Eastern European Invasion

(Tuesday, September 23). As we discovered on a trip to Glacier National Park four years ago, American college students no longer staff all of the hospitality positions at U.S. National Park lodges during the summer. Most of these temporary hires come from countries that were considered our enemies before the fall of the Berlin Wall --- members of the Eastern European Communist bloc.
Several Romanians were working at Crater Lake. Last night we had a chance to chat with one of them at length while we had an after dinner drink in the lobby. He signed a contract with a European company that has an agreement with an American company to employ Europeans in the U.S. He flew from Bucharest to Amsterdam, then on to Portland - a 16 hour trip, then hung out for 12 hours in Portland's Chinatown waiting to board a Greyhound Bus for a six hour ride south to Medford. He and his companions crashed at a Medford motel, then were hauled up to Crater Lake by Xanterra, the park concessionaire.
He had been working at the Annie Creek restaurant at the lower level of the park until it closed for the season a week ago. He'll spend about a week at the rim lodge (where we stayed), then will head to San Francisco for a short vacation with his buddies, then fly back to Portland for an overnight stay before returning to Romania and school.
He had to pay $2,500 for airfare and other costs just to get to the West Coast, but made it all back in a month and now is many $$$ ahead. He said he'll travel to the East Coast next year for a similar summer job.