Every Year we have many students traveling
abroad on both short and long term exchanges and trips. In addition, every
year there are many students studying here from many countries around
the world.
Last year we had students studying in U.S.A., and New Zealand.
The following reports were written by four of those students.
Mei Hayasaka
Grade 12,
Foreign Language Course
Graduate from Furukawakita Jr. High
Entering Doshisha University
Ever since I was a child, I really enjoyed learning about another country’s culture or language, so I did an exchange program in Kansas, America. It was my first time going to a foreign country, so I was worried and excited. When I first got there, I was shocked that I could not speak English, but everyone tried to understand me. I tried talking to them as much as I could, and my English improved day by day.
I made many friends and loved to go to school. My favorite subject was math because it was easier than math class in Japan and I got 100’s on the tests. Dance parties were also fun too. I went to Fall homecoming, Winter homecoming, Snow ball, and prom. Each of them was fun, but my favorite was prom. I wish I could go again. In spring, my host sister and I joined the golf club. We were not good golfers but it was fun none the less.
I lived with two families. Both of them were nice to me. My first host family lived in and out of town. My host father was a farmer and my host mother was a accountant. She took me to New York City. I always said to her “I wish I could go to New York City…” so I was happy when I found out that I could go there. We went to many famous places like the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building. Each sight was really amazing. We also walked through Times Square and watched the Broadway musical “Wicked.” I was excited and wanted to watch it again. If I have the chance to travel to New York City, I will definitely go again. My host father taught me how to drive. I could not drive a real car because of my age, so he used a little farm car to teach me. He took me to the farm and showed me how to plant corn and wheat too. it was interesting learning how to do that. I loved living with them, so I was very sad when I moved to the next family.
I love my second host mother because she took care of me just like her real daughter. I had two host sisters, Catherine and Claire. Catherine and I went to the same school. She always helped me when I was in trouble, and if I made a mistake in English she always corrected me. I learned many things from her. Claire was only five years old. I do not have any little sisters, so I was interested in her. She was shy, so, for the first two weeks she did not try to talk to me. But after a few weeks, she started talking to me and we became like real sisters. Claire and I like to watch children’s movies, especially anything “Disney”. I think watching movies is the best way to learn and not forget English, so I am continuing to watch movies in English.
This family took me to the Grand Canyon, which became one of the best memories during my study abroad. The Grand Canyon was beautiful and quiet. It was very relaxing. We also saw the sunrise there and I thought that was the best view I had ever seen in the whole world. We went to the Grand Canyon by car. Before we got there we stopped in a town where Native Americans live. I never saw a Native American before, so I was surprised that they look a bit Asian.
May through July I hung out with my friends a lot. One day I went to my best friend Grace’s house to sleep over. She had many animals in her house and she made me ride a horse. I thought I would never do the same thing in Japan.
On the last day of my study abroad, I tried to keep a smile but I could not. It was just too hard to say good bye. I appreciate everyone who helped me. I love and miss my families and friends in the United States. I will try to keep in touch with them through the Internet.
Yuho Wayama
Grade 12,
Foreign Language Course
Graduate from Higashisendai Jr. High
Entering Dokkyo University
Studying abroad was my dream since I was a junior high school student. On August, 6, 2009, I left my own country, Japan, for, Texas in America. That was my first time traveling out of Japan.
What surprised me most was when my host family was waiting for me at the airport in Texas, holding a big poster with the American flag,the Japan flag, and my name on it. I was impressed. They were very nice and treated me like a member of their family. They had an eight-year-old daughter named Keira. She was really like my little sister. I loved spending time with my host family more than I did with my American friends. I did a lot of fun things with them every weekend. We went to the zoo, the amusement park, the circus and so on. I think we went to second-hand stores the most because my host mom really liked cheap stuff!
They gave me an awesome and expensive present. It was a ticket to Disney World during spring break. I felt very happy.
We went there by car, which took almost twenty hours, but it was a great drive. The whole week was like a dream. Well, I really was in a dream world. Now I have a second family.
I have to say thank you to my family,my friends, and my host family because I could not have had this experience without them. I know it is not easy to live with people who cannot speak the same language and come from completely different cultures and customs.
But I learned many things and had a wonderful year ever. I will never forget this. The most wonderful thing I got from this experience is a second family in America.
I Love Ikuei! I Love America!!
Thank you for all these experiences!!!
Kaoru Kawabata
Grade 12,
Foreign Language Course
Graduate from Nagamachi Jr. High
Entering Ritsumeikan University
Do you think that in America people speak only English? The fact is they don't. People speak not only English, but also Spanish in Houston, Texas. My school was a big building with a lot of students. There were many Latino students in my biology class. They spoke Spanish all the time and sometimes the teacher did, too. I couldn't understand their conversations, So I always asked my friends for help.
