Sweet-Sixteen and Japanese
Japanese Students Visit Area Families

by Jill Darling, Warren Center, PATwenty-seven, sixteen-year-old Japanese girls were welcomed to the New York/Pennsylvania area to stay for a weekend with host families. The homestay, April 17 - 20, was part of their week-long visit to New York State. Their first stop was Niagara Falls, then Owego, to be linked with families, and finally New York City, and Washington, D.C.

Paula Andrus and Cherlynn Mantei of Apalachin co-ordinated the local event sponsored by PeopleLink, a non-profit organization. PeopleLink is dedicated to the idea that the sharing of lives one-on-one forges the links to help create a global neighborhood. A homestay program is designed for the foreign visitor and host family to learn and share their language and culture with each other.

The Japanese girls, a mix of Buddhists, Christians, and those with no religious background, attend Baikou High School, a Christian school on the southwestern tip of the largest island, Honshu.

The following are comments from a sampling of families who participated in the program:

Ken and Cherlynn Mantei of Apalachin:

Keiko Shigei was much more quiet and didn't speak English as well as the other girl hosted by the Mantei's last year. Keiko could understand more English than she spoke, and liked seeing the movie The Man in the Iron Mask. In Japan, the same English-spoken movies are seen with Japanese captions at the bottom of the screen. Keiko enjoyed shopping at the Oakdale Mall, too. Cherlynn was thrilled that in both visits the girls commented on her good cooking and ate everything put before them - a refreshing change from her own kids' responses.

Although Keiko didn't talk much, she freely entered into whatever the family was doing such as playing Nintendo games and watching Derek, 14, clean his bike. She even wanted to help vacuum the rugs.

Keiko brought a few gifts from Japan: tissue paper lamps, green tea body soap, and matches. The Mantei's gave her a T-shirt and a "Jesus" necklace and bracelet. She went to Abide in the Vine church for their morning and evening youth

services.

Cherlynn has been deeply touched by the hosting experiences and says, "You fall in love with each other."

In her thank-you note, Keiko wrote, "I'm sorry I didn't know as much English as I thought... I enjoyed being in your family. I'll never forget the precious memories."

John and Hope Hubman of Apalachin:

The Hubmans were amazed at how well Maiko Todo adapted to her new surroundings. She and their four children interacted by playing games and jumping on the backyard

trampoline. Four Japanese girls stayed at various homes in the Holmes Avenue area and all converged at the trampoline.

Maiko said the girls have a long ride to school in Japan, which runs from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm. Then there's lots of homework to be completed. The students sometimes don't get finished with it until 2 or 3 o'clock in the morning, then it's up early again for school the next day.

Maiko went shopping at the mall and saw the movie Titanic. She already seen the movie in Japan, but she wanted to see it in English. They ate at a Chinese restaraunt together on Sunday after attending services at Lord Hill Church.

The Hubman's didn't think there was much of an attachment, but Maiko started crying when it was time to leave and said, "I wish I didn't have to go."

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Pete and Jill Darling of Warren Center, PA:

Megumi Sasaki was an exhuberant girl who wasn't shy about introducing herself to everyone with whom she came in contact. She taught family members how to say "My name is __" in Japanese. She made lots of new friends and penpals.

She and Keith, 18, batted around the paper balloons she brought and also tried to figure out the wooden-corded Japanese puzzle. The Darling's took out their own puzzling tricks of twisted nails and chained horse-shoes to take apart and put back together. They played and talked until midnight.

Megu, along with a number of other girls, experienced seeing her first animal give birth at Jerry Abell's sheep farm. She saw cows milked at Rodney Darling''s farm and played basketball in the hay mow. She got her first strike at Sharp's Family Bowl in Newark Valley while bowling with 16-year-old twins, Leah and Nicole Mead from there.

Megu loves sweets and got her fill of maple syrup, cream, and candy from Dewy Meadows Maples in Warren Center.

She roasted marshmallows for the first time and ate s'mores around the campfire. The canoe ride around the family's large backyard pond was very relaxing.

Megu really enjoyed the lively worship service at Faith Christian Fellowship in Apalachin, which was very different from her quiet protestant services at home. She was thrilled to receive a "Jesus" necklace and the popular "WWJD" (What Would Jesus Do?) bracelets, along with a stack of contemporary Christian music, and a pocket Bible for teens.

Host families remarked on how polite and helpful the girls were and how they felt at ease to join in all activities. The most painful part of the experience wassaying Sayonara (goodbye). Even with such a short time together, a strong bond had formed between students and families. Some girls called the adults "Mom" and "Dad."

Several girls started crying as they waited for the bus to arrive for the next leg of their trip. Megu said, "I'll be strong and won't cry because I'll be back. I plan to go to college near here. America has "big nature" and "big hearts." Within seconds she, too, was crying along with all the other students. She summed up the feelings of most in her group, "I want to visit forever."

These sweet-natured girls, in turn, touched the hearts of their American families, that will most likely spawn lasting relationships. Some families had these sentiments, Ma ta ne (see you later), until we meet again, Japanese daughters.