4 minute read
Okoboji: The Land of Opportunity
Is there a better way to gain complete understanding than to learn-by-doing? Every summer for the past several years, as many as 120 international visitors come to the Iowa Great Lakes to learn about America while working.
Most are college students enrolled in a study abroad program, aka cultural immersion. Some hope to increase their English skills while others come to make money while gaining greater knowledge of how America works.
We encounter them at the Arnolds Park Amusement Park, Bridges Bay Resort, and at several other businesses in the area. But work is only part of the Okoboji experience.
A TRUE MELTING POT
Last season’s students home countries reads like a UN roll-call: Jamaica, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Bulgaria, Turkey, Thailand, and Kazakhstan, but across the years as many as 100 nations have been represented, if not more.
The students visit on two different visas, J-1 and H2B. Jon Pausley, CEO of Arnolds Park Amusement Park, explains the J-1 visa is based on cultural exchange; these students are here to travel and learn about America and business. “In the Amusement Park we have students who are studying to be doctors, lawyers, engineers, teachers, marketing, and hospitality, to name a few.”
A smaller group of H2B visa employees stay longer, and return annually to help open and close the park, Pausley says, sending money back home. A year’s income can be made during a summer here.
INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS LEARN BY BEING HERE
MORE THAN WORK, FUN TOO
Keep in mind that they are kids, first, says Martin Mendez, a Global Friends coordinator working with the Downtown Church in Milford. Most are affluent by their local standards, but coming to Okoboji opens their eyes to a different world. “The kids taste the flavor of the culture here,” Mendez says, “but being young they are pretty vulnerable.”
Work, new country, new languages (for some): Sometimes it is a challenge to learn about our local culture.
Consequently, the amusement park organizes a variety of Okoboji-style events, often with volunteer partners. These include bonfires with s’mores, mini-golf, American football, a day at Camp Foster, boating, jetskiing, movie nights, a trip to a Minnesota Twins game, the Mall of America and karaoke, Pausley reports.
Cultural immersion isn’t just about special activities—it’s also about things we might consider mundane: Going to a supermarket, attending a movie with new friends, experiencing a different church service, or being open to new foods.
It might be as simple as trying a hot dog or an apple. “What we are used to isn’t what they are used to, and sometimes not even available to them,” says Marcie Graval of Bridges Bay Resort.
How do we fare as hosts? “Iowa Nice” is real. Mendez is proud to point out how open and embracing our community is. Culturally, employers elsewhere—where a worker is only a worker, Mendez says—aren’t as welcoming as here at Okoboji. “But here, the people engage with the students, smile at them, and share respect. Every single ride, they say ‘thank you.’”
What do employers hear from their summer students? Bridges Bay Resort’s Gravel says, “I love it here!” is what she hears most from students...usually followed by, “Can I come back next year?”
“They want to reapply to the same place because they loved it here,” Mendez says. “Okoboji is a pretty special place to visit and live.”
OUT OF MANY, ONE (WORLD)
Imagine a walk through the new dormitory next to the amusement park, opened for the students in 2023—you might hear three or four different languages along with unfamiliar music from home, and catch a fragrance from cooking not normally found in northwest Iowa.
It’s the same for them as they experience Okoboji. That unfamiliarity binds the students together, Pausley says. “By the end of the summer…there are many tears of goodbyes from living and working together.”
