March 15, 2016

Au pairs love living in Massachusetts!

8 minutes
Au pair stories

Our au pairs have nothing but great things to say about living in Massachusetts, and of course, many Cultural Care staff would agree—Boston, it’s capital city, is home to Cultural Care Au Pair headquarters in the U.S.! The general consensus is that despite some cold, snowy winters, the seasons—as well as proximity to the beach and mountains, and the friendly people—are what makes Massachusetts unique and a fun place to spend a year. Read below for more about what make MA great!

Massachusetts-2-FINAL

Proximity to the ocean as well as the historic and charming city of Boston make MA a winner in our au pairs’ books!

I am absolutely in love with Massachusetts. People are amazing here: friendly, nice and they want to help you with everything! Boston is the best place to meet friends, and we are never bored.
—Marie Kalousova, au pair from Czech Republic
The people are open to everyone and accept you how you are. The nature is unique and so beautiful. We have a lot of mountains, and the fall was so pretty. We also have a lot of lakes where you can hang out in the summer and just relax.
—Marion Coboeke, au pair from Germany

HockeyGame-HarvardVSPrinceton-Laura Betancourt

Colombian au pair Laura Betancourt enjoying a Harvard vs. Princeton hockey game with friends.

I’ve been in 21 states during my 18 months here in U.S. and Massachusetts is so far the one that I really love. Surrounded by the best universities in the world, Boston is a very young and vibrant city with tons of things to do day and night all year round, even during the hard Bostonian winter. What can I say? I love my state!
—Laura Betancourt, au pair from Colombia
I love the atmosphere of the carefree people everywhere I go. The friendly service. I love the Freedom Trail and the Museum of Science At night, the fast pace of people moving around is electric and indescribable. Even church is something beautiful for me since I have been here. I haved love every moment in Massachusetts and always anxious for the next.
—Amanda Conco, au pair from South Africa
The sports teams in MA are the best! You can enjoy hockey games, football games, basketball games and baseball games.
—Tessa Heindle, au pair from Germany

Svenja Kleemann-1

German au pair Svenja Kleeman knows that with so many au pairs living in MA, making friends is easy and you always have a travel buddy!

My favorite part of Massachusetts are the seasons and the weather. Every season here is special. In the winter you have so much snow here, you can do all the great outdoor winter activities. In summer you can lay on the beach, the ocean is reachable in less than an hour and there are many really nice beaches. My favorite season is fall. To experience the Indian Summer was always on my bucket list, and it’s totally worth it. The bright and colorful leaves mixed with the sun, it’s just amazing. I definitely lost my heart in Massachusetts and I will always come back once I return to Germany.
—Svenja Kleemann, au pair from Germany
The people in Massachusetts are so friendly, and the cold weather is perfect! Also, I love my host family!
—Tania Capetillo, au pair from Mexico
Massachusetts is an amazing part of magical New England with interesting history and lots of stuff to do, with great options to travel. You can easily visit all the great states surrounding it. I came from Europe, so I feel like home. And Boston? It is beautiful city. I love it.
Petra Janickova, au pair from Czech Republic

Sophie Ruzek

Austrian au pair Sophie and friend wearing their Boston college and university gear.

Boston is the nicest town I’ve seen so far in America. It’s an old city with lots of history and I can always discover new things.
—Sophie Ruzek, au pair from Austria
I love Massachusetts because the air is fresh and the sights are beautiful. Harvard University and MIT are located here, and it’s such an academic atmosphere.
—Dongpo Yang, au pair from China
Here in Massachusetts, there are a crazy amount of au pairs. Even in my little town of Wellesley there are so many! So you always have someone to explore places with.
—Verena Girnth, au pair from Germany
What I really like about Massachusetts is that you literally can do everything you want to do. You can go snowboarding on Wachusett Mountain, go to an kayak tour on the Charles River, go shopping on Newbury Street in Boston, spend time with friends in a coffee shop and meet new people.
—Linda Bürkin, au pair from Germany

Verena Kleen

Verena Kleen knows that Massachusetts is the best place to celebrate Halloween. Just outside the city lies the town of Salem where the witch trials took place in the late 1600s. Salem now hosts the biggest and best Halloween event nationwide.

Massachusetts is old but also new, big but also small, cold but also warm. Boston is beautiful, and there are so many things to do. Massachusetts is also really cultural, and there are people here from all over the world. This is why I love Massachusetts!
—Verena Kleen, au pair from Germany
Massachusetts is rich in culture and the best place to study. There are a tons of universities and colleges here, especially in the Boston area. The towns in MA are really nice and there is a lot of nature. I immediately fell in love with Sudbury. But my favorite place to go is Cambridge! Harvard and other colleges are located there, so you see a lot of young people walking around with their Starbucks coffees.
—Katrin Scheitnagl, au pair from Austria

Paola Cogollo

Even though Colombian au pair Paola was not used to the cold, snowy winters in MA, she took advantage of all of the great activities you can only do in this kind of weather.

