u/saor-alba-gu-brath

So I was born and raised in Hong Kong to a Chinese family and have been exposed to Cantonese my entire life. However, English is my first language because I’d only studied in an international school. We studied Mandarin there, so I only really spoke Cantonese at home and at restaurants. My Cantonese level is currently around a B2.

I can speak it in daily conversations, understand 95% of the news, and talk to my parents. But I have sometimes come across as rude or impolite because I said something too colloquial at work. I can read text messages and blog posts but newspaper articles, tax returns and academic essays are beyond me. I often get rejected from jobs because my Cantonese isn’t native. I have always had a hard time making friends in my own city because it gets tiring for them to explain Chinese concepts all the time. I’ve also struggled in dating because my countrymen don’t really go for someone who converses primarily in English. I’ve only really clicked with American Born Chinese who have the same Chinese proficiency as me if not lower because that’s their experience too. That being said though, I've never lived outside of Hong Kong (hence the struggle socially).

I survive living in the city I was born in but I’m very often held back by the fact that I‘ve never been native. How long would it take to get to the proficiency of other locals?

Have any au pairs used au paradise? I sent an application to them on the 6th and they haven’t replied with anything yet. They tell you that you only need to apply once and will reach out if they find any families that match your profile, but if not they’ll file it and keep you updated every 1-2 months to ask if you’re still available.

I guess it would be tough for me since I can’t drive but apart from that I think I have strong work experience (2 years of teaching). I’m also fully fluent in English. Might be the fact that I’m ethnically Chinese? I am from an East Asian country but it has never been difficult or long for people of my nationality to get a visa.

Has anybody else used Au Paradise or similar companies and how long has it taken them to reach out?

I’m registered with GreatAuPair and aupair.com. I’ve noticed on aupair.com that a lot of families’ profiles will say that I don’t meet some of their requirements but I can’t see what those requirements are. I’m looking to AP in the US, preferably in NY/SF or similar. So far I haven’t had my profile looked at.

I have some pictures on my profile of me playing with my cousins and just doing daily activities with my friends.
Age: 24
Gender: Female
Education: bachelor’s degree
Languages: English (first language), Cantonese (near fluent), Mandarin (intermediate)
Nationality: Hong Kong
Experience: teaching (full time, over 2000 hours)
I haven’t uploaded references yet, I wonder if that’s what it is?

Some aspects of my profile that families might be rejecting:

No driver’s license. I don’t need one to join the program itself but it’s definitely an advantage I’m aware. I see some families don’t require one but I still don’t match their requirements and I can’t see what it is.
I heard Chinese APs aren’t very popular? I did see a family who only wanted a Chinese AP but I “don’t meet one or more of the requirements”.
Haven’t uploaded references and background checks yet. Still waiting for it to be processed by the local police force.

It’s not very difficult for people from my country to get visas in the US and the denial rate has always been very very low. What could be the issue with my profile?

I'm looking into the au pair program because I want to study in the US and I feel like au pairing would give me exposure to living and working in the country to see whether it's right for me or not. I'd like to find my own way of going to the States but that's a long way away.

I've heard of some au pairs in the US managing to stay as students because either their family supports them later on an F1 visa, or their host family pays for it/offers to.

I'm dumbfounded as to where these people have found host families offering to pay their tuition. How do they even bring it up? I'd love that kind of support but who would spend up to 40k per year sending their au pair to school? The au pair isn't allowed to work during that time and while community college is cheap-ish, they are still extremely expensive for international students. I also think most families would balk at being asked to do such a massive favour. Where are au pairs even finding these people?

I am a 24 year old citizen of Hong Kong wanting to apply to the J1 Au Pair program!

I noticed that a lot of companies such as Cultural Care and Au Pair in America do not support Hong Kong applicants. Not because of visa/government bans but because they've just never operated in the country in the first place.

The US government does not bar Hong Kongers from applying to the program itself, but the website does not list any companies that sponsor people from my country. It does say that some companies don't exclusively work with the countries listed, but I'm not sure which companies those would be?

If anyone knows how I can apply for the au pair program or could help me out, that would be wonderful! I've been really wanting to go and make connections in the States. I've been thinking about this for a long time!