Cassandra and Clarke Robinson

What is Thanksgiving all about?

Posted by: crobinson on November 11, 2009

Many host families celebrate Thanksgiving Day as a time of coming together with friends and family to celebrate and share a special meal together. The history behind this holiday is presented below (from Wikipedia). This is also a great time to reflect on what you are grateful for, and share it with your friends and family. Some people take time out to write cards and express their thanks to their loved ones. As an au pair, it would be very thoughtful, to take time this month to write a card to your host family thanking them for their hospitality this year.

Thanksgiving or Thanksgiving Day, presently celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November, has been an annual tradition in the United States since 1863. It did not become a federal holiday until 1941. Thanksgiving was historically a religious observation to give thanks to God,^[1] and is still celebrated as such by many families, but it is now also considered a secular holiday as well.^[2][3]

Most Americans celebrate by gathering at home with family or friends for a holiday feast. Though the holiday’s origins can be traced to harvest festivals which have been celebrated in many cultures since ancient times, the American holiday is tied to the deliverance of the English settlers by Native Americans after the harsh winter at Plymouth, Massachusetts and that event has become the pre-eminent foundation story for English North America.

The First Thanksgiving was celebrated to give thanks to God and the Native Americans for helping the pilgrims survive the brutal winter. Although half of the pilgrims who arrived on the Mayflower had already died, many more would have had it not been for the native Americans teaching the pilgrims to harvest foods. The first Thanksgiving feast lasted three whole days providing enough food for 53 pilgrims and 90 Indians. The traditional Thanksgiving menu often features turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes and pumpkin pie. Americans may eat these foods on modern day Thanksgiving, but the first feast did not consist of these items. On the first feast turkey was any type of fowl that the pilgrims hunted. Pumpkin pie wasn’t on the menu because there were no ovens for baking, but they did have boiled pumpkin. Cranberries weren’t introduced at this time. Due to the diminishing supply of flour there was no bread of any kind. The foods included in the first feast included duck, geese, venison, fish, lobster, clams, swan, berries, dried fruit, pumpkin, squash, and many more vegetables.

Meet our Fall ‘09 Au Pair Arrivals

Posted by: crobinson on November 10, 2009

We have had 4 new au pair arrivals in Fall ‘09: Jean Sonqayi from South Africa, Roger Campos from Costa Rica, and Julia Taenzler & Natalia Swientek both from Germany.

September Arrivals:

Natalia Swientek is 21-years old from Duisburg, Germany with over 7000 hours of childcare experience, babysitting children from newborn to 7-years old. Natalia is trained in first aid & CPR and enjoys martial arts, swimming, and playing volleyball. After Natalia’s au pair year she is interested in studying graphic design. Natalia is living with a host family in San Mateo caring for 3 children.

Julia Taenzler is 21-years old from Kuchen, Germany with a variety of childcare experience as a tutor, cheerleading coach, camp counselor for children with special needs, and assisting in a Kindergarten classroom. Julia enjoys shopping, roller-blading, swimming, and skiing. After Julia’s au pair year she plans to study hotel management. Julia is living with a host family in San Mateo caring for 3 children.

October Arrivals:

Jean Sonqayi is 22-years old from Knysa, Western Cape, South Africa. Jean has worked with groups of children as a day care assistant, and would like to open her own child care center when she returns to South Africa. Jean is a Christian and enjoys playing net ball, hiking, and reading. Jean is living with a host family in Belmont, caring for 3-year old twins.

Roger Campos is 24-years old from Heredia, Costa Rica. Roger’s childcare experience consists of working as a camp counselor and babysitting children between the ages of 6-months to 4-years old. Roger is a university student, studying engineering and enjoys playing the drums, making sand castles, cooking, camping, running, and playing soccer. Roger is living with a family in Foster City caring for 3 children.