Dear Host Family
Available from April 2025.
My name is Shiloh and I am currently 21 years old. I was born in South Africa and currently stay near the coastal city, of Durban. Hopefully, this letter will allow anyone who reads it, to know me better.
I was born into an Afrikaans family but was also brought up in English, making me bilingual. Both my parents have remarried and I currently live with my Mom, her husband, my biological brother and two step-siblings. Both parents are very involved in my life and they are good friends, for that, I am very grateful. The family has always been a big part of my life and I am close with all my relatives. My family isn’t very big, which I believe strengthens our bonds. My Mom is a financial assistant and my Dad runs our family's farm. They raised me to be kind, respectful and loving towards others, something I believe my host family will appreciate. My family is also very artistic and most of us are musically gifted, which is why I have such a strong passion for the Arts.
I live in a lovely, quiet neighbourhood about 20 minutes away from Durban. The people here, including myself, often go for walks with our dogs or visit nearby coffee shops. I like to go outside to our viewpoint with a cup of coffee and watch the valley beneath. The quiet is really nice, but I do miss the energy of the cities I visited in the Netherlands and being able to travel the country using the railway system.
Available in March 2025.
From June 2021 to June 2022, I lived in the Netherlands and worked as an Au Pair. I stayed with a Dutch family in their home and looked after 3 boys. Mathis (newborn), Sam (4 years) and Toby (5 years). I would be in charge of the daily routine- taking them to school in the mornings and picking them up afterwards. Whilst the older boys were at school, I was at home with the baby. After school, I'd make lunch for them and we'd do activities together. We'd finish off the day with an English lesson and then their parents would come home. Thursday, my favourite day, was 'baking day'. We'd try to make all sorts of sweet treats and would also do a forest day when I'd take the kids to a nearby forest and we'd look for mushrooms or play with some other kids. I really enjoyed spending this bonding time with them.
At the end start of 2024, I started studying with an online university. I will study for 3 years and earn a Bachelor's degree in Art History and International Politics. I will use this knowledge to become a Creative Director as my future career. Art and music have been my main interests ever since I was a child. I paint and draw a lot, I have designed things for events in the past and I frequently try to learn about art history, classic literature and psychology. I play the ukulele and sing all the time. When it comes to sports, I casually play basketball and football with friends of course, but archery is where my passions lie. I find that what people often don't have time for, is what my passions are made up of.
As for why I want to work abroad; there are many good things about South Africa and so much to see and eat and experience. But I realized that I could never be a true patriot because I formed a connection with every country I travelled to whilst I was in Europe. I loved all the friends I made and the people I met through my host family. The reason I am now choosing one of the Scandinavian countries is that I mainly travelled through Western Europe during my first Au Pair experience. I want to experience a new part of the continent. Danish, and Swedish culture has always interested me. They're alike in many ways but also have great differences and I'm excited to learn about them. I've watched many travel and culinary videos about these countries and I want to experience it first-hand. I found that I was the best version of myself when I was fully independent and immersing myself in someone else's culture.
I hope to meet you very soon!
