BUFFALO — The Occidental Hotel has always been a place that attracts a cosmopolitan gathering of people. Famous folks like Teddy Roosevelt, Gen. Phil Sheridan and Buffalo Bill Cody to colorful characters like Butch Cassidy, Tom Horn and Calamity Jane, authors like Owen Wister and Ernest Hemingway.
Today, the Occidental is still a very cosmopolitan place that’s become an international draw. But that’s not just reflected by its guestbook. Today, an international workforce also brings a bit of cosmopolitan magic to the Occidental.
For the past 20 years, the Occidental has hired students from around the world to work the summer tourist season at the historic hotel that’s also a certified museum. This year, they’ve come from Belarus, Albania, Thailand and Taiwan.
“One good thing about the Internet is, it has really made one world,” Occidental co-owner Jackie Stewart told Cowboy State Daily. “And I know some people are like I used to say, if they want to come to America, they should speak English. Well, I have since learned that they not only speak English, but they speak three or four languages. We’re way behind.”
Take Joel Mera from Albania, for example. The college-age student decided to study graphic design in Italy. Now, in addition to his country’s native tongue, he speaks fluent Italian and, thanks to his time in Wyoming, he’s fluent in English as well.
He’s enjoyed both of the summers he’s spent working at the Occidental.
“One of the reasons we came back here is because there’s a lot of work, a lot of business, a lot of money,” Mera said. “And you get to learn like a lot of stuff. You’re doing all sorts of stuff. Food prepping, cooking, serving, bartending, housekeeping — like you get to do them all. So, you get to go home with a wide array of experiences.”
A Can-Do Attitude
It’s that willingness to learn and absorb everything that American culture has to offer that has made Stewart want to keep bringing international workers to the Occidental.
The program she uses is called Student Inter-Exchange, which helps find workers for areas where there’s a labor shortage. All of the college-age adults have to come into the country legally, Stewart said.
“They come here for a purpose, and then they go home,” she said.
The program operates a little like a matchmaking service. It works with the various countries, adhering to whatever rules they have for student participation. The students who are allowed to participate in the program will describe the kinds of experiences they want for their summer work in America, and then the program tries to match them up with employers who can offer some of that experience.
Stewart bumped into the program one summer when a cashier at a local fast-food restaurant turned out to be from a different country. She realized that could help her solve some of her own employment issues at the Occidental Hotel.
Wyoming is perennially short on labor. Last year, there were three jobs to every one job seeker. This year, that’s eased slightly, dropping to 2.5 jobs per job seeker, according to Wyoming’s Chief Economist Wenlin Liu.
While bringing in foreign workers through the program is one way Stewart has of dealing with the situation, for her, it’s about more than just that.
She loves the window into other cultures that these international workers are bringing to the Occidental.
“They remind me of what America was founded on,” she said. “America was founded on good character. You know, once in a while, I get a bad egg. Mostly not, but you just work through that and figure out where they fit.”
This year, Stewart brought in 11 international workers — about twice the usual number. As the summer draws to a close, she’s glad she over rather than under-estimated her needs.
“At first I thought I had over-hired, but I was glad that I had, because it ended up that I did need them all,” she said.
A Skill That Travels
Bartending, which Mera got to learn this year, has been his favorite skill of all.
Although not at first.
“I didn’t think I could do it,” he said. “At first I felt like I was an alien. Like, what am I doing here? I didn’t even know gin and tonic, I swear. And I didn’t know but maybe two of those liquors’ names.”
Now, however, Mera is feeling confident of his bartending skill. He feels like he has learned something that could take him around the world, working anywhere he’d like to explore, in any given summer.
“Next year, I think I want to go somewhere else,” he said with a big smile. “I need a little bit of beach sand.”
That’s how Dennis Voiteshonak of Belarus, the other bartender this summer at the Occidental feels as well. He’s glad he learned to bartend, and sees that it could be a useful skill anywhere in the world. But he’s ready to try something new, and his eyes are on other horizons.
Still, he’s glad he came to America and will always remember the first year in Wyoming as quite special.
“When I realized that I’m actually going to the U.S. the first time, it was pretty shocking,” he said. “Because I grew up in this post-Soviet atmosphere where the U.S. is something from a different planet. It’s not just some country you can visit any time. So, it felt very surrealistic.”
Voiteshonak read lots of books about America before coming, but still wasn’t quite sure what to expect.
“I mean, even the cowboy hats, all this stuff, I would never think before I came here that people actually wear that stuff,” he said. “But here I am, and it’s actually like that.”
Cowboy hats and boots aren’t for Voiteshonak though. On Tuesday, he was trying on a leather motorcycle jacket that he’d ordered to take home with him to Belarus. He’s already planning to buy a motorcycle with some of the money he’s earned in America to go with the jacket once he’s home.
Buffalo Was Their Oyster
Adina Sera, who is studying food science, learned about the opportunities in America from an older brother, who had a great experience working for the summer in America.
She had a choice between Buffalo and Ocean City, Maryland. Buffalo won out in her calculus, which was aimed at finding the true heart of America.
“You don’t meet a lot of people from Romania or other countries here,” she said with a mischievous smile. “Because this is Wyoming. This is in the middle of America!”
Likewise, Nuntiya Meethondpan from Thailand, had a choice between Cody and Buffalo, but, when she saw the demographics for Cody included a lot of people from Thailand, she decided Buffalo would be her oyster.
“I am the only Thai in Buffalo right now,” she said with a huge smile.
The benefit of that, she added, is that it forced her to use her English and get much better at it than she was when she first came to America.
She’s not able to return for a second summer. Next up for her is a government internship that’s a requirement, after which she’ll likely finish her studies in international relationships in England, where she has an uncle.
Most of the students said they’re not thinking about spending another summer in Buffalo, though many of them planned to keep in touch with each other. There is so much more for them to see in the world, and so many other things to do at this time in their lives.
But they all counted it as an unforgettable experience, and a priceless window into American culture that wouldn’t have been possible any other way.
That the students aren’t likely to return doesn’t surprise or upset Stewart. It’s the natural kind of arc she’s seen for these young world travelers who come to the Occidental Hotel for a summer in the heart of real America.
“There comes a time for them to move on and experience something else,” she said. “These are mostly very brilliant young people. They have future careers ahead of them. They outgrow this.”
Renée Jean can be reached at renee@cowboystatedaily.com.
