InterExchangeReviews of interexchange.org

My experience wasn’t bad, the only thing I wished I could explore more stores and places , the people were nice just never expected certain things at the camp like sleeping outside and the type of cabin but communication with interexchange was smooth.

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

More patience and communication could be considered from customer service representatives.

I didn't liked that your profile get locked if you apply for a camp or if a camp is reviwing your profile. In other times I was able to apply to more companies and my profile was still visible. I Think is nos actuallizated always abour the possitions the vamos are looking for. The inventory is shorter than others.

In general administration was too quick to reply me but I'm disappointed because my salary was been cut in half because the sponsor took half of it away from me.

Don't get carried away by what the employer says and start listening to employees (speaking specifically of counselors). Speaking specifically of summit camp, the work positions is too much and the difference between being a counselor and a being a specialist is huge. A counselor only rests half an hour per day and a specialist rests about an hour and a half. They should provide equal opportunities.

I think InterExchange is fine but the agency that represents InterExchange in my country it was really unsupportive and they didn´t knew how to solve my doubts about some stuff in the visa application. Also at first they told me that the price was something and at the end it ended being more of what they told me at first, plus I think is a really expensive agency. But I also have to say that the only time I needed some help they were really supportive and helpful.

I like the process and how you send people to make sure that we are fine. But I try to contact with the company because I had a problem with my checks and nobody answer to me.