|
By APRIL STEWART Staff Writer The bright rays of the mid-April sun shone through the blinds and woke 21-year-old Jenny Glezner minutes before her alarm set for 7 a.m., an alarm also set to start her on her new life.
Not getting much sleep the night before, Glezner rolled out of bed and accomplished all of her morning rituals in record time. Somehow gripping five suitcases filled with clothes, toiletries and personal possessions, she waddled down the stairs to bid her family her last farewells. Glezner then said goodbye to her home town of Sarnia, Ont., and travelled four hours to Toronto where she would board a five-hour flight to her new home in Vancouver, B.C. Glezner graduated from St. Christopher's High School in 2006 and took a year off before enrolling at Lambton College for the Pre-Health program. "I really liked the program and want to continue to pursue working within a hospital, hopefully as a nurse, but I didn't have the money to finish the program at the time," says Glezner. Since jobs were hard to come by in Sarnia and surrounding areas, Glezner decided to look online. She came across sites asking for students to study abroad, and then she stumbled across something that would spark her interest: families from different cities, or even countries, looking for an au pair. An au pair is a foreign-national domestic assistant working for, and living as part of, a host family. Not being too fond of her home town anymore and desperately wanting to travel and experience a big change in her life, Glezner didn't hesitate to look farther and eventually came in contact with families looking to hire. "It was about the next day that I got word back from at least six different families, ranging from China to 20 minutes away from my house," says Glezner.
After numerous emails and phone calls, she finalized her plans with the first family she thought she suited. Within months, Glezner was on her way to Vancouver, having had her flight paid for by her host family. "I was nervous to meet them at first, but more excited than anything," says Glezner.
She arrived in Vancouver and found herself looking after two young boys in a home of four. She also takes time out of her new busy life to babysit for another family, who has two young girls. "I absolutely adore the families. I love it here, I never ever want to go back, and I get paid pretty well too!" Glezner has been in Vancouver for two years and doesn't have any plans to come back to Ontario. "I wish I had done this sooner. I'm going to earn enough money here, then enrol in a program here so I can become a nurse," says Glezner. Information about the au pairing programs can be found at
www.aupairworld.net. |
