With no knowledge of the Chinese language and no second thoughts, Javier Cantu boarded a flight to Beijing.

The 22-year-old University of Texas senior said he always spends his summers traveling around the world. China is the 32nd country he has added to his list. But this trip is no ordinary vacation. He moved in with the Li family in Beijing.

David and Cici Li play with their American au pair, Javier Cantu, at the playground in their neighborhood. Cantu came from Texas to spend the summer teaching the children English and learning about Chinese culture. [China Daily]

"If I can stay with a family long enough, I am going to learn the language because I'll be completely submerged in it," he said.

Javi, as the Li family calls him, came to Beijing for the summer to work as an au pair. But Javi isn't the typical au pair. His main job is to entertain the family's two children, David and Cici, while teaching them English.

The family was specifically looking for a native English speaker to help their kids learn the language. Rather than a formal setting with specific class times, Javi treats them to ice cream, but only after they properly ask for it in English.

Javi's host mother, Li Lin, travelled to Germany as a college student where she said she learned the importance of understanding and accepting foreign cultures. The lessons David and Cici learn from Javi are more valuable than those they would learn in traditional kindergarten, she added.

"The children may grow up and say, 'my family had a big brother who came from another country, and I want to go to another country,'" Li Lin said.

The Li family is not alone in its quest for learning beyond Chinese borders and there is no shortage of foreigners interested in coming to China.

Since opening in 2007, the International Department of the Beijing-based HHS Center, a group dedicated to matching foreigners with Chinese families looking for au pairs and language teachers, has seen a consistent increase in applicants, bringing six au pairs to China in the second half of their first year, 28 in 2008 and 53 in 2009.

Now, manager Michael Xie, said the company is receiving between 120 and 150 foreign applications every month and around 400 families looking for an au pair have contacted their website.

Tom Pile, the company's international coordinator, said host families working through the HHS Center spend between 3,600 and 6,600 yuan a month to provide Chinese language lessons and insurance for the au pairs during their stay, as well as a small fee to HHS. There is no cost for the au pairs aside from flight expenses, which the HHS Center helps to finance with different stipends depending upon the length of the stay.

The HHS Center is one of the first and largest companies in this growing industry. In June, the company implemented a new set of background checks for applicants, including criminal records, medical histories, character examinations and even a physical fitness requirement, Pile said.

"With the new process, we hope both sides can trust each other more quickly and contact each other regarding personal preferences and getting to know each other, rather than testing each other for trustworthiness," he said. Many agencies around the world work together to foster au pair exchanges and Xie hopes China will establish an official au pair association to develop exchanges in the future.

(China Daily August 9, 2010)