hi Largeginandtonic, i am italian ,there is a lot of families who have italian au pairs, or childminder(like me) i think its depend for her personality ,the first 3 years i was in london i had only english friends and not italian (for to learn and improve the english language :) ) the only thing i m pretty sure to tell you ,is the italian mentality ....most of italian are very sociable and they dont have problem to make new friends ...they dont need to be italian :))) oohh well most of italian .i think every person are different .doesnt matter from where they come from :))) i wish you a good luck with your new au pair !!! best wishes sabrina