MAGDALENE , 31 YEARS

Dear Family,

My name is Magdalene. I am a 23 year-old from the Philippines. I am a University graduate and I took a Bachelors degree in Business Administration. I come from a family of 6: My parents, 2 brothers and one sister. I am the eldest so I am used to taking care of my younger siblings.

In about a year or two I plan to pursue a masters degree, but I am yet to make up my mind concerning my future area of specialization. So, at the moment, I would like to take some time out of academics to have a different life experience, and to have time to calmly reflect on my future academic/professional orientation. To this end, I think spending a year abroad would be particularly interesting.

My first language is, of course, Filipino or so called Tagalog, and I am also fluent in English. I started learning English since kindergarten, and it was also our language of instruction at school and university.

I am also interested to learn new language. I feel that a cultural immersion would do me a lot of good. Hence my desire to have first hand experience of other culture's life would be so much interesting. I am particularly interested in experiencing family life in Scandinavian countries, since it offers a cultural context that is undoubtedly different from mine. For this reason, I would very much like to find a nice family to live with and work for in Denmark.

When it comes to child care experience, I have looked after children in both formal and informal contexts. On my final year, as part of my university project, I spent a whole semester of teaching young children at primary school the Theology subject. I also organized for them and took part in recreational indoor and outdoor activities: we sang, danced, played games, role played, drew, painted, and narrated stories. These experience brought me to a realization that children are precious gifts and they add joy to our everyday lives.

I have helped my mom look after my brothers and sister since birth. Although my looking after them is now unnecessary as they are adults and also they are studying at the university. I was nevertheless much more involved in caring for them on a daily basis. In addition, I also have many nephews and nieces which I love so much and mostly look after when I come home, so from time to time I find myself in their ever animated company. I can comfortably say that I sincerely enjoy spending time with children.

When it comes to leisure, I take pleasure in the simple things in life. I enjoy being outdoors, being with my friends, going for walks, visiting places I have not been to, and reading a good book. Did I already mention that I love to read and write? I love fictional books. I also enjoy listening to music and yes, I love singing!

As far as preferences are concerned, I am looking for a live-in arrangement with a host family, that would be happy to have me stay with and work for them for at least 6 months. I am also quite flexible, very hardworking, easy to be with and very open-minded as I have been to so many countries. I have been to California, USA and had my Cultural Exchange program, while I was there I did some babysitting experience and it taught me the American way of life and of course my love for children.

I would be happy to have the opportunity to speak with you, to answer whatever questions you may have about me or my childcare experiences; to learn more about your family, your interests and to know more about what you expect from the au pair arrangement.

Thank you very much for your interest in my application!
I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours Sincerely,
Magdalene