放弃国内大学教师，到美国当保姆，过上幸福生活 Give up being a university teacher in China and go to the United States to be

一个大学老师到美国当保姆，不会觉得丢人，因为我是自由的——Juliana

Juliana是一个奇人。她在年近四十时，放弃了国内体制内的工作，到美国读书，考取了护士资格证。

作为一个理科生，她却对于“人”有极大的兴趣。在当护士之前，她做了一年的caregiver，就是照料老人的工作。

工作内容很简单，开车带老人看医生，给老人做做饭，陪老人聊聊天。她做这个工作，一个重要的原因就是想要听故事，听老人们讲他们的人生经历。

她以Marry B家为例，介绍住家保姆工作的具体内容。

在中国，我是体制内大学老师，在美国，我的工作是当保姆（caregiver），是不是挺丢人的呢？那么，美国照顾老人的保姆，具体工作内容是什么呢？是不是像很多人想像的那样，低人一等呢？

在以前的文章中，我解释了自己离开体制内的工作到美国当保姆的原因。最初的想法，厌恶国内的环境，想带孩子到美国来读几年书，追求自由。我无钱无权，想想只有自己读书这一条路了。

年纪大，加上语言基础差，我44岁才从美国的护士学校毕业。加上内忧外患的各种家事，我想歇歇再考护士执照。护士毕业有一年的OPT实习，因此我有了合法工作的机会。

美国老人看护叫caregiver，比接受过几周培训的CNA还低一级，是护理类最低级的，通过公司的一周培训就可以上岗了。

能自理的老人，caregiver主要提供陪伴服务，例如开车送他们去购物，去邮局，去药店，去看医生，去海边散步等，这类一般一次服务几个小时。不能自理的看程度，有的用walker或者拐杖走路，家里需要个人在身边，以防摔倒。服务时间长点，但一般不超过8小时。还有一类是不能自理或者失智老人，他们需要更长的看护时间，这类情况的普通家庭一般会送到各种养老机构，因为在家雇佣24小时看护太贵（家庭看护机构收取$30/小时起步），除非个人有long-term care insurance或者家里很有钱。

A university professor working as a nanny in the United States doesn't feel ashamed because she's free. — Juliana

Juliana is a remarkable person. In her late 40s, she gave up her job within the Chinese government to study in the United States, where she earned her nursing license.

A science major, she possesses a deep interest in people. Before becoming a nurse, she spent a year as a caregiver, caring for the elderly.

The job description was simple: driving the elderly to doctor appointments, cooking for them, and chatting with them. A key reason for her to do this was her desire to hear their stories and share their life experiences.

She used Marry B's family as an example to explain the specifics of live-in nanny work.

In China, I'm a university professor within the government, but in the United States, my job is to be a nanny. Isn't that embarrassing? So, what exactly does a nanny do for the elderly in the United States? Is it, as many imagine, considered inferior?

In a previous article, I explained why I left my job within the government to work as a nanny in the United States. My initial thought was that I hated the environment in China and wanted to bring my children to the United States to study for a few years and pursue freedom. I had no money or power, so I figured my only option was to study on my own.

Due to my age and poor language skills, I only graduated from nursing school in the United States at 44. Coupled with various family matters, I wanted to take a break before pursuing my nursing license. Nursing graduates receive a year of OPT, which opened up a legal opportunity for me to work.

In the United States, elderly caregivers are called caregivers. They are one level below the CNA, who only has a few weeks of training, and are the lowest level of nursing. They can start work after a week of company training.

For elderly people who can care for themselves, caregivers primarily provide companionship services, such as driving them to the shopping mall, the post office, the pharmacy, the doctor, or for walks on the beach. These services typically last a few hours. For those who cannot care for themselves, depending on their severity, some may use a walker or cane and need someone at home to prevent falls. These services are longer, but generally no more than eight hours. Another category is elderly people who cannot take care of themselves or have dementia. They need longer care time. Ordinary families in this situation usually send them to various nursing homes because it is too expensive to hire 24-hour care at home (home care agencies charge a starting price of $30/hour), unless the individual has long-term care insurance or the family is very wealthy.

