Culture Shock

by John Cabiles
San Francisco, CA, USA

Imagine that you have arrived in a strange-looking land. You are thousands of miles away from home. You are in the presence of people of different types of ethnicities. Many around you are speaking a language you can barely understand. You have very little idea what's going on. Then someone tells you that you have to finish the challenge they give you by the end of the week! This is not fiction. This is Teen Summit 2004 in Boston, Massachusetts.

Adjusting to life in a foreign country is hard, especially when you have a job to do while you're there. That's the challenge that many club members in Teen Summit face. These bright, young teenagers came from all over the world to work together in this conference sponsored by Intel. For many of them, it is their first time in the United States. People like Raquel Pocasangre, a club leader from Costa Rica, brave the language and cultural barriers in order to accomplish their track challenges here in Teen Summit. "I have to make an effort to think in English to understand the people," says Raquel in an elegant Costa Rican accent. "Sometimes I know what I want to say, but I don't remember in English."

Everyday, Teen Summit attendees must speak the American language, fit in with the American people, and eat the American meals. "Some of what we eat here is in the Philippines," explains seventeen year-old Jargivier Asahan from Makati, Philippines in a mix of Tagalog and English," but the difference is there's no rice!"

Not surprisingly, many Teen Summit participants adjust to American life with a positive attitude. Seventeen year-old Revathi Rani, who sometimes needs help from her coordinator to speak English, admits to being surprised by the friendliness of Americans. "Americans are disciplined," says the adorable girl from Bangalore, India. "I want Indians to be like this." Like Revanthi, many of the participants wish they could bring back part of America to their clubhouses at home. Islam Samara from Ramallah, Palestine, delights in walking around the different sights in Boston at her own luxury. Due to the political unrest in her country, Islam is not used to the freedom of traveling from place to place without problems.

Despite the mix of different economic backgrounds, the universal language at the Summit has become technology. Though many of these teenagers have never been on an airplane before the Summit, they are quite familiar with their e-mail account, which is a far more recent technology. Programs like Photoshop, Microsoft Word, and Internet Explorer are everyday words in their vocabulary because of the time they spend in their Intel labs back home. Using the amazing amount of technology available to them, these teens work together to create projects in tracks like Fashion Design, Robotics, Music, and Web Design. In the process, they have made friends that they won't soon forget.

"I met a lot of people at our Intel lab in South San Francisco," comments Joseph Sapinoso, "but now I'm meeting people that come from Intel labs all over the world. How many people can say that?"