I can’t remember if I’ve mentioned that we now have a third J-1 daughter. Our first one was Kayla from Jamaica. Then we got Casie from Mongolia. Just recently, we got Aleksandra from Bulgaria. Tonight, all three of them were off work and asked if we could take them down to Walmart in Sturgeon Bay. We did that, and then we had an opportunity to take them to dinner and on a little tour.

In talking with them, we discovered that Casie and Aleksandra, in particular, are having a difficult time. All the J-1 students who come here try to get a 2nd or 3rd job along with their main job so that they can earn enough to pay for school the next year. Casie has gotten 3 different jobs and each time, within a day or two, she’s been fired. It sounds like there are so many students available this year that the employers are trying them out for a few days and then trying out someone else. Aleksandra has been all over Sister Bay and asked at just about every restaurant if they have openings, and they are all telling her that they already have enough staff. Kayla is fortunate enough to have found a 2nd job and been able to stay with it.

The place where all three of them work is the Door County Ice Cream Factory. It’s a small business with only a few tables, but they have hired 24 international students to work there this summer. There isn’t enough work there for 24 girls to have enough hours to earn much of a living. Not only that, but the house that the employer provided for them is already full and 2 more girls are coming this week. There is no place for them to sleep except the couch in the living room. Also, our girls have been without hot water for the last 2 days and their electricity has been spotty lately. I let a couple of the head people in Bridges know about the situation. They said that the girls should contact the organizations in their countries that contracted with their employers.

We took them on a tour of a couple of other towns and pointed out restaurants that might have openings, but the J-1 students only have bicycles to get around. We ended up the evening taking them all up the windy road.

The girls loved going to Northport! At least we are able to provide some good memories for them here.