PAX - Program of Academic Exchange is a program of PAX Laurasian Exchange and is designated by the U.S. Department of State as a J-1 Visa Exchange Visitor Program sponsor.

A fun weekend without smart phones?

I'm Fatima from Pakistan, and I'm placed in Milwaukee, WI. I have a lot to talk about, because each day has a lot of different stories and each story is a memory that I will keep with me for life.

I had my cultural activity with my community coordinator and other exchange students. It was so much fun. We had a phone-free weekend which allowed us to interact more and get to know each other better. It was a good weekend without cell phones! We went on a hike to the Fox River and played team building games, had a leadership activity, and played American games!

The next day, we had breakfast, and I put henna on my friends. After that, we went to the folk fair. It was amazing! There were many different cultures from around the world in one place. It was like travelling around the world. I got to experience Indonesian, Mexican, Native American, Thai, Chinese, Filipino, Albanian, Romanian, Nepali, Egyptian, Latvian, Turkish, Swedish, Italian, and many more cultures.

We went around, and I had my folk fair passport stamped at each country we visited. I even tried different food at the fair! It was an amazing weekend, and I'm really thankful to my coordinator and PAX for arranging this activity for us!

—Fatima (YES, Pakistan), hosted by the Gilpatric family (WI)