Rauan Sagyn is one of dozens of foreign workers that makes the Leelanau world turn every summer.
Sagyn, 18, works at NJ’s, Fiddleheads, and Dick’s Pour House in Lake Leelanau over the summer.
The long days and nights are grueling, but Sagyn always does the work with a smile on his face.
“It’s not usual for me, living here for three months ... Everybody knows each other,” he said.
Sagyn is originally from Aktav, Kazakhstan, located south of Russia and near countries like Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan.
Kazakhstan is the largest country in central Asia and the ninth largest country in the world.
He works from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Fiddleheads, then from 2 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. at NJ’s.
The one hour in between is filled with talking with family.
On his day off, Sagyn takes the opportunity to work at Dick’s Pour House from time-totime.
Sagyn recently finished his first year at university where he is studying finance with aspirations of one day working in finance or owning a business.
“I wanted to come here to work and earn money and just feel the experience, like the cultural exchange,” he said.
Sagyn says the experience has helped him understand finance even more being in a different country.
“You can spend it easily here,” he said. “I know it changed my mind about money. I started thinking a little more about finance. Saving it.”
Sagyn is a part of the J1 program that is popular in eastern Europe and Central Asia that deploys hundreds of workers to the greater northwest Michigan area.
“When I connected with my cousins (last year), they were always telling about USA, how their experience went and culture exchange,” he said.
Sagyn didn’t know it at the time, but he would be making the trip across the Atlantic Ocean a few months later.
“My brother said that it’s a really good place. You will get free rent, free food, and you will get paid really good. And I just said, ‘OK,’” he said.
His cousin Amirzhan Kubashev worked at NJ’s last summer which provided the connection.
Sagyn admits that it’s hard work as he will be working upwards of 12-13 hours a day to tally nearly 90 hours a week with one day off.
He’s been here since May 6 and will be leaving Saturday.
Sagyn thanks his friend Gabriel Trujillo who has been showing him around, playing soccer, and experiencing the area.
One of his favorite memories was going to Traverse City for the Cherry Festival and jumping in Lake Leelanau and Lake Michigan, to name a few.
“I also have time for fun,” he said.
Foreign workers make the local economy work and they are undoubtedly some of the hardest workers.
Sagyn will travel to Chicago after Saturday for vacation before going back to university.
Sagyn misses his family and tries to talk with them everyday despite the roughly 12-hour time difference between the US and Kazakhstan. The next time he will be able to see them is in January. After visiting Chicago for three days he will go straight to university.
Sagyn says people in the USA are really friendly and excessively say “how are you” and “thank you,” which is odd compared to where he came from.
“In Kazakhstan, you will never see this. Like, they are just doing their job ... Maybe even they will not answer,” he said.
Another odd observation Sagyn acknowledges is how many times people wave from the car while he is walking.
“The people in the car that I don’t even know wave and say ‘hey, how are you’ ... in Kazakhstan this doesn’t happen” he said laughing.
The money Sagyn is making from his various jobs can earn twice as much as his parents combined in a month in Kazakhstan. After working in Leelanau, he is a multi-millionaire in his home country. One dollar is roughly $480 in Kazakhstan. The funding will help his family.
Sagyn says salaries are much less in Kazakhstan, while cars and homes are extremely expensive.
“I will miss this because I spent three months here and I met really good people,” he said. “I will miss this place. I will miss the food that I ate here.”
Sagyn thinks the experience has made him more friendly while experiencing a different culture.
He thanks his parents Sagyn Yessirkepov and Roza Srazhanova, along with his brother Ernur, and cousin Amirzhan Kubashev. Rauan also thanks Rosie, Sam, Gabriel, and Sherzad for making the summer a great experience.
“I’m calling (Rosie), my Indian mom,” Sagyn said. “Thank you to my friend Gabriel who wants to give me more fun in my summer. He helped me not forget the Kazakhstan and Russian language.”
