In yet another instance of Chinese students paying way too much for the chance to go to America, the NYT reports that hundreds of J-1 visa holders (Chinese among them) walked out of an American-based factory that packs Hershey's chocolates yesterday. The students claim that they've been essentially used as underpaid labor, making as little as US$200 a week.

What caught our eye was the price the Chinese students paid to enter the J-1 visa program: $6000, nearly twice as much as a participant from Turkey. After the mandatory two-month work period, the Chinese university students wouldn't have even recovered even half the program cost--and all for the privilege of working in a factory in nowheresville, Pennsylvania.

“There is no cultural exchange, none, none,” complained Zhao Huijiao. “It is just work, work faster, work.” She and three other Chinese students showed the NYT reporter bruises caused by moving heavy boxes of chocolate.

No doubt that working in a crappy factory during summer breaks is a common experience for American college students, but at least the natives don't have to pay an enormous sum of money to do so.

The students all expected to practice their English and learn about American life while making some money on the side---and the students probably did learn a little about America, something beyond the DVD box sets that are so popular here. But after shelling out $6000 for it, they have every right to be angry about their experience.

Image via The New York Times