Exchange Day 2023

Exchange Day is a worldwide celebration of the power of international exchange. International exchange participants and community stakeholders can come together to "eat, play, and give" -- to share cultural diversity and American customs, to give back to their communities, and to have some fun. Exchange Day is also an opportunity to raise awareness of international exchange programs and spread the word about the power and breadth of cultural exchange. - Alliance For International Exchange

LifeTRAVELED supported the Exchange Day initiative by hosting two Exchange Day events - in Santa Claus, Indiana and Orlando, Florida.

Santa Claus, Indiana

Santa Claus is a unique small town in Indiana that is home to Holiday World, where were sponsor exchange visitors annually. Holiday World employs exchange visitors from multiple countries such as Turkey, Thailand, and Mongolia. The event featured a cultural potluck where participants created dishes from their country such as Arroz Pollo y Habichuela from the Dominican Republic and Adobo from the Philippines. In the spirit of Holiday World, our participants’ volunteer project was creating holiday cards for children in hospitals, which will be donated to the non-profit Cards For Hospitalized Kids. Our Exchange Day also featured a scavenger hunt where participants searched for the Exchange Day logo. Once found, the participant would need to answer the USA cultural question on the back of the logo. If they answered correctly, they won a cash prize! As the summer season is coming to an end, this event was a great way for participants to reflect on their program and the friendships they’ve made.

We were able to talk, bond, and share with another nationalities during this day. - Jonathan, Philippines

Orlando, Florida

For our Orlando Exchange Day event, we wanted to provide our exchange visitors with a taste of local nature. Florida is full of natural springs, which we thought would be the best place to allow our participants to explore what Florida has to offer. The cool temperature of the springs was a great relief to the heat index of 111 degrees for our Exchange Day. We selected Wekiva Island, just north of Orlando, for our participants to play amongst each other through various activities.

Participants had the chance to canoe up and down the river and relax as they floated in the current. They also participated in team field games, with winners receiving experiences with Wonderworks and Loews Hotels, two of our employer partners. Representatives from Loews Hotels sweat it out over the hot grill to offer a traditional American lunch of hot dogs, potato salad and pickles!

To give back to the community, Exchange visitors donated school supplies to help local students prepare for their first day, which we distributed to a local elementary school.

Lymari Torres-Reyes, a program analyst with Department of State, engaged with the participants over lunch and provided insightful words about the power of face to face cultural exchange and the importance of sharing their experience with others and extended invitation to come back an join in more cultural exchange programs.