{"id":5991,"date":"2025-10-03T18:58:59","date_gmt":"2025-10-03T22:58:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/betsiecurrent.com\/?p=5991"},"modified":"2025-10-03T18:59:05","modified_gmt":"2025-10-03T22:59:05","slug":"their-luck-is-our-luck-j1-visa-cultural-exchange-workers-benzie-leelanau","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/betsiecurrent.com\/index.php\/their-luck-is-our-luck-j1-visa-cultural-exchange-workers-benzie-leelanau\/","title":{"rendered":"Their Luck Is Our Luck"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Cultural exchange workers help in Benzie and Leelanau counties<\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

By Norm Wheeler
Current Contributor<\/strong>

Thanks to the U.S. Department of State\u2019s J-1 visa\u2014called the \u201cExchange Visitor\u201d visa program\u2014businesses in Benzie and Leelanau counties have a rich diversity of young folks from all over the world working here through the busy summer season.\u00a0

Cherry Republic and Anderson\u2019s Market in Glen Arbor, for example, have staff from countries including China, Jordan, and Turkey working through August and into the fall.\u00a0

Jody Hayden, co-owner of Grocer\u2019s Daughter Chocolate in Empire, explains:\u00a0

\u201cLast year, we had a part-time J-1 work visa student from Jamaica, sponsored by Anderson\u2019s Market, helping us make gelato and cookies, so we learned about the program through her. She recommended Spirit Exchange, a cultural exchange program that is also a work program. We posted for free on their website, after we were approved through a process where you show that you don\u2019t have enough workers and are not taking jobs away from Americans. You then post job descriptions on their website and wait for applicants. After we posted in March, we got applications right away\u2014working in a chocolate shop in Northern Michigan must have sounded interesting!\u201d

Hayden continues:

\u201cWe got resumes from four young women, including their educational backgrounds and a video showing their English skills. We must provide housing, and they pay around $130 per week for rent, but they can work some of that off by cleaning. All four have been great; we feel so fortunate that they\u2019re here, we\u2019ve learned so much from them, and now we want to go visit them in their home countries! They\u2019re so well educated, they are multilingual, and even though they say they are lucky, we are really the lucky ones!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Is a J-1 Visa?<\/strong>
In general, a citizen of a foreign country who wants entry to the United States must first be granted a visa\u2014a nonimmigrant visa for a temporary stay or an immigrant visa to permanently move here. Exchange Visitor (J) visas fall under the \u201cnonimmigrant visa\u201d category and are for people who have been approved to participate in Exchange Visitor programs.\u00a0

Exchange Visitor categories include: au pair and educare, camp counselor, government visitor, intern, \u00a0international visitor (for Department of State use), physician, professor and research scholar, short-term scholar, specialist, student (college\/university or secondary school), teacher, trainee, and summer work travel, which is for college and university students who are enrolled full time and pursuing studies at post-secondary accredited academic institutions located outside the United States.\u00a0

According to the State Department website, these students come to share their culture and ideas through temporary work and travel opportunities: the \u201cprogram provides foreign students with an opportunity to live and work in the United States during their summer vacation from college or university to experience and to be exposed to the people and way of life in the United States.\u201d

Established in 1961, the J-1 visa is a \u201cleading public diplomacy initiative to promote and facilitate opportunities for cultural understanding and educational exchange,\u201d according to Cultural Vistas, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization\u2014based in Washington, D.C.\u2014that has facilitated internships and professional exchange programs since 1963, two years after the J-1 visa came into being. The description on Cultural Vistas\u2019 website continues:

\u201cThe BridgeUSA program, as it is known, allows foreign nationals to advance their careers by participating in internships, research and development, workforce development, training, and knowledge-sharing programs in their fields or industries in the United States for the purpose of fostering mutual understanding and collaboration.\u201d

The program is meant to facilitate global understanding through these cross-cultural opportunities, and all Exchange Visitors are expected to return to their home country upon completion of the program, with an emphasis on sharing their experiences once back home. (However, if an Exchange Visitor\u2019s plans change while they are here in the United States\u2014for instance, maybe they receive a job offer\u2014that individual may be able to request a change in their nonimmigrant status through the \u00a0U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Summer Jobs in Northern Michigan<\/strong>
Using her English name \u201cDaisy,\u201d one young woman in the Grocer\u2019s Daughter gelato shop comes from the Sichuan Province in China. She is from Cangxi County and lives in a city of around 500,000 people. She is a student at Shanghai Normal University where she is studying to be an English teacher. Daisy learned about Grocer\u2019s Daughter Chocolate through an international program called Summer Work & Travel.\u00a0

\u201cI chose Empire, because of the Sleeping Bear Dunes and Lake Michigan,\u201d Daisy says. \u201cMaking gelato sounded interesting, and the salary is very suitable for me. Everybody is so nice, I feel lucky to be here.\u201d\u00a0

