Vivid December 2004

Feature
ROMANIAN LIFE AND TIMES
Travelling can be a profitable business

by Ruxandra Gubernat
December 2004

Combining work and travel is a growing trend amongst students, and apparently brings in $15 million dollars each year into the Romanian economy. In 2004, more than 5,000 students went to the States during the summer holiday on working contracts.

Raluca Tomin is one such student, who applied for a summer job using a 'Work&Travel'agency, which offers the chance of seeing new places in exchange for a summer job. In Bucharest there are about five agencies that act as intermediaries between those who want to leave Romania for work and companies from the US looking to employ young, enthusiastic Romanians. Raluca got her visa and her social security card in early June and set off for California. Together with her boyfriend, Andrei Vacaru, a final year public relations student, they were hosts at a hotel in the Pines Resort region.

''We had more than one thousand students using our program this year. We provide quality services, a database with more than five hundred job offers, for those who want to look for a job on their own,'' says Ciprian Isacovici, program coordinator for GTS International Romania.

Once you leave for the US , you know where you're going and what exactly you will be doing. Students who use a Summer Work&Travel program might land jobs as a waiter, housekeeper, bartender, or receptionist. Waiters have the lowest wages ($2.50 per hour), because companies take into account the fact their employees can triple their wages htrough tips. Usually, the wage offered is around $6-7 dollars an hour, for about 40 hours a week - about $1,200 a month.

''We earned really good money there, but it was kind of boring. The resort was isolated, and there wasn't much that to do,'' says Raluca.

However, they didn't waste any time. ''Our boss arranged some trips for us. The best was the one to the Yosemite National Park ,'' she says. Raluca and Andrei had enough money to go to Las Vegas or Los Angeles on their own. Here, they say, they stayed at the best hotel they had ever seen. They managed to stay away from the gambling tables. Instead, they both bought laptops and digital cameras, at half the price as in Romania.

On their way back from the States they also took a trip to Paris , and stayed there for ten days, which they spent sightseeing and visiting museums. ''This was the whole idea of going to the States. We wanted to see as much of the world as possible. And this working trip made it possible for us,'' they say.

Elena Craescu, a third-year journalism student, got a job as a security guard for a hotel in Delaware. She won this job after more than a month of searching and turning down jobs as a gardener or fish worker in Alaska .

''I thought my athletic appearance would never do me much good. This was before I got this job,'' she says. ''And, besides, it wasn't hard at all. I was sitting around and checking people's luggage, but never found anything untoward,'' she adds. Her strong physique and the fact she loves sports a lot and weighs about 70 kilos certainly helped her application, she says.

The students we met say their employers showed them a good deal of respect. Nobody treated them disrespectfully because they came from Romania, or Bulgaria, or any other Eastern European country. ''Although some of them had never heard of Romania,'' one added.

''The only thing that matters there is how well you do your job. If your boss is satisfied, you have a good chance of being promoted,'' Vacaru says.

This was the case with Alina Ionita, a final year Economics student. She went to Greenport Resort, a beach near New York, to work as a waitress. After the first two weeks, she got her second job. Ionita worked for an Indian company, packing up T-shirts. She worked efficiently and her boss assigned her to supervise a further five workers. She preferred being a waitress, though.

''I earned money far quicker than I could ever have hoped of earning it in Romania. I had evenings when the tips were about $150. In Romania , you have to work for two weeks to get that money,'' Ionita says.

Money is not always an issue for those who choose these programs. Many say the most rewarding aspect is that they get to travel for free. Many of them return to Romania and cannot wait until the next long vacation, when they will be back on the road and traveling again.

Ruxandra Gubernat is a final year student of journalism.