If is summer you can go to the beach, Manchester, Cape Cod, Scituate, etc, are some options. Also you can enjoy in Boston with your friends, having a picnic day or enjoy in Boston Common or Public Garden Parks. Spring is a beautiful time to enjoy with sports, the environment and activities that always you can fine online. If you want to see the most beautiful seeing you have to drive to Franconia—the same way to New Hampshire—you can find a lot of trees with the fall colors. Also you can going to Salem, the famous town where long time ago many witches was living there, this is a good place for Halloween. Now, if you are afraid about winter, don’t worry, you can find hundred things to do like iceskating, hockey games, have fun with the snow or drive just two hours away to have fun practicing skiing, snow tubing, snowboarding. The last thing that I want to say is that the people who live here is really nicely and healthy, the most of people have good food habits and always they are available to help you. Enjoy here!
—Paola Cogollo, au pair from Colombia

Laura Betancourt-2

Au pair Laura Betancourt shows off her best fall foliage shot.

Most beautiful sites to see in Massachusetts:
Boston Harbor; leaves in fall; sunsets on Cape Cod during the summer; Boston skyline; snow!; all the lighthouses; downtown Boston; the architecture; Beacon Hill neighborhood; Sudbury Reservoir
Best places in Massachusetts for coffee or a meal:
Haymarket and The Roost in Northampton; Coffee, Tea & Me (Melrose); Flour Bakery; all the beautiful churches; Little Italy (the North End); Quincy Market; Comillas; Starbucks; Ship Restaurant in Lynnfield; Linden Square in Wellesley; Quebrada in Wellesley; Five Guys Burgers

Petra Janickova

Petra Janickova loves the city of Boston, but has also fallen in love with the surrounding beaches, including this beach on Plum Island.

Great events in Massachusetts you won’t want to miss:
Fall Festival in Ashfield and Green River Festival in Greenfield; The tree lightning on Boston Common; 4th of July parade in Boston; Talks at Harvard and MIT; Harvard University sports games; Six Flags in Springfield; sports game in TD Banknorth Garden stadium; Chinese New Year Eve; The Boston Ballett at the Opera House; snowboarding with my au pair friends; Patriots football game at Gillette Stadium, Red Sox baseball game at Fenway Park, Celtics game and concerts at TD Banknorth Garden
Great classes to consider in Massachusetts:
Western Science and Technology and Educational Psychology at University of Massachusetts, Amherst; weekend classes at Bunker Hill Community College; Spanish, Journey through North Amercia and au pair weekend classes at Mass Bay Community College; International Organizations at Harvard Extension School; English classes in Boston Academy of English; Social Psychology at Wellesley College; au pair weekend class with East Coast Adventures

Laura Betancourt-3

The beautiful Boston skyline will take your breath away!

Perfect way to spend a day in Massachusetts:
Wake up early in the morning, grab a quick breakfast, work out at the gym. Then I’d grab a smoothie in my favorite coffee shop and walk around the neighborhood, with its huge mansions, many parks. I would go into Boston around noon. There I would go to the waterfront and walk along the harbor, visit Charlestown (the most beautiful suburb of Boston). There I’d climb up the Bunker Hill Monument and enjoy a great view over Boston and the area for free. Afterwards I would walk down Newbury Street, go through the Boston Public Garden and grab a cannoli at Mike’s Pastry in the North End. That’s an amazing place. I would walk some more through Beacon Hill, the part of Boston where the rich people live, like the Patriots players, and many other. For dinner, I’d go back to the North End. There are many great international restaurants. You can find Italian, Asian, German, Mexican. Almost everything.
—Svenja Kleemann, au pair from Germany
Coffee at Starbucks. Visit Mike’s Pastry. Walk by Boston Harbor. Boston DUCK TOUR! Walk though the public garden and the Boston Common.Walk down Newbury Street. Kayak or sail on the Charles River. Boston College football game.
—Sophie Ruzek, au pair from Austria
I would definitely go to Newburyport and then go relax on Plum Island beach. Then I would go to Salem (witch city) and have some lobster.
—Petra Janickova, au pair from Czech Republic
Go shopping then have lunch in Boston Common and at night go to dance around Beacon Street. Also, I love going to the beaches in the summer. They are really awesome.
—Paola Cogollo, au pair from Colombia
Go with friends to our favorite breakfast place then going to Morse Pond in Wellesley and eat lunch somewhere in town. Then spend the rest of the day at a beach in Sherburn canoeing and swimming.
—Verena Girnth, au pair in Germany
Go outside for a walk and enjoy the fresh air. Go to the theater and watch a movie (cinema near the Natick Nall) or meet friends and make food together or go to a restaurant. Watch the sunset in Boston.
—Linda Bürkin, au pair in Germany

Cultural Care au pairs are in love with Massachusetts! What do you love about MA? Or the state you are currently living in? Click here to share your state love with us.