Route J-1

By Aleksandra Węgrzyn and Mateusz Stankiewicz, J-1 Interns from Poland

Display Garden, Pleasant View Gardens, Loudon, NH

My name is Aleksandra and together with my fiancé Mateusz we are students from Warsaw University of Life Sciences in Poland.

We came to the United States for an internship. We worked in Pleasant View Gardens, which is a greenhouse located in beautiful New Hampshire. We loved the state for its lakes and mountains. The views were gorgeous! The company we worked in is one of the leaders in liner (small plants) production in the whole country. It is famous for the diversity of plants it offers – from annuals and perennials to herbs and vegetables. We spent some time working in different departments that allowed us to see and understand how the whole company works. The internship itself was really interesting. We learned more than we could have ever expected and made many friends we’ll try to stay in touch with.

Hollywood Sign, Los Angeles, CA

Living in this particular part of the United States enabled us to enjoy breathtaking views, spend some time swimming in the ocean and hiking. We loved local food, too. New Hampshire is well known for fresh seafood, delicious apple cider donuts and local stores. People were always nice and helpful – the state is rather small so we were definitely quite an attraction! We got a chance to celebrate some holidays together, for example we enjoyed traditional Thanksgiving dinner with our friends and we had a lot of fun during the July 4^th party.

Following the motto “to travel is to live”, we wanted to see as much as possible because we both love sightseeing. We started our summer trip in Los Angeles the city of stars, rented a car and enjoyed Las Vegas, Grand Canyon, Salt Lake City, Dubois (we loved this small cowboy town in Wyoming!) and finally Yellowstone National Park. Almost three weeks of vacation, more than 3,500 miles and memories we will never forget – we would recommend it to anyone!

Grand Canyon National Park, AZ

The Morning Glory Pool, Yellowstone National Park, WY

During the summer, we also had a chance to travel to Canada and visit Toronto. It appeared to us as a very modern and beautiful city. We loved the view from CN Tower, enjoyed Ripley’s Aquarium of Canada and visited many interesting museums (Mateusz’s favourite was definitely the Hockey Hall of Fame – he’s a huge sports fan). When you go to Canada you cannot miss the popular tourist attraction, Niagara Falls. It looks amazing especially at night when the atmosphere is really romantic because of the colorful lights.

The place that was really special for us during our stay in the U.S. was New York City because that’s where we got…engaged! Central Park, Times Square, Empire State Building, Brooklyn Bridge and Broadway…The ”city that never sleeps” was without any doubt a place we will never forget.

It was an amazing year – we had a chance to learn a lot, meet friends for life and travel. Now, after eleven months, we’re coming home stronger, wiser and ready for new adventures!

Categories: Program Spotlight