If you’re looking for beautiful beaches, southern hospitality and friendly faces, mountain ranges and state parks, and college sports with loyal and excited fans, look no further than North Carolina! A state located in southeastern United States, North Carolina truly has it all. It’s famous beaches on the coast, like Outerbanks, attract visitors from all over the world. Wilmington, North Carolina is a hot spot for those who love celebrities—many American movies and TV shows are filmed there, like The Hunger Games and One Tree Hill. There are beautiful college and universities in North Carolina with great American football and basketball teams—the whole state loves to watch and cheer them on. North Carolina also has fantastic barbecue and southern-style food—au pairs can get a little taste of everything in North Carolina.
Can you tell Sarah, au pair from Switzerland, is a fan of her home state of North Carolina?! @saarahgraf
“North Carolina is absolutely beautiful—it has the beaches on the eastern coastline, the city life in the middle and the mountain ranges inland; a perfect combination of areas to see and explore. The people are super friendly, and most are always interested in meeting people from all over the world. We have many major colleges all over the state that are highly supported by the community, local college sport teams and professional teams for football and hockey. The nightlife in Raleigh, Charlotte and Wilmington is cool, casual and quirky, lots of fun bars, clubs, new restaurants and cafes to eat at all the time. For the adventurers, North Carolina offers skydiving, horseback riding, hiking, tubing, white water rafting, zip lining and even a handful of waterparks. The outdoors is a big highlight of this state and its natural beauty. We have the state fair in October where you can try American classics like ‘deep fried oreos’ and ‘fried turkey legs’. There is a lot of entertainment going on like outdoor movies, concerts, sleigh rides at Christmas time. I couldn’t be happier that my host family lives here and brought me here!”
–Simone Cekanauskas, au pair from Australia
“I lived in North Carolina when I did my au pair year, I could not have loved it more. First of all, the amazing landscapes are just breathtaking, I love to go to different parks to watch the sunsets, go for walks and just to read and spend some time away. NC beaches are my favorite part of this state… Oak Island, South Port and all the Outerbanks beaches are perfect. Pick up some shells and take a look around, that’s a picture that your mind will never forget and you don’t need a camera to keep it. I couldn’t have had a better experience!”
–Carolina Ortiz, au pair from Colombia
Hellen, au pair from Brazil says, “North Carolina has fun for everyone—great beaches and mountains. For those who like to travel, you have easy access to busses where you can travel all over the country without spending a lot.”
“Everywhere you look in North Carolina is beautiful! Uptown Charlotte is a lot of fun. You have so many choices about how to spend your free time. The football stadium, the basketball stadium and the ice hockey hall are not far so you can enjoy some games. I went to a football game and the atmosphere was just amazing!”
– Selina Yildrim, au pair from Germany
“North Carolina has fun for everyone, including beaches and mountains. I am 3 hours driving to Myrtle Beach and 2 hours driving to Pilot Mountain. For those who like to travel, you have easy access to buses that will help you travel all over the country and spending little. But for those who want to fly, the Raleigh-Durham airport has flights anywhere cheap through Southwest! For adventurous, home bodies or night owls, North Carolina has everything you need. North Carolina has a lot of colleges too. You can take ELS, Toefl or IELTS—or arts, marketing, cupcake-making, or even painting courses. I love this state and if I had to choose a second home, it would be in North Carolina.”
– Hellen Barbin, au pair from Brazil
Austrian au pair Kati took a wonderful roadtrip to North Carolina with a friend. @katiness_
“What I love about North Carolina is that we have awesome beaches and Great (Smokey) Mountains, and that it’s possible to live in a big city that is full of trees. The weather is always nice and you can experience all four seasons. People really care about you here. We have great sports teams that are so much fun to watch. I LOVE the southern accent. And last but not least I love the food! Biscuits, barbecue and Chick-Fil-A, of course.”