我的目的是通过不同的保姆公司找到适合我的谈话客户，练习语言。最终，我锁定了几个受过高等教育的Mary。

Mary B，曾经是一个知名眼镜公司的经理，负责东海岸几个州的开店采购运营工作，2年前丈夫去世后，孤单的她不想打理house，就卖掉大house，买了house对面现在的公寓。

我当Mary B的保姆帮她准备一日三餐，有时候带她出门买东西。我一周去她家一天，从早上8点到晚上8点。她早上9点到10点之间起床，8点到9点之间我什么也不做，怕打扰她休息，我就吃早餐喝咖啡看书。

她洗漱后推着walker到餐桌，早餐很简单，我从冰箱把牛奶放微波炉里加热后倒进麦片里，再准备点水果。早餐后吃药，Mary B有一个好的习惯，她有一个一周吃药计划表，年纪大了记忆力不好，吃完药她就拿笔作记号，就像做完作业打个分一样认真。这样做的好处多多，因为人年龄大，独居久了，可能会不知道时间，还会忘记是否吃过药，做个记录会更放心些。

吃完早饭后，我一般问她需要我做什么，如果没事就聊天。佛州特干净，因为时不时就下雨，一周拖一次地就行，拖地的工具也简单易用，都是一次性抛的拖地纸巾。而且，Mary B还有2周一次上门服务的清洁工，她一般付清洁工一小时25美金，一次2小时。实际上清洁工一般1小时就干完整个公寓，剩下的1小时就是坐下来和Mary B聊天。

My goal was to find suitable conversational clients through various nanny agencies and practice my language skills. Eventually, I settled on several highly educated Marys.

Mary B was once a manager for a well-known eyewear company, responsible for purchasing and operations for stores in several states along the East Coast. Two years ago, after her husband passed away, she felt lonely and didn't want to manage the house, so she sold her large house and bought the apartment across the street.

As Mary B's nanny, I helped prepare her meals and sometimes took her shopping. I visited her home once a week, from 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM. She woke between 9:00 AM and 10:00 AM. Between 8:00 AM and 9:00 PM, I did nothing to disturb her rest. I simply ate breakfast, drank coffee, and read.

After washing up, she wheeled her walker to the dining table. Breakfast was simple. I heated milk from the refrigerator in the microwave, poured it over her cereal, and prepared some fruit. After breakfast, she took her medication. Mary B had a good habit of keeping a weekly medication schedule. Her memory was failing due to her age, so she marked her medication with a pen, meticulously grading it as if it were homework. This has many benefits. As people age and live alone for extended periods, they can lose track of time and forget whether they've taken their medication. Keeping a record gives peace of mind.

After breakfast, I usually ask her if she needs anything else. If nothing else, we chat. Florida is incredibly clean, and since it rains so often, mopping the floor once a week is sufficient. The mopping tools are simple and easy to use: disposable mop towels. Mary B also has a cleaner who comes to her apartment every two weeks. She usually pays them $25 an hour for a two-hour visit. In reality, the cleaner usually cleans the entire apartment in an hour, leaving her with the remaining hour to sit and chat with Mary B.

午饭晚饭都是微波炉食物，从冰箱拿出来，按步骤放微波炉加热就行，和中国饭煎炸烹炒比，简单快捷。吃完饭的碗筷放洗碗机，Mary B不喜欢caregiver手洗碗，要求放洗碗机洗，她认为洗碗机有消毒功能，比手洗好。

吃完午饭，Mary B喜欢回屋睡觉一小时，这个时间我一般也睡一会。Mary B的公寓140平方左右，两室一厅一厨两卫，她在caregiver的房间贴心地准备了两张单人床，这样白班和夜班分别有自己的床。

我一般选择白天，夜里工作的人实际上没什么事，Mary B一般睡的很香，而且借助walker，她完全可以自己上厕所。caregiver的房间里有一个 Baby monitor, 方便查看Mary B的夜间情况。我从来没上过夜班，但听夜班说没什么事，她也是一觉睡到天亮。看夜班12个小时的记录，基本就是陪看电视到几点，几点回屋睡觉和上几次厕所等。

睡完午觉，她爱先上网购物，再和儿子视频聊会天，或者我和她一起整理家里的东西。在整理相册的时候，她会打开话匣子，她世界各地的游离经历。如果她选择在卧室上网购物和聊天，我就去客厅看书或看电视，干点自己的事，因为要给她留自己的私人空间。

她虽然有COPD，但不严重，只在夜里用氧气。但她特别怕感染，所以什么都要干干净净的，包括空调滤网，我一个月帮她换一次。偶尔带她出门买东西，她也不下车，因为怕外边商店里人多让她感染，她会把信用卡交给我进店买，然后我俩再开车回家。

有时候我会开车带她兜兜风，因为对老年人来说，出门很少，我想让她通过观光，建立和外部的链接，这样可以延缓老年痴呆。看得出，她和我一起兜风时挺开心的。

Lunch and dinner are all microwaveable. Just take it out of the refrigerator and microwave it according to the instructions. Compared to Chinese frying and stir-frying, it's quick and easy. After dinner, the dishes are put in the dishwasher. Mary B doesn't like the caregiver to wash the dishes by hand and asks for them to be washed in the dishwasher, believing that the dishwasher's disinfecting function is better than hand washing.

