When I was in my early 20’s, before I got married, I was living in England, and I visited Germany. It was hard for young ladies to travel by themselves around Europe, in the late 1960s, so I signed up with friends, with an au-pair agency.
The agency paired me up with a family in Frankfurt Germany. The family consisted of a wife who was a doctor, a husband who was a Lutheran minister…and their 5 kids! 2 boys and 3 girls. The family were very nice. My job was to take care of their 5 kids.
I did not speak German, so I learned German from the kids. But the first words they taught me were bad words! I didn’t know it, but I went around saying bad words…and soon realized that the kids were laughing at me!
Afterwards, I realized what I was saying, and so I stopped saying it. Then, the kids started teaching me proper German. I learned to speak a little German, and I had a good time with the family; the kids loved me. The children were very disciplined. They were very active in walking, hiking, and playing balls.
The family had a very nice home. I had a nice room upstairs. I had my own bedroom. I lived there for a couple of months.
I used to take the kids to a park, in Frankfurt. The family cooked; they did not ask me to. My only job was to take care of the kids. We all ate bratwurst, and other nice German food.
On weekends, the mother would take us hiking in the mountains. The mountains were beautiful. We would have a nice picknick, high up, in the peaks, because the Germans love hiking.
The family treated me like a member of the family. I got a lot of love from the kids, and respect from the parents. That was such a great experience.