–Helen Arndt, au pair from Germany
“When I found out I matched with a family in NC I thought, wow where is that? I had never heard about it before and I was scared that I’d end up in the middle of nowhere. After I arrived I found out how much fun it was to live here! NC has a lot of college towns and they are so much fun and they have the most beautiful campuses. You can grab a coffee and have a nice walk around campus. The other thing is it’s really easy to get in touch with people and they love to tell you about places you have to visit. From March till October the weather is awesome. There are tons of gorgeous beaches, I really enjoyed spending days at the beach. One time I made a trip to the beach in the beginning of February and I was wearing shorts! If you appreciate nature and don’t want the busy city life, North Carolina will be the perfect place for you to live!”
–Stephanie Graf, au pair from Germany
Au pairs love living in North Carolina!
Most beautiful sites to see in North Carolina:
The Sarah Duke Garde in the spring; the autumn with brown leaves on the trees; the mountains in the fall; the great outdoors and greenways; The Great Smokey Mountains National Park; Charlotte in the night time; Chimney Rock State Park; Wilmington with all of the television and movie sets you can visit; all of the beautiful beaches!
The people in North Carolina are really:
Friendly and helpful; they’ll give you directions if you ever get lost or can’t find your way; polite and good looking!; kind, nice and easygoing; open-minded; feels like family; wonderful and awesome people; they have the wonderful southern charm!
Aussie au pair Chloe, enjoying the hot North Carolina climate with her friends. @Chloe-Anne-Trigg
Great events in North Carolina you won’t want to miss:
Carolina Panthers Football game; basketball games between colleges Duke & UNC; the Carolina State Fair; Nutcracker at Carolina Ballet; Zombie Walk; Marble Kids Museum; the Color Run; Slide the City; Statesville Hot Air Balloon Festival; Pumpkin picking; the Lantern Festival; the Amazing Maize Maze!
Great classes to consider in North Carolina:
Durham Community College: Spanish
Central Piedmont Community College: English Class, Gluten Free Cooking, Chinese Cooking, Korean Cooking
Wake Technical Community College: English as a Second Language, Accent Reduction Training, Expanding Reading and Vocabulary, The Next Generation TOEFL, Italian Cooking, Photography, American Sign Language, Biotechnology, Bake Shop Fun, Holiday Floral Design
German au pair Helen loves “That the weather in North Carolina is always nice and you can experience all four seasons.”
Perfect way to spend a day in North Carolina:
“Wake up really early in the morning and drive to the beach in Wilmington to watch the awesome sunrise. It’s totally worth it to make day a day trip there. If you drive the same amount of time in the opposite direction you can spend your day in the Blue Ridge Mountain Range and visit Grandfather Mountain. Hiking there is so much fun, you won’t regret it!”
–Stephanie Graf, au pair from Germany
“It would begin with a morning walk or run around the beautiful park and lakes, and then brunch at a cute cafe or bakery. During the summer, I’d head to the beach and explore the boardwalk and the fudge stores. In the spring, I’d head to the mountains for a hike and tube down the lake to cool off, then finish with a dinner at Cheesecake Factory where there are more options than you can possibly imagine. Maybe then we’d head into the city and begin the night with a comedy show, then try some local craft beer or cocktails and then go dancing! There’s so much to do in NC!”
–Simone Cekanauskas, au pair from Australia
“I’d spend my perfect day in North Carolina with my host mum driving to Asheville in the morning to spend the rest of the day at the awesome spa at Grove Park which is right in the mountains. At night we would have a nice dinner in Asheville and then have hot cocoa in front of the fireplace at the hotel.”
–Helen Arndt, au pair from Germany
“A great breakfast with some of my closest au pair friends and then take the 2 hour drive to Wrightville Beach. There we would take a swim, relax and have dinner in a restaurant there.”
– Stephanie Legl from Germany
“A barbecue with friends, and finishing up watching any North Carolina sports team!”
– Wesley Teixeira, au pair from France
Cultural Care au pairs are in love with North Carolina! What do you love about NC, or the state you are currently living in? Click here to share your state love with us