After lunch, Mary B likes to go back to her room and sleep for an hour, and I usually sleep in during this time as well. Mary B's apartment is about 140 square meters, with two bedrooms, a living room, a kitchen, and two bathrooms. She thoughtfully prepared two single beds in the caregiver's room so that the day and night shifts have their own beds.

I usually choose to work during the day. Night shifts don't usually have much to do, and Mary B usually sleeps soundly. With her walker, she can easily go to the bathroom on her own. The caregiver's room has a baby monitor, making it easy to check on Mary B's nighttime activities. I've never worked the night shift, but I've heard from those who work the night shift that it's not a big deal, and she sleeps through the night as well. Looking at the 12-hour night shift log, it basically shows how long she watched TV with me, when she went to bed, and how many times she went to the bathroom.

After her nap, she likes to shop online, then video chat with her son, or I'll help her sort things out around the house. While sorting through her photo albums, she'll unleash her wanderings around the world. If she chooses to shop online and chat in the bedroom, I'll go to the living room and read or watch TV, or do my own things, because I want to give her some private space.

Although she has COPD, it's not severe and she only uses oxygen at night. But she's extremely afraid of infection, so she keeps everything clean, including the air conditioning filter, which I change monthly. Occasionally, when I take her shopping, she won't get out of the car, fearing she might get infected by the crowds outside. She'll give me her credit card and go inside to buy things, and then we'll drive home.

Sometimes I take her for drives. As an elderly person, getting out rarely is, and I want her to connect with the outside world through sightseeing, which can help stave off dementia. I could tell she was having a lot of fun going for a ride with me.

她一周洗3次澡，固定于周二，周四，周六，睡完午觉精力充沛时，她会选择洗澡。洗澡对老年人来说是一项体力劳动，所以老年人的浴室都有防滑垫和洗澡椅子，老年人在洗澡的时候，就像小孩子一样，有不安全感，他们会怕摔倒。

如果她的洗澡日恰巧我在她家，我会帮她把衣服洗澡用具准备好，她洗完澡叫我进浴室，扶她坐下，我会站在她旁边辅助涂润肤露，她自己完成穿衣吹头发和化妆的工作。老年人皮肤薄且干燥，Mary B喜欢在全身涂上润肤露，她的背部需要我协助涂，其它可以独立完成。

Mary B对待caregiver相当的好，她设身处地地为每一个为她服务的人考虑，去她家为她服务的人也会投桃报李，尽力为她着想。

所以，在我看来，caregiver和老人之间，更多是互助互惠的关系，并没有低人一等的感觉。因为我服务的是高级白人，感觉他们特别有范，有为贵族服务的感觉，幸福极了，比在国内大学工作好多了，每天都在充实，忙碌着，这才是我移民到美国的目的。

我在美国的每一天身心健康并过着充满希望的生活！

总之，做保姆就要去美国，为高级白人服务

She bathes three times a week, on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, when she's fresh after a nap. Bathing is physically demanding for the elderly, so bathrooms are equipped with non-slip mats and shower chairs. Like children, they can feel insecure when bathing and afraid of falling.

If I happen to be at her house on her bath day, I'll help her get her clothes and bathing supplies ready. After she's finished, she'll call me into the bathroom and help her sit down. I'll stand by and help her apply lotion, while she dresses, blows her hair, and puts on makeup. Elderly people have thin, dry skin, so Mary B likes to apply lotion all over her body. I help with her back, but she can handle the rest of the process independently.

Mary B treats caregivers very well. She puts herself in the shoes of everyone who serves her, and those who visit her home reciprocate, doing their best to be considerate of her.

So, in my opinion, the relationship between caregivers and the elderly is more of a mutually beneficial one, with no sense of inferiority. Because I serve high-class white people, I feel they are so stylish. It feels like serving aristocrats. I'm incredibly happy, much better than working at a university in China. Every day is fulfilling and busy, and this is exactly why I immigrated to the United States.

Every day in America is a healthy and hopeful life!

In short, if you want to be a nanny, go to America and serve high-class white people.

There's no shame in this. This kind of work is healthy and joyful. Patiently accompanying and caring for the elderly, making them feel safe and happy, is a form of fearless generosity and offering, and the reward is peace of mind, health, and longevity. This is the happy life of a Chinese woman who gave up her university teaching job in China to work as a nanny in the United States.