By Anna Boisseau, Communications Officer, Cultural Vistas A version of this story was published on Cultural Vistas Blog You’ll see a different menu every time you walk through the blue doors of Per Se, the Michelin three-starred New York restaurant located across from Central Park. This creativity is in part due to the diverse staff that collaborates in the Per Se Kitchen, including international trainees. With Chef de Cuisine Eli Kaimeh at its helm, the restaurant invents new concepts for their nine-course tasting menu daily. While the overall vision of the restaurant is Thomas Keller’s, the whole kitchen staff of 40…
By Kata, J-1 Intern from Austria Going to another country and experiencing their way of life was something I always desired. At a very young age, I did several exchanges to countries like New Zealand and Spain, but I was never interested in going to the United States. Nevertheless, I think it was meant to be that I heard about this great nursery called Plant Delights, a mail order nursery that exists to create an amazing botanical garden in the so-called triangle area of North Carolina. Having spent most of my youth in a specialty nursery, I knew this was…
Ocean City, Maryland is a popular Atlantic seaside town with a long and rich history of tourism that I was unaware of until my visit to this thriving shore town. For instance, I just learned that the first paying vacationers to Ocean City can be traced back to 1869! Today, Ocean City – or OC, as the locals and regular visitors often call it – witnesses a summer-time population boom of some 350,000 people! In addition to its popularity with beachgoers, the town is one of the most popular destinations for J-1 Visa Summer Work Travel students. After spending a…
Last week we held a symposium at George Washington University, here in Washington, D.C. on “Building Bridges: Strengthening Educational & Citizen Exchange Linkages,” following the opening of official diplomatic relations with Cuba. The idea was to bring together those who work with exchange programs to discuss our new U.S. approach on engaging people-to-people with Cuba – of which J-1 plays an integral role. Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs Evan Ryan wrote about the symposium, and I’d like to share some of her thoughts. As I said at the symposium, these are the relationships that will drive…
Event takes place from 6:00 – 10:00am As some of you may know this year the Department of States interest is on “Our Ocean” and the threaten ocean ecology and steps we can take to conserve the ocean. With this in mind, InterExchange staff member, Clay Lewis invites all J-1 Visa Exchange Visitor participants in Newport, RI area and anyone else reading this email that may wish to attend to join the 40th Save The Bay Swim for Narragansett Bay event. Exchange visitors and anyone else interested can join the event as volunteers and spectators! Clay Lewis will join the…
By Lynette Evans-Tiernan, Communications Manager for the J-Visa Exchange Visitor Program Let’s take a look back at some of the stories that shaped an extraordinary year of the Exchange Visitor Program.
By Lynette Evans-Tiernan, Communications Manager for the J-Visa Exchange Visitor Program A version of this story was also published on the CHI News Blog From August 14-16, fourteen distinguished winners from Cultural Homestay International’s (CHI’s) Summer Work & Travel program, representing ten different countries, were chosen to participate in CHI’s Cultural Ambassador Award (CAA) Conference, in Washington, DC. During the two-day conference participants engaged in team workshops focused on diplomacy, leadership and cultural immersion as well as took part in lively panel discussions about the power and value of public diplomacy and cultural exchange with representatives from the Alliance for…
