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10 Jan 2025
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Description
New Year: Looking for help in the new year for painting, cooking, cleaning
1. We can host 1 Workawayer
2. You are 20 + years old
3. Someone independent who doesn’t need to be micromanaged.
4. Different types of help we need:
-handy person with experience preparing walls, furniture and exterior surfaces to be painted (sanding, cleaning, taping off) and painting
-shoveling snow if necessary in the driveway
-cleaning (bathrooms, vacuuming, mopping floors, dusting, windows etc)
5. You have an intermediate or higher English level (ok if you are a beginner in English and speak French as mom speaks French)
Hello/bonjour!
We live in the Fraser Valley, surrounded by mountains, lakes and rivers, 1 hr east of Vancouver. We have 3 beautiful, funny, active kids, 2 girls and a boy ages 14, 12, & 11. Phil is a firefighter and Kristy is a French teacher (currently on medical leave). We have hosted au pairs for 5 years and Workawayers for four years so we are used to and enjoy welcoming people from different cultures! Phil grew up in Ireland and we have both lived and travelled extensively abroad. We are looking for one volunteer who would like to stay with us for a minimum of 2 weeks
We are steps away from a golf course. We are a bus ride away from the ice skating/hockey rink, library, beautiful river for walks, fitness Centre/pool.
The house can be noisy when the kids are home so you must be ok with kids though you have privacy in your own room. We will respect your need for privacy and ask you grant us some privacy in the evenings too once the kids go to bed so parents can reconnect.
Meals: Everyone gets their own breakfast and lunch (kids pack their school lunches) but we enjoy sharing dinners with our WorkAways. During the week, there’s usually one kid with an activity around dinner time so it can be hectic! We will expect help cleaning up after dinner if you eat with us. Help preparing food for dinner is appreciated too-this is where most of our conversation time happens! We may ask you to cook a couple dinners each week or bake something for the kid’s school lunches.
We like to keep a tidy house and expect our guest to cleanup after him/herself and to pitch in with daily chores that are simply a part of being in a family (wash or put your dishes in dishwasher, if you make a mess, clean it up, see a job through to the end including cleaning up and putting materials away where they belong.)
We are a Christian family, we pray before eating meals, attend church on Sunday.
My husband and son play guitar and we have a piano.
Types of help and learning opportunities
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Animal Care
Creating/ Cooking family meals
Help around the house
General Maintenance
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
We are a pretty average fun-loving Canadian family. We are down-to-earth and love family time playing board games or chilling on the patio, swimming in the pool or lounging in the hot tub. You would get a good sense of what life is like in Canada if you joined our family and we really try to make you feel comfortable and part of the family! Kristy speaks English and is also a French teacher. As a language teacher, she can help you with grammar and prononciation and you will learn a lot of English from the kids as well!
We love to be outdoors and we spend a lot of time simply enjoying the backyard! Our new house has an above ground pool, hot tub, trampoline, soccer nets, hammocks etc. It’s very peaceful with lots of birds and squirrels to watch!
There are many other WorkAwayers and au pairs in our city of 120,000 people.
Projects involving children
This project could involve children. For more information see our guidelines and tips here.
Help
Kristy has Long Covid, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and several other diagnoses which have not allowed her to return to teaching. She has many therapy appointments during the week and educational groups (online) to learn how to better live with this illness. It’s an “Invisible Illness” which means it looks like she’s able bodied with nothing wrong with her but she has crippling fatigue and many other symptoms every day. She is otherwise home every day but could use help managing the household especially if she is in an energy “crash” which looks like lots of time spent horizontal, in bed resting or sleeping.
We need a responsible volunteer who can be a team player and jump in and help out. We prefer hosting Workawayers who are in their 20s or who have lived on their own as they tend to know more about how a household runs and how to do weekly household tasks.
You would have lots of free time to explore the beautiful surroundings but need to be prepared to navigate the bus system or hop on a bike to explore.
Languages
Languages spoken
English: Fluent
French: FluentThis host offers a language exchange
This host has indicated that they are interested in sharing their own language or learning a new language.
You can contact them directly for more information.
Accommodation
Private bedroom on the top floor with a twin sized day bed, dresser, desk and chair. Shared shower/bathroom with our son on top floor.
What else ...
The bus stop is about a 7 minute walk from the house. You can also take the bus to Vancouver and beyond but it takes time (3+ hours to Vancouver). Many places are within walking distance. We are also have a bike for our WA to use.
Breakfast, lunch and dinner are included. Snacky stuff you are responsible for buying if you want it.
We have some food intolerances in our family (Kristy can’t have any dairy and 2 kids eat lactose free; 3 of us are gluten free).
Kristy often struggles to cook dinner so some help preparing dinners is needed. We are open to hosting vegetarians and have done so in the past but only for someone who is willing to take an active role in helping to prep their food! We have lots of lentils & beans and we’re happy to buy tofu for a protein source if you’re vegetarian. Any specialty food items (protein powders, expensive nuts, exotic foods etc) you will need to purchase for yourself. We eat a Whole Foods diet (whole grains, fruit, vegetables and meat).
You must be (as we are) honest, dependable, reasonably clean and mentally stable, no (unmedicated) bipolar, anger management issues or chronic depression please. ABSOLUTELY NO DRUGS, HEAVY DRINKERS OR SMOKERS (inside or outside)!!!
You may wonder why we put that in here and it’s because we have had a couple experiences like this, though 95% have been amazing!
We also have two adorable, indoor short-haired tabby cats named Bella and Luna, three guinea pigs named Patches, Libby and Cocoa Bean and a handful of fish.
A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
Can host digital nomads
We can host someone who works online in their spare time. We have Wi-fi and a desk in the Workawayers bedroom. Workaway should have their own technology (laptop) to work from. We have no cable TV but you can watch shows on your device if you subscribe to streaming services (Netflix etc)
Space for parking camper vans
Our new house has room for Rv parking.
How many Workawayers can stay?
One
Feedback (10)
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Accuracy of profile:
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Cultural exchange:
(5.0)
Communication:
(5.0)
The whole family is so lovely and sweet and I learned a lot about Canada, new cooking skills and the kids!
Kristy and Phil always tried to make my stay as comfortable as possible and so it was!
It was fun to play with the kids, going for a… read more
The living conditions were comfortable and I was made to feel at home from day one. I… read more
You’re welcome to visit me whatever you want!