I took swimming class for one whole semester!! My school had the same schedule every day. I'm good at swimming, so I thought if I took it, I would be able to make friends easily. Fortunately, I made many friends there. My swimming coach said "If you take swimming class, you have to join the swim team" so I joined it and water polo too. I especially had a good time on the swim team, but the practice was really hard, so I was very tired almost every day. I had best friends who were like my sisters, Itza and Elena. They came from Mexico last year, but they could speak English better than me. I had seen them in some classes before, but we didn't know each other well. They were good swimmers, so they swam in front of other people during the practice. I wanted to be their friends, so I talked to them and, we got close enough to talk about anything with each other. We were always talking and laughing. In America,there were many swim meets, once or twice a week. I got first place a couple of times, so I got a lot of medals and a diploma. I was so happy. In America, if you work hard, then you'll get a prize. I think that's good because I felt like practicing harder after the swim meets for the next one.
There were many events in my school. I went to Home Coming, a Halloween party, the swimming banquet, a Christmas party, a Valentines party, Easter, and a Farewell party!!!
I enjoyed myself very much. I danced for the first time in my life. I was very shy before I went to America, but now I'm not shy anymore. Every party was nice!!! Do you know what Easter is? It's one of the most popular holidays in America. During Easter, a bunny comes to your house and hides many eggs, so you have to find them. I painted many eggs and made a bunny cake!! It was really fun and cool for me.
I had a hard time in government class because it was only for seniors, and I was a junior. It was a very difficult class, but I had to take it, even though I couldn't speak English fluently. My classmates were graduating that year, so they had to pass many tests and prepare for college. I was nervous all the time in this class, but my friend helped me out a lot, so fortunately, I was able to pass the class test. I couldn't have passed it without my friend's help.
I had valuable experiences in America. I only wanted to improve my English skills before I went there, but I found a real friend, Itza. She always helped me when I had trouble. Sometimes I wanted to go back to Japan when I had difficulties, but she understood my feelings and supported me. When she had trouble I helped her in return. During my stay in America Itza and many other friends helped me. I'm proud of my friends and I want to thank them for their kindness. I'm going to study international economics at university. I want to make use of experiences in America in my future. English is awesome!!!
Thank you.
Yuka Matsuura
Grade 12,
Foreign Language Course
Graduate from Inari Jr. High
Entering Meikai University
My life in New Zealand was just awesome. I had many surprises on my first day. For example, everything I saw was new and I couldn’t understand English. My host family was Korean. They could speak English very well, but they spoke Korean in our house. I felt alone and I became homesick. But at that time, my parent and my friends gave me some courage and energy to keep myself up. I knew that close people such as parents and friends are my treasures. This is why I thought nobody can live without them.
I went to Auckland with one of my classmates. We went to school together and we took some same subjects. It was nice to have the same class because we could help each other. Although I was in the year 12, I took the year 13 Tourism class and the year 13 Hospitality class. It was too hard for me to understand but I got some friends from different countries and they taught me what I had to do. The class was fun and I could enjoy myself, so I loved to study with them. In PE class, we played golf. Before I went to NZ, I was not interested in golf, so I didn’t know anything about it. A pro golf player taught us how to play. I found that golf is good to play and to have communication with friends. I think I had many characteristic overseas experiences.
There were so many foreigners in NZ such as Koreans, Chinese and Germans. It was so nice to learn distinctive cultures of different countries. I learned so many Korean customs such as food, etiquette and the language. My family and their friends always taught me some easy Korean words so that I’m studying Korean now!! Also I’m listening to Korean songs every day.
In NZ, schools have many holidays. We go to school for 10 weeks and after that, we get 2 week holidays. If I was in Japan, I felt happy but I didn’t feel happy because I wanted to practice speaking English. This is why I went to a language school during the long holidays. I was in an adult class and I studied IELTS. The class was too difficult for me but I gradually could understand. The teacher said to me “Don’t be afraid to make mistakes. You are learning English! You have to speak!” I thought “That’s right! This is an easy way to improve my English. ” His words changed my mind and I started to talk a lot. I also had many friends from there. Almost all my friends were over 20 years old, so I felt like they are my brothers and sisters. They invited me to their parties and talked a lot. It was wonderful and I really loved them. I’m missing them and their hospitality.
My host family was Korean. My host brother was an exchange student of IKUEI and he stayed with us in Japan. He spoke Japanese very well like a Japanese person. His sister was also learning Japanese in school, so sometimes I helped her with her Japanese homework. It was difficult to teach but we could have good communication with each other. My host mother cooked delicious dinner every day. Sometimes she cooked Korean food, sometimes Japanese food, sometimes Vietnamese food and so on. Every night the dinners were banquets for me. They were very kind to me and they took good care of me. I wonder if I had a magic door to let me go anywhere at anytime how nice it will be.
