My View
HOW EMPLOYERS LIVE WITH US
By Tijana Vucinic

Her name is Tijana and she is from Serbia. This is a story in sequels about her trip to Nantucket. Nobody knows how it is going to end, not even she.

Sequel 6 Iam lucky that where I work and where I live is one and the same. But I would really like to know: do my employers feel the same way about it? Lets observe "the boss-employees" relationship.

One of the main reasons why J1 students come here is to improve their English (and trust me, it is not just a phrase for the American Embassy).

Actually, one of the first problems that comes up is the language barrier. There are not many student workers with perfect English language knowledge.

People who think that for this kind of simple physical work J1 students can have just poor English vocabulary are wrong. There are so many different things during a day that we need to explain and to express. We are all depending on our language skills, because we cannot live normally if we don't express our thoughts, wishes, opinions or requests. It is really important to be tolerant when you are speaking with one of the foreign workers. We appreciate it when people are ready to help us with some unfamiliar words or when they speak slowly so we can understand them better.

So, English is the most important thing for foreign student workers. Getting along with the American way of life and, most importantly, our bosses is much easier when we have the support of a rich vocabulary.

The second thing is awareness and knowledge of laws and customs in USA. Behavior from back home definitely must change. We are not at home any more, so our manners and sometimes our standards must change. We have to adjust to a different value system and surroundings for five months. That is maybe the most challenging part of adapting. Adifferent culture and way of life can really be stimulating and can turn things in better direction. Every day you learn new things. Some of that knowledge you can use back home as a way of spreading a new, positive spirit in your community.

For example, I noticed that now I speak more in an American form of casual speech: "Hi, good morning, how was your day, how do you do, what beautiful weather today, thank you, what a pretty dress, you are welcome, nice to meet you, no problem... " And of course, with big smile on my face.

Those are not just words. That is one polite manner and nice way to chit-chat (even with strangers). In my country, people have different phrases and things they say often to each other. I would like to keep this friendly kind of address to people because I think that in the world there are already too many bad looks and malicious comments. So, let's exterminate all bad feelings in people with the best American-brand, Nantucket smile. By the way, that smile sometimes works also with my employers when I am in some kind of trouble.

Of course, with our employers we don't have just that kind of "chit-chat" communication. During these five months, there have been so many nice things and events that have made me really happy. But naturally, sometimes, there are some problems. I can not imagine how hard is to live every year with different young people, to adapt to their customs, different languages, behavior. Just this summer they had 20-year-old workers from Bulgaria, Dominican Republic, Ukraine, Mongolia and Serbia. Wow! You should hear it when we all start to speak by the telephone or by the Internet in our languages. Madness!

You really need to have strong nerves and lots of tolerance to survive all that. My employers showed me a lot of times that they consider me as a part of the family. We have a great relationship, perfectly balanced between our roles of when it is a work time and a time off, which is sometimes a real art, and the greatness of my employers. They demonstrate to me every day what American hospitality and compassionate human nature mean. Often they are in the position of giving us advice when we, employees, are not getting along with each other or when we have some personal problems.

Once, when I had hard time communicating with my coworkers my employer told me: "Tina, you came here to get new experiences and to mature. Your job position as a housekeeper does not require much thought. It is mostly physical work. The right way for you to prove to yourself that you are strong and can meet the real challenge is in your power to successfully handle inter-personal relationships."

And I have listened to her advice and I've made for myself a good working and living environment. My employers have a lot of experience with J1 students. The workers on their property, since they are managers (almost three decades), were mostly foreign students. I am sure that my boss' side of the story would be much more interesting, with the title like this one " How we survived 30 years living and working with students from all over the world?" I am also sure that they have a lot of experience meeting all those people and their cultures. The interesting fact is that the earliest of their workers is probably around 50 years old now, wherever he is. A long period of time, with lots of different people. And that is just this one resort. Can you imagine how many workers like me from far away have been on the island in the last few decades? They are all passengers in time, memories that are part of the Nantucket spirit now.

Every person makes a difference. Each individual leaves a mark. At the moment, I am doing the same. Nantucket will forever stay part of me and I will

always be part of Nantucket. I