Au pair uses blog to chart her experiences

Sara Ekstrom graduated from high school in her hometown of Vstervik, Sweden last June.

"After my graduation, I have worked at a local grocery store here in Vstervik, mostly as a cashier," Ekstrom told the Darien News via e-mail. "It has been a good first job and I have enjoyed it very much. But I had other plans than staying here in this small town. I wanted to travel and see other parts of the world before I settle down and start studying."

So next week, Ekstrom is boarding a plane to fly from her small, coastal town of Vstervik to America, where she will begin her one-year stint as an au pair in the small, coastal town of Darien.

"I think Darien seems like a nice little town. It only feels like a bonus that it lies so near to New York. ... I hope Darien has got a fine nature and surroundings to enjoy," she wrote.

"I also hope it's a bit warmer in Darien compared to Sweden; I'm so tired of all this snow!"

She might not be able to escape the snow, which is currently covering most of the town's usually grassy areas, but she will undoubtedly find several other differences between her new life here as an au pair for a family with two young children, and her home life back in Sweden.

Instead of keeping a diary to capture her American experiences, Ekstrom decided to create a blog, which she launched in November, while she was going through the process of "matching" with a host family.

"I started my blog mainly so that my family and friends could follow my life in the USA. At first I thought I would just try it out and see how I liked it. It was also a good way to practice my English writing. When you write in English, you can reach out to more people as well. My plan was to start blogging from the beginning, so people could follow my progress and all my preparations toward becoming an Au Pair in America," Ekstrom told the Darien News.

In the few months since she first started her site, she's updated readers on her progress toward getting her visa, booking her flight, receiving a holiday card from her host family, her new winter jacket and other details that pass through her mind during a day in her life. She's posted about 50 times, asking readers which hairstyle they prefer on her, and finishing sentences with exclamation points as she repeats how excited she is to embark upon her journey across the Atlantic.

"I try not to be too public and free-spoken or emotional in my blog. ... You have to be able to separate what's too private and what's personality. You can be private without being impersonal," according to Ekstrom.

She plans on erring on the side of privately personal when she updates from America.

"I will definitely continue writing my blog when I'm in USA. That's my idea, and that's when everything really begins! I think this will help me keep in touch with my family, because they will get a more visual insight of what I'm doing and daily updates," Ekstrom told the Darien News. "Maybe it will help them not to miss me so much. I will also be writing ordinary letters as well, mostly to my grandparents, I think. It's always more appreciated to get something concrete. We will also be using Skype. I have to start writing my blog posts in both English and Swedish too, so that my grandparents and those who aren't so good in English can understand.

"Another thing I thought about is that my blogs are going to be a memory saver. It will be something that I can always go back to and read and remember my year as an Au Pair. It's really smart in that way."

Ekstrom's blog is written with a positive tone, and she said she's not really nervous about coming to the United States, though it will be her first time in America, and only her second time on a plane. Though she's not nervous yet, though she wonders if that's because it hasn't really struck her that all of this is real, though she's been "counting down the days since November."

"Now my adventure is about to begin. I'm leaving for USA on February 22," she told the News. In the mean time, she'll probably post a few last-minute updates from her home across the ocean as she finishes tying up loose ends, and snaps a few more photos of her new favorite outfits.