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Reflections on My
Internship Experiences
By Yu San Hsiao, an Intern from Taiwan
Staying in the United States for three
months to participate in this internship was one of the most important
experiences in my life. I very much appreciate being nominated for this
opportunity, as well as for the counseling I received from American
International Education Foundation (AIEF). What I have learned from this
internship was more than I expected. At first, I was only planning on improving
my English and getting my certificate. But once I got there, I realized that
getting used to life in the United States and soaking up American culture were
the key points.
The first new thing I faced was having
roommates. When I was in Taiwan, living with my parents, I never thought of
sharing a room with others. But at AHA, I had three roommates at a time. The AHA
office arranged for four people from different countries to live together, so
that we couldn't use our own native languages, and we all had to use English. My
roommates were from the United States, Mexico and England. Furthermore, there
were only six Asian student interns this summer, so I felt lonely and nervous in
the beginning. Living with roommates, I had to respect others' schedules, and we
also had to discuss our housework schedule. Because we needed to talk about it
in English only, I felt stressful and depressed sometimes. Soon, after I got
used to it, the situation changed. We became close friends, doing everything
together. For instance, going jogging, cooking our traditional food to share
with each other, and taking care of each other when someone was sick. I remember
that on the day when I had to leave, they cried for me.
As for the working part of my internship
experience, I really had to adjust to the working hours. I guess just for the
busy season, working at least 40 hours a week is normal, with no maximum if
someone is scheduled. My maximum was working 58 hours a week! It was hard,
indeed. The other obstacle was communication. Half of the interns were from the
United States, half were international students. The situation was totally
different between going to a language school or a summer camp, and doing an
internship. The internship supervisor and the guests seemed to think that
communication shouldn't be a problem, even for foreigners.
After working for three months, I
realized that for working in hotels or resorts, the most important thing is
satisfying the guests' needs, and letting them have wonderful and unforgettable
memories! I felt a sense of achievement when they checked out, and their kids
came to take pictures with us and to thank us.
Another part of the internship was that
the AHA office arranged for us to take an online class or to go to the office to
take lessons. The most interesting thing for me was "Spotlight." Every month,
the office arranged for interns from two to four countries to introduce their
countries' traditional food, culture, clothes, and so on. During this activity,
I tasted caramel cake from Holland and other special foods I had never had from
Panama and Lebanon. Of course, I introduced our beautiful island, Taiwan, to
everyone. I and two other friends from Taiwan prepared bubble tea for them!
Everyone thought that was so cool and fresh!
Talking about the language part of my
experience, I was frustrated at first. Even though I was able to understand what
people said, I couldn't reply to them promptly. Slang or jokes were even harder
for me to understand. When I recalled the reason why I wanted to come here, I
set my goal to speak English more fluently. So I started to hang out with my
fellow interns after work, learning slang and more about their cultures by
listening to them talk. Comparing their cultures and their ways of thinking with
Asians', I discovered a lot of differences! I also tried not to read subtitles
when watching movies and forced myself to read some American magazines or
novels. Because of my coworkers' encouragement, I felt I was making big
progress.
Overall, staying in the United States
for three months in the summer was awesome! I couldn't believe how I made it
when I got my AHA certificate. What I've gained most was making so many friends
from around the world! Because most of us were college students, we usually
talked about school life and what to do after graduation. By discussing things
with these friends, I now have many new insights. Thanks to AIEF for this
summer!
Follow Me to the World-As an Intern
in America
By Ya-Chu Hsieh, graduate of
Providence University
Four months are not too long, but also not too short.
Four months gave me a very important life experience. Four months trained me to
be an independent person. Four months gave me everything that I should
experience in my precious lifetime.
Before arriving at my destination, which was Myrtle
Beach, my challenges began during my trip. I only had two and a half hours to
connect to my flight at my first transit. Obviously, it wasn't enough. I failed
to board the plane. To make matters worse, the flight I was supposed to get on
was the last one that night. So I stayed over until the next morning to change
my ticket. Maybe that's why I didn't cry about it. I knew I had to be calm and
ask for help. Thanks to the people at the airport, I got the information to call
my airline. But one more trouble arose -- I tried a thousand times to make a
call by using a public telephone; however, it didn't work. Fortunately, my
patience helped me out. I never knew that my first English conversation on a
phone would be like this. Although it was a bit hard, I still got through it. Of
course, there was no choice for me but staying at the airport all night long.
