A little international culture in West Texas

Five international scouts are takin’ a little bit of Texan back with ‘em.

"I learned… from Americans and they taught me accents and about their habits. It’s so funny and it surprised me to know English could be so different," 22-year-old Indonesian Putri Rizki Dian Lestari said.

Lestari answered the phone with a perky "howdy" and said she learned other Texanisms while at camp including "y’all," "Dat boy ain’t right," "thingamajigger," and "do what?"

Many camps have an international camp staff member, but this year is unique because five international camp staff members are at the Buffalo Trail Scout Ranch. International camp staff members apply for these positions through their home scouting offices. This was the first trip to the United States for all the international scouts but one.

Venezuelan Gabriela Pilonieta has been to the U.S. two other times but this was her first trip to West Texas.

"I loved it, I was working at the pool (at the camp). I enjoyed teaching and learning. The people are really friendly and helpful and they try to understand you. We’ve become good friends. I hope to see them again," 21-year-old Pilonieta said of her time in Texas.

Cheung Wai Yin, referred to as Wilson by his scouting cronies, was amazed by how "clean" everything in West Texas is.

"The sky is very clean and deep blue. In China the government (is) developing in south China and that’s why we have a lot of pollution. But here at night you can see the Milky Way and stars," Yin said.

Yin taught repelling and rock climbing at the camp and said the landscape varies a lot from Odessa-Midland to the BTSR, located in Fort Davis. He described the Midland area as "flat as a pancake," but said the scenery and wildlife at camp was "amazing."

"I love the fireflies at night. It’s like a Christmas tree. Because of the pollution, we don’t have fireflies in Hong Kong," 23-year-old Yin said.

Michaela Mackova, 19, from the Czech Republic, said everyone she met in Texas was very nice and will take back the things she has learned about American scouts and share with her scouting association at home.

"I like the people here, they are very friendly, very helpful, and very nice," Machova said. "It’s great experience and I will talk with the Czech children about American scouts and American camp. The Czech Scout association is a small organization. We only have small camps… We don’t have horses in the camp, we don’t have a pool, we swim in the river."

Jarla Hoppmann is a 19-year-old from Germany and she said she enjoyed working with other scouts from around the world. She said the international scouts developed a rapport and worked together often.

"Actually when I’m with them I don’t feel like such a foreigner. We’re really close now and I really like working with them… I was glad to get to know the people. They are interested in our culture and (I enjoyed) us getting to know their culture," Hoppmann said.

Though language and culture often separate people from different countries and most of the scouts had never visited an English-speaking country, the Americans and the international scouts worked past their communication differences and embraced teamwork, much the way Yin described the relationship between cowboy and horse.

"I am glad and honored to come to Texas. I learned about cowboy culture and the Indian history. At Boy Scout camp there’s a lot of horses," Yin said. "Cowboys know how to communicate to the horse, even though they can’t speak their language. I don’t understand the communication, but the horse and the cowboy can work together."