Join our family and explore the area near the beautiful Rhine Gorge between Cologne and Koblenz, Germany

Infos

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  Description

  We are looking for Workaway participants whom we would warmly welcome into our family!
  
  We are a large family. Mom and Dad are both teachers and have seven children ranging in age from 22 years to 10 months. The two oldest are studying in Cologne, so at home we currently have two boys (12y, 9y, 10 months) and two girls (17y, 5y). Our sweet Swiss Mountain Dog, Mira (3 years old), is also part of the family.
  
  Our eldest daughter is in senior high school and is very interested in everything creative. She loves to draw and to write stories. Our 12-year-old son is in Junior high and enjoys creating online environments in Minecraft and similar games. Our 9-year-old son is still in elementary school while our 5-year-old daughter attends a forest kindergarten. Our youngest son is just about to learn to walk and talk.
  
  We are open-minded and interested in new people and other cultures. During her university holidays, Mom worked as an au pair for five different families across Europe – for short stays of two to three months each – and she really enjoyed it.
  
  We share a great passion: LEGO. We have several LEGO rooms in the basement, and as a side business in 2019, we opened a LEGO shop in the next town, where we also plan to have a permanent LEGO exhibition. This has taken up a lot of time, and in recent years, our large house has become increasingly full (and not just with LEGO ;-)).
  
  We don't smoke and we expect no smoking in the house or in front of the children!

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  Types d'aide et opportunités d'apprendre

  Projets artistiques

  Pratique d’une langue

  Jardinage

  Bricolage et construction

  S’occuper des animaux

  Baby-sitting et jeux créatifs

  Cuisine/repas pour la famille

  Aide à la maison

  Entretien général

  Aide informatique/internet

  Home sitting
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  Centres d’intérêt

  

  Films et télé

  

  Menuiserie

  

  Architecture

  

  Animaux de compagnie

  

  Vidéographie

  

  Technologie

  

  Politique/justice sociale

  

  Événements/vie sociale

  

  Culture

  

  Dev. personnel

  

  Soin des plantes

  

  Bricolage / artisanat

  

  Histoire

  

  Musique

  

  Art et design

  

  Photographie

  

  Langues

  

  Jardinage

  

  Écriture

  

  Dessin et peinture

  

  Astronomie

  

  Animaux

  

  Camping

  

  Nature

  

  Voile / bateau

  

  Plage

  

  Sports nautiques
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  Echange culturel et opportunités d'apprendre

  We would like to welcome you into our family life and invite you to explore our beautiful region and its cultural attractions, such as medieval castles, ancient Roman border fortifications, and much more.
  
  Our older children are happy to show you the area if you are interested. You can also visit them in Cologne. If you prefer to explore on your own, that's no problem either.
  
  For those interested in culture, this area has a lot to offer. Dozens of castles are located nearby, most of them along the Rhine, which is just minutes from our home. If you love nightlife, Koblenz, with its 100,000 inhabitants, has plenty to offer. But Cologne (1,000,000 inhabitants) and Frankfurt (750,000 inhabitants) are also easily accessible by train within an hour. If you love nature and hiking, there are many trails in the area that you can explore on foot, by bike, or even by canoe. And if you're a video game or board game fanatic, you'll find welcome companions in our family.
  
  Dad teaches economics, politics, and ethics. So there's sure to be room for interesting conversations and discussions if you're interested.

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  Aide « au pair »

  De plus amples informations sont disponibles ici

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  Projets impliquant des enfants

  Ce projet peut impliquer des enfants. Pour en savoir plus, consultez nos directives et conseils ici.

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  Aide

  On the one hand, we're looking for help around the house. Someone to watch the young children when needed, cook occasionally, or even swing the broom.
  
  We also have a garden that hasn't received much attention lately. If you have a green thumb, it's looking forward to being spruced up for next spring.
  
  We have a lot of LEGO in the basement waiting to be sorted so that our children can build great things with it again, maybe even with you.
  
  There's also a large collection of board games in the house, all waiting to be played. Alternatively, our children also seek out worthy opponents in Mario Kart World and other Switch games.
  
  So there are many opportunities for activities at our home.
  
  On the other hand, we are also looking for people to support us with our non-profit LEGO art project. We have a 500-square-meter space in which we plan to create a permanent exhibition. The works that need to be done there range from rough carpentry to intricate interlocking brick art. In October, we held a small one-day preview exhibition to celebrate the sixth anniversary of our LEGO store. More than 1000 visitors came. Therefore, we are sure that there is great interest in our plan for a permanent exhibition.
  
  We would also like to establish a social media presence for the exhibition. We have many ideas for this, but little experience. We would welcome advice and support in this area as well.
  
  Thirdly, the LEGO shop, which we run as a side business, is in the same building as the exhibition showroom. We sell pretty much everything that has the LEGO name on it: new sets, old sets, minifigures, accessories, individual bricks, and more. It's pretty much the biggest LEGO shop in Germany. Check out this video from a British blogger to get an idea of what it's like:
  
  We currently employ five people and aren't really looking for any more. However, we could offer you an internship if that's something you're interested in. We've already had students from France completing their required study abroad program here.

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  Langues

  Langues parlées
  Allemand: Courant
  Anglais: Courant
  Français: Courant
  Espagnol: Intermédiaire
  Hollandais: Débutant

  Cet hôte propose un échange linguistique
  Mom is an English and French teacher, so you can expect some (philosophical) lectures on language and grammar. Since we both work full-time, please don't expect a language school atmosphere. Our children (17 and 12) are learning English at school and love practicing it. Of course, they can also correct German, as they are native speakers, but they can't explain grammar. Our 9-year-old likes to correct mistakes you make in conversation. He's very strict, but nice in his own way. ;-)
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  Hébergement

  Since our older boys are studying in Cologne, we have two spare rooms at home. Both guest rooms have a bathroom with a shower right next door. So far, we've had one or two workawayers at a time.
  
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  Food
  We're happy to offer you anything you can find in our fridge or pantry at any time. ;-)
  We like to eat healthily and take our time to cook. Since we have two jobs and seven children, we sometimes resort to a quick pizza or pasta. We warmly invite you to share traditional dishes with us. If cooking is your passion, we're also open to your cooking. We're happy to source and deliver any ingredients you prefer for your cooking or your special diet.
  Our family is neither vegan nor vegetarian. If you are, we will provide you with everything you need for your diet, but we ask that you please help with the cooking.

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  Autres infos...

  Our house is located in the small village of Eitelborn. From here, you can easily reach Koblenz and Montabaur by bus. The bus ride takes about 20 minutes each way. From there, you can take trains to Frankfurt, Mainz, Cologne, Bonn, or Trier.
  
  In Koblenz, you can take boat trips on the Rhine and Moselle or visit the famous fortress. The Roman heritage is also worth seeing.
  
  If you enjoy hiking, the forest begins right behind our house. If you (and we) feel comfortable, you are welcome to bring our dog or some of our children.
  
  Various festivals take place in the surrounding villages throughout the year.

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  Informations complémentaires

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    Accès Internet

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    Accès Internet limité

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    Nous avons des animaux

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    Nous sommes fumeurs

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    Familles bienvenues

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  Possibilité d’accueillir les digital nomads

  We have a gigabit connection with no data volume limit.

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  Espace pour garer des vans

  If you are into van life, there is enough parking space for a camper van in front of the house, but it might be hard to fit a RV.

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  Combien de volontaires pouvez-vous accueillir ?

  Deux

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  Mes animaux

  Mirabelle (3 ans)

  Mira is a crossbreed of Entlebucher Mountain Dog and Collie.

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