During that night, for a while I felt like I was becoming a person who lived at
the airport. I thought a lot about myself and about America. I did feel proud of
myself, because I was there all by myself. I applied to this program by myself.
I had the telephone interview by myself. I prepared the documents by myself. I
booked the ticket by myself. I realized my American dream using all of my
abilities. The next morning, I boarded the plane full of confidence and flew to
my destination, Myrtle Beach.
Due to my delayed arrival, I didn't have the first chance
to shop for everything I needed for my daily life. My roommate Katie, an
American who is very kind and nice, supplied food and drinks and other things
that I needed, as I didn't have any of my own things for the first three days. I
can't thank her enough. I started my internship with two orientations and an
on-site guidance. These were helpful for interns to understand their jobs and
feel at ease in their work. My case was a bit difference from the others. Every
one or two weeks, my working place would be changed. Although some interns
didn't like this, for me it was a big opportunity to meet people and make more
friends from different countries. In addition, I worked at a variety of resorts,
from international five-star hotels to local famous hotels. I came gained more
precious experience compared with the other interns. I met various guests from
all over the United States, as well as overseas tourists from Europe, Asia,
Australia, and other places. Believe it or not, now I can distinguish where
people are from by their English accents.
Knowing how to communicate is the most important part
during the internship. You have to talk to your roommates, your guests, your
supervisor, and the other people you come into contact with during your daily
life there. I remember how dull I was on my first day at my work place when I
was talking to my coworkers and my guests. Whether I understood what people said
or not, my answer was always "yeah." With time, I gradually began to know how to
communicate with people fluently. My learning methods are simple and easy.
First, by listening to other people's conversations, you can learn which
responses are more suitable in a particular situation. Then you can practice
your conversation skills with your coworkers and your roommates. Day by day,
your speaking ability will greatly improve. Cultural understanding is another
kind of essential knowledge for doing an internship in the U.S. Through this
internship I developed the ability to understand general cultural differences.
And people from overseas learned more about Taiwan from me as well. In short, an
internship is an excellent way to get to know other people more fully.
How can I believe that I learned and experienced all
these things in only four months? As I said four, months are not too long, but
it also seems not too short. It's all about how you use your four months, and
what you would like to gain from the experience. Follow me to the world -- I
know you will have a completely new and fresh life experience, as I had.
Thank you, AIEF, for introducing me to this life-changing
internship opportunity!
The Best Journey Of My
Life
By Yu-Ting Hsu, an Intern from Taipei Medical University
It was truly a blessing to have such an
opportunity to intern overseas. Following the AHA seminar provided by AIEF in
Taiwan, I started to build my dream of visiting the States. However, it required
some efforts before the dream became a reality. I went through interviews, the
process of writing an English resume, and making a self-introduction video.
After some waiting, I was finally chosen for a position with AHA in Myrtle
Beach.
During my 3 months in America, I faced some difficulties
and challenges, both at work and in life. People I met at work were from
different backgrounds; they had different approaches toward dealing with work
issues. I had to adjust my attitude and try to cope with others. Our ultimate
goal was to provide the best service to the guests and to reach the true meaning
of TEAM: "Together Everyone Achieves More." Living with roommates from all over
the world was another test. In addition to learning about their life styles, it
was hard to understand their accents and thoughts. So listening to the radio and
watching English TV programs really helped me overcome the language barrier.
Furthermore, since I was forced to speak English in all occasions, speaking
English became a natural reflex. I did not have to think twice while
communicating with others.
Besides the internship, AHA would host cultural events so
all the interns could meet with each other and learn about other countries. We
had to prepare our traditional dishes and food. Also, the classes provided by
AHA taught us the importance of teamwork, the development of leadership, and the
meaning of guest service culture. In our leisure time, we went to retirement
homes to visit elders, play games with them, and keep them company. Moreover,
there were many other activities that allowed interns to bond with one another.
So I gained a lot beyond my experience in the hospitality profession.
I was in the states for 3 months, which is a quarter of a
year. It seemed like a short amount of time. All of the trainees spent day and
night together. We felt like a big family. At the end of our internship, we had
grown closer and closer. Words could not express the relationships we built over
a short period of time. I made a lot of friends who I could truly depend on and
talk to. I'd like to thank the people who helped me through all of this time
through their support and understanding. This has definitely been the best
journey of my life.
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