “abis lulus mau kemana”, jawabanku akan selalu sama “ke Jerman, doain ya!”

Ya, Jerman adalah negara tujuanku setelah lulus kuliah.

Semua berawal dari seorang teman yang telah mengambil program Aupair di Jerman setelah dia lulus kuliah. Aupair adalah sebuah program pertukaran budaya, kita akan mendapatkan keluarga asuh disana, dan kita juga akan diperlakukan layaknya seorang anak, kita berhak mendapatkan uang saku setiap bulan, asuransu kesehatan, tiket perjalanan selama di Jerman, biaya les Bahasa Jerman dan masih banyak lagi. Tapi kita juga berkewajiban untuk membantu orang tua asuh kita seperti layaknya seorang anak, seperti mengantar adik kita ke sekolah, memasak, membantu pekerjaan mereka, dll. Dan yang menjadi goal setting aku adalah bonusnya, Kita bisa keliling Eropa!

Awal ketika aku sudah mantap untuk mengambil keputusan Aupair, aku mulai menggali sebanyak mungkin informasi tentang alur dan bagaimana tahapan untuk bisa mengikuti program tersebut. Aku komunikasi sama temen yang udah stay disana, mengikuti grup-grup di Facebook terkait update info Aupair tahun ini. Mendaftarkan diri di situs resmi untuk program Aupair. Bahkan beberapa kali aku udah saling kirim email sama calon keluarga asuh disana.

Salah satu modal utama sebelum mengikuti Aupair adalah bisa berbahasa Jerman minimal sampai bersertifikat A2. Nah, karna saat itu aku masih harus menyelesaikan skripsi, jadi aku belum bisa mengikuti kursus Bahasa Jerman. Tapi aku tetep mau belajar terus sebelum officially kursus. Aku belajar setiap hari pakai aplikasi Duolingo yang mengajarkan kita kosakata Bahasa Jerman dari mulai basic, bahkan sampai sekarang juga masih rutin belajar.

Dari segi biaya, tentunya tidak cukup sedikit. Aku mulai merinci dari mulai biaya kursus bahasa, visa, paspor, tiket pesawat dll. Ada beberapa rencana untuk mengumpulkan uang tambahan, selain bantuan dari orang tua.

Satu hal yang terpenting adalah, restu dari Bapak, Guruku. Tanpa restu dari Beliau, aku bahkan tidak akan bisa melangkahkan kaki untuk menggapai impianku.

Aku udah cukup optimis untuk bisa berangkat ke Jerman dan bisa keliling Eropa, saling bertukar budaya dan pemikiran, suatu hal yang sangat aku impikan sejak SMA untuk bisa hidup di salah satu negara Eropa.

Darrrrrrrrrrrrr

Seperti hujan lebat dan petir menyambar di siang bolong, ada satu peristiwa dimana hal itu bisa mematahkan seluruh rencanaku untuk Aupair. Seminggu sebelum acara wisudaku.

Seketika marah, dilema, sedih, campur aduk. Mimpi akan tetap menjadi mimpi. Mungkin aku bisa mewujudkanya di lain kesempatan. Tapi tidak untuk saat ini. SEMANGAT!!!