U.S.A. Summer Work & Travel
It has been months since the day I left the States, but good news for me, I will be coming back on April, and will be staying there for a year or maybe for good. (I mean, who knows, right?)
For those of you who didn’t know, I was one of those lucky (I prefer the term blessed) students who went to the States for the cultural exchange program along with some of my classmates. Now, I am guessing that you are itching to know if it was worth squandering a chunk of your parents’ vault—yes, madams and sirs. I forbid myself from disclosing how much I have earned (and how much money I wasted from binge-shopping, and binge-eating) when I was still in the States, but I will promise you one thing: If you worked hard, you may earn twice the money you’ve spent.
Now, let’s talk about preparations. I didn’t spend so much effort here, because 3 months is not kind of a big deal, but if you’re planning to join the exchange program, I have three tips for you: BUY A HIGH-QUALITY LUGGAGE AND I’M NOT EVEN KIDDING. Trust me, you will thank me later. Next tip, buy lots of moisturizers, especially when it’s your first time, because the moment you stumble upon the gates of America, your skin will curse at you. Believe me, I have a very oily skin, but my skin transformed into a prune as if I was dehydrated even though I wasn’t. And I’m not even over reacting. The last tip I have is, collect those transit pamphlets or whatever you call those, because you will ride the train a lot – unless one of the Rockefellers is your dad. Taxis will burn a hole in your pocket, so, unless you’re rich, take the train, read those pamphlets because no one wants to get lost in America.
Let’s talk about culture. The States is popular because of this. Stereotyping their culture, a lot would say that they have a corybantic (Oh, I hate that word) way of life. To be honest, though, this culture scraped my system just a bit, and there’s no way I’m going to type it down. Maybe, one thing I mused on when I was still there was, maybe the Americans are not really unrestrained. Maybe it’s just us being conservative, and I don’t think that’s a bad thing. We have different customs – no one is right, and no one is wrong when it comes to that. We have different ancestors, and our ancestors never shared the same way of bringing us up. I hope I am making sense here.
Now, about my work, I want to skip this paragraph, but for the sake of future exchange students, I’m going to type it down. WORKING IN AMERICA IS LIKE... See, I cannot even describe it. It was terrifyingly exhausting. I worked 16 hours a day last April. The payroll was high, but it wasn't that simple. I thought I was only going to work as a counter worker, since I worked in the Sweet Shop. I thought I was only going to sell chocolates, but these thoughts formed a huge pile of disappointments and filled my pit of expectations, cause not only that, I was also assigned to carry six gallons of ice cream from the basement up to the store, and I am not even making that up. I was also assigned to scrape the whole floor, mop, make lots of chocolates, carry taffy boxes, talk to costumers, deal with DRUNK costumers, wash a mountain of dishes, and the list goes on. Worse, you only get 20 minutes for your lunch break. I can give you a tip, if you want to take a rest for another 10 minutes, go back to your store, clock in, and stay inside the store’s bathroom and meditate. It worked for me.
Last but not the least, the places I visited when I was still there. I’m not going to boast about it, but okay: New York City, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey. New York City was stunningly beautiful, especially Manhattan and Brooklyn. Queens was like Manila. Philadelphia was beautiful, yes. It was just like the usual U.S.A. spots we see in the movies. Pennsylvania was okay. It wasn’t so pretty, but it wasn’t so bad either. It was somewhere in between. If you will be an exchange student, you won’t get to travel a lot, because you have to work hard, and that is okay. Believe me, because I believe in the saying, “Your hard work will pay off.”.
So to the future exchange students, take my words, and I wish you good luck!
