Zhen H.
Feedback on my summer camp experience at Cradle Beach Camp
Dear InterExchange Program Administrators, When I first learned about this program, I expected it to be a welcoming cultural exchange opportunity for international participants to experience American culture. Unfortunately, my overall experience at the camp was extremely poor, and looking back, it remains a terrible experience. This experience has made me hesitant to join similar camp programs in the United States for a long time, and I will not recommend Cradle Beach Camp to others. I still believe in the value of international cultural exchange and would encourage people to join well-run exchange programs, but I cannot recommend this camp, as it fails to deliver the cultural engagement promised to international participants. My main concerns are outlined below. First, the camp appeared to treat international staff as cheap labor. Within the same working hours, international employees were assigned far more and heavier workloads compared to local staff. For example, the physically demanding Yellow Hat work was almost exclusively allocated to international workers. Meanwhile, domestic staff would hide to take breaks, and faced no disciplinary consequences even when caught by supervisors. On top of this, our hourly wages were lower than those of local employees. Second, there was significant unfairness in camp policies and enforcement. The camp rules were strictly enforced for international staff, while local employees were not held to the same standards. For housing, for example, everyone was supposed to stay in their assigned rooms, yet many local employees freely moved around and occupied other accommodations. Third, our direct supervisor Gabe offered no meaningful support when international staff faced unfair treatment. There was another camp administrator who was willing to actively help me with my concerns. However, all final decisions rested with Gabe and leadership above him. My concerns were passed to Gabe and then stalled, with no follow-up response. After I left the camp early, I contacted Gabe again to report hostile behaviour from some local employees. Gabe responded that since I had already departed, there was nothing left to discuss. He also stated that if an issue could not be resolved at his level, I could escalate all the way to the CEO. Nevertheless, other international staff had already bypassed him to contact the CEO directly, and their grievances resulted in almost no tangible changes, showing that this escalation route had limited practical effect. Fourth, structured cultural exchange activities were severely lacking. While living alongside Americans allowed me to casually observe everyday American life, the camp organised very few intentional cultural exchange events. There was only one staff appreciation meal, which was simply a group dinner with little meaningful interaction. The camp arranged group trips to the supermarket, but this was largely a practical necessity rather than cultural programming. The camp location was remote with almost no public transit. Without camp-provided transportation, we would have to rely on expensive Uber rides to reach town. The only full-day organised trip was to Niagara Falls, departing in the morning and returning at night. All other outings lasted less than two hours, with rushed schedules and a disappointing experience. In summary, weak administrative management, unequal treatment of staff, and unresponsive leadership combined to create a terrible program experience. For these reasons, I ended my participation one week ahead of schedule. I hope InterExchange will strengthen pre-screening and ongoing oversight of its partner camps to prevent future international exchange participants from encountering similar hardships. Sincerely, zhen