MILENA, 21 YEARS

Dear future host family, My name is Milena, I am nineteen years old and I am from Germany. I am looking for a loving, active and humorous family that I can actively support in their everyday life. I would describe myself as a very independent, energetic, extroverted, eager to learn and strong-willed person. I love to challenge myself and enjoy learning about new situations, places and people. I find it easy to strike up a conversation with strangers and make them feel comfortable. I like to make people laugh and don't take myself too seriously. As much as I love spending time with my friends, I enjoy spending time with myself every now and then. Going for a quiet walk, listening to a podcast, reading my favorite magazine or browsing through other people's Spotify playlists are all part of a successful downtime for me. Celebrating with friends, quiet walks are as much a part of me as my creative mind. I have already tried myself in almost every field of art. I love to craft, take pictures, draw, bake and act. I can also sing, but only in the most crooked tones. Together with my parents I live near Mainz, which is about 30 minutes away from Frankfurt. My older sister is 21 years old and studies elementary school teaching. I am lucky to be part of a big family. My mother is the oldest of four siblings. After my sister, I am the oldest granddaughter of my grandparents. I love to play and fool around with my younger cousins. On holidays we usually meet at my grandma's house and enjoy our time together, playing games, going for walks or having exciting discussions. I enjoy the hustle and bustle and the warmth that these big gatherings bring. My godmother is my father's sister, she has five daughters. On this side of the family, I am the youngest, which is why I can easily put myself in the shoes of the youngest. I visit my godmother from time to time after work to talk with her over coffee and cake. I appreciate the people in my family environment and I am very grateful to them. I graduated from a high school near where I live in 2021. I finished school with a grade of 1.4, which is the highest possible school-leaving qualification in Europe. In the same year, I started a voluntary social year with a focus on "sports" at an elementary school. I take care of the children of different age groups in their daily school life and support them as good as I am able. In the afternoons I do homework with a small group. Accordingly, I am no stranger to working with children. Besides my voluntary service I have two part-time jobs. I tutor math and work in a home office for a company for which I manage the social media accounts and organize advertising campaigns. If there is still time, I work at my uncle's hotel/restaurant as a waitress. In the fall of this year I will start studying law, which I am already looking forward to. Due to my high level of employment, my free time is sometimes limited. That makes it all the more important for me personally to schedule fixed times when I can engage in sports. Sports are my most important personal balance. If possible, I go to the gym four times a week. Besides weight training, I love to go inline skating and horseback riding. I am part of a show dance group with which I dance many performances and master tournaments. Besides physical activities, I am passionate about creative work. Cooking and baking are my passions. Every birthday is used to bake a cake for my loved ones. I love to photograph my friends, paint pictures, create greeting cards or restore furniture. In my free time, I also enjoy spending time on fashion. I love discovering the latest trends and putting together my old clothes into new styles. As you could already read I grew up with toddlers and could already learn a lot of experiences in dealing with them. My work in elementary school complements my knowledge. In addition, I have a trainer license, which allows me to train children and youth groups in any sports in Germany. At school I participated in a program which I completed with a youth group leader license. You can already see that I have a lot of theoretical and practical experience for my age, which allows me to deal with children in an appropriate way. My language skills are good. I understand basically everything in English. For example, I can watch movies and series in English without comprehension problems. I therefore have an extensive vocabulary, I just lack the practice to use it myself. My goal is to improve my English during the time I can accompany you. Sometimes I do not dare to speak English for fear of making a mistake. However, if I have no other option, I promise that I will put aside any shyness. Working with children is at the same time easy for me and yet always brings me to my limits. We have to listen to children more, sometimes they see the world so much clearer than we adults do. I love this ease of learning from children and at the same time showing them their possibilities. I see my time as an au pair as a great opportunity for me. My need to meet new people with you, my future host family, and to get to know a completely different everyday life than the one at home promotes my adaptability. I find the idea of finding a kind of second home totally beautiful. Until now I only know other cultures in passing and I hope that I can broaden my horizons, improve my English skills and grow with new tasks. I hope to get to know you and build a respectful and warm relationship with you. I would like you to help me improve my English and I would be happy if you would show me around the area where you live and introduce me to your culture and everything that belongs to it. A room of my own would be very important to me personally, so that I have the possibility to withdraw for short moments. I would be happy if you have as much interest in a healthy diet as I do and if you support me in the fact that I am dependent on gluten-free products. It would be important to know that last year I was diagnosed with celiac disease. Accordingly, I am only allowed to eat gluten-free food. Personally, I have come to terms with this disease well and am able to take care of myself.