When asked about the differences she has noticed, Daisy says:\u00a0

\u201cYour eating habits are so different! Some food is too sweet, some\u2014the sausage\u2014is too salty. Americans don\u2019t eat spicy food like we do. Here, much food is fast food. In China, we have more noodles and rice. Also, the way we greet each other is different. In China, we shake hands; here, you hug. Here, you speak with more enthusiasm and are more nice and friendly, also more patient and helpful. In China, we have less contact with strangers. Here, you have bonfires, picnics, beach parties. Americans know how to enjoy life. Chinese people are so busy making a living, there\u2019s more pressure. Here, you know how to have fun.\u201d\u00a0

Daisy will return home on September 14 to begin a three-year program to get a Master\u2019s degree in English literature.\u00a0

Meanwhile, Paula Mena is from Ocana, Colombia. She studies civil engineering at the University Francisco de Paula Santander, with \u201cfive years down and one to go.\u201d \u00a0

\u201cAfter another year, I will either seek a job as a civil engineer, or join my parents\u2019 business,\u201d Mena explains. \u201cThey make clothes\u2014uniforms mostly\u2014with a staff of eight who sew. I want to expand their vision into making other kinds of clothes, not just school uniforms.\u201d\u00a0

What has Mena noticed since she arrived in Empire?\u00a0

\u201cHow nice people are was unexpected; they want to help me with everything,\u201d says Mena, who also works part time at the Empire EZ Mart gas station and at Joe\u2019s Friendly Tavern.\u201cEmpire is like a town in a movie\u2014so comfy and with a beach so close. I will absolutely return. Jody [at Grocer\u2019s Daughter] has been so nice. I feel so lucky!\u201d

Then there is Karina Gaiazova, who comes from Kazan, the largest and capital city of the Republic of Tatarstan in central Russia, where the Volga and the Kazanka rivers meet. She is studying public relations and advertising at Kazan Federal University. She already works with another Russian girl who is a blogger in New York City; they produce online courses in advertising.\u00a0

\u201cI have been traveling all my life with my family,\u201d Gaiazova says. \u201cI really like new places. This is my first trip alone, from Kazan to Istanbul to Chicago to Traverse City. The Work & Travel Program gave me two options: to go to Moab, Utah\u2014no thanks, too hot!\u2014or take a random assignment in Empire. I was looking for something in a big city, a way to see America and the people, but when I checked out Empire and [Grocer\u2019s Daughter Chocolate] online, and Jody\u2019s message was so sweet, I decided to come here, and I am so happy!\u201d\u00a0

Like Mena from Colombia, Gaiazova also works part-time at the EZ Mart gas station and at Joe\u2019s.\u00a0

What differences has Gaiazova noticed between Empire and Russia?\u00a0

\u201cHere, everybody drinks water with ice, while in Russia, we always have warm lemon water every morning. Now I\u2019ve switched over to bottles of cold water!\u201d she laughs. \u201cThe eight-hour time difference makes it hard to talk to my mother. At first, the house didn\u2019t feel safe, because it didn\u2019t have a big, heavy, double-glass safety door, like in Russia. Here, I feel like a teenager staying with my grandparents in a rural village, where it\u2019s so calm and safe; a place to rest. I am here until October, when I\u2019ll return for two more years of college. I would like to continue my education somewhere outside Russia, but I don\u2019t know where yet. I love the new friends I am making here!\u201d

Over at Laker Shakes in Burdickville, Ellen O\u2019Neill hired Kendese Roberts from Montego Bay, Jamaica. Roberts has studied business for two years at Montego Bay Community College. Next, she will go to Caribbean Maritime University to study maritime tourism and then work on a cruise ship. Her J-1 cultural exchange sponsors in Chicago\u2014Spirit Cultural Exchange\u2014placed her in Burdickville.\u00a0

\u201cIt\u2019s very quiet, and I like the green,\u201d Roberts says. \u201cI\u2019m used to city noise, so I like the nature around here. The food is different, kinda flat; it needs spice! We love curried chicken, jerk chicken, jerk pork, rice, and beans. But I love Big Glen Lake!!\u201d\u00a0

Roberts heads back home on September 12.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Benefit for Businesses<\/strong>
Meanwhile, just over the Leelanau-Benzie county line, this is the second year that Riverside Canoe Trips in Honor has been using J-1 workers. Riverside co-owner Kyle Orr says that he first learned about the program a few years ago through networking, specifically with Crystal Mountain, which utilizes the program, and with the Western Michigan Tour Association, including business owners from Mackinac Island.

\u201cMackinac would not exist without H-2B and J-1 workers,\u201d Orr says.

He makes note that he has never used H-2B workers, mostly because he sees it as a more complicated process. However, he also notes that the J-1 program has certain facets that distinguish it from the H-2B program.

\u201cThey\u2019re all college kids, and there\u2019s a definite distinction between H-2B workers, who work six months here and then six months somewhere else,\u201d he explains. \u201cWe have to find them a place to stay. And we\u2019re asked to provide some cultural experiences for them. For us, that has meant taking them out on the pontoon boat on the lake; we\u2019ve taken them to the fair; we\u2019ve taken them to Mackinac Island. This is supposed to be a cultural experience for these kids as much as it\u2019s supposed to be about work\u2014that being said, a lot of them take second jobs, because they\u2019re trying to work as much as they can.\u201d

This summer, Riverside has employed eight Exchange Visitors; they hail from Jamaica, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Romania, and Ukraine. Most of them come from big cities, so Benzie County\u2019s rural vibe has been a change, and transportation has been a struggle; Orr mentions that they have relied a lot on Benzie Bus.

The Orrs bought a house for the student workers to live in, and the rent is $50 per week.
\u00a0
\u201cLiving together and on their own, away from their families, has been an adjustment for them, too,\u201d Orr says. \u201cDirty dishes, cooking for themselves; I told them, \u2018These are things you guys have to work out as adults.\u2019 Ha. It\u2019s like college all over again. I had to buy a second fridge, because now everyone gets their own shelf in the fridge.\u201d

Orr emphasizes that this program has been a much-needed life raft for Riverside to reach full employment.

\u201cThe politicians are so worried about \u2018jobs being taken away,\u2019 but if I could get [Americans] to fill these jobs, I\u2019d do that,\u201d Orr says. \u201cThis program is definitely a bit more work for the businesses who choose to go down this route, but at the end of the day, we are better with them than without. There are hurdles, but we\u2019re learning, and there are a couple of other local businesses that are probably going to go this route, because they can\u2019t find people here. We\u2019ve already had our on-boarding meeting to get people [through this program again] for next year.\u201d

In Beulah, there are four J-1 student workers this summer at The Cherry Hut: two from Mongolia, one from Spain, and one from Kazakhstan.

\u201cThey\u2019ve been a great addition to our staff,\u201d says Andy Case, co-owner of The Cherry Hut. \u201cThey are all exceptional people and great workers. Scheduling is always a challenge for The Cherry Hut, so having four workers that are available to work any shift you assign them has really been a huge positive. They are quite eager to learn about our American lifestyle, so we try to plan as many fun outings as we can.\u00a0

He continues:

\u201cThis last Tuesday we brought them all\u2014with the rest of our staff\u2014for an appreciation day trip to Mackinac Island. They thought it was the highlight of their summer, other than working at The Cherry Hut, of course. We would definitely welcome them back, if they were interested in another season in Northern Michigan.\u201d

Over in Thompsonville, Crystal Mountain has been using the J-1 visa program consistently with about 35 people in the summer and 35 people in the winter since 2021; the resort had been using the program before the pandemic sporadically, but it became consistent after the pandemic. (Note: In the winter, students come from Southern Hemisphere countries, where it is their summer when it is our winter here in the Northern Hemisphere.)

This summer, workers hail from Bulgaria, China, Hungary, Jamaica, Lithuania, Mongolia, Slovenia, Spain, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, and VietNam. Workers live at Crystal Mountain in temporary housing on the property.

As for the cultural aspect of the program, Agnes McNeil, human resources (HR) manager at Crystal Mountain and liaison for the program, says:\u00a0

\u201cWe have a welcome event for both the summer and the winter seasons. For the summer, that welcome event is normally a pool party, and the winter event is typically a snow-sports lesson, because most of them are coming from countries where they have never seen snow before, and it\u2019s good for them to have a lesson on skis or a snowboard before they go out on the hill.\u201d

During the summer, Exchange Visitors also get to experience the National Cherry Festival in Traverse City, as well as a Pit Spitters baseball game; during the winter, they attend a Super Bowl party and play laser tag. During both seasons, there is a potluck event.

\u201cThis is exciting for them, because they get to bring their own spices or ingredients from their home country to share their family recipes,\u201d McNeil explains.

When asked what she thinks are the biggest benefits of the program, McNeil responds:
\u201cThe cultural exchange. A lot of them are coming from places where the average person would not get a chance to travel to, so this can be the closest that someone here might get to China or Peru or Thailand; they get to meet other cultures right at their own doorstep. I think that helps to make everyone a little more open.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So when you get your mint gelato in Empire or your chocolate malt in Burdickville; get served a Hoppy Bobby at Cherry Republic or check out at Anderson\u2019s Market in Glen Arbor; rent a canoe from Riverside in Honor or take home a pie from The Cherry Hut in Beulah, please greet the variety of working visitors from many countries who have come here to learn from us and to teach us about their corners of the world. We are so lucky to have them!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A version of this article first published in the Glen Arbor Sun<\/strong>,<\/a> a Leelanau County-based semi-sister publication to The Betsie Current.\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Editor\u2019s Note: <\/strong>We have previously written about H-2B visa holders working at Harbor Lights in Frankfort; see The Betsie Current<\/strong>\u2019s online archives. <\/a>H-2B visas are for businesses, while H-2A visas are for the agricultural industry; according to the Benzie Chamber, Graceland and Smeltzer\u2019s are examples of the agricultural industry using H-2A visas in our area.<\/em>

Featured Photo Caption: <\/strong>From left to right: Grocer\u2019s Daughter Chocolate owner Jody Hayden shares a laugh with Daisy from China, Karina Gaiazova from Russia, Shanoya from Jamaica, and Paula Mena from Colombia. Photo courtesy of the Glen Arbor Sun.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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