Twenty-one Haddonfield Japan Exchange students were all sleepy smiles as they got off the bus from the JFK airport at Haddonfield Memorial High School on Wednesday, Aug. 3. They were greeted by family members with kisses and hugs after their 12-day trip to Japan.
In its 10th year, the HJE was once again a success as Haddonfield students were provided with a life-changing experience, being immersed in Japanese culture and lifestyle. Students, though happy to be home, were full of positive things to say about their experience.
“At first, I was a little nervous with the new culture and new experience, but I’m definitely glad I went. I met a lot of really nice people and it was a fun experience,” Spencer Flores, 17, said.
The trip began with students travelling to Kasukabe High School where they were greeted with a welcoming ceremony and meeting their host family. Their adventures soon followed with lessons at the school, a stop at the Subaru factory and Oya Museum, bus tours in Tokyo, a visit to Kamakura, an amusement park and viewing Mt. Fuji. The weekends and final day were reserved for the host families and then a sayonara party.
Students and chaperones agreed spending time with their host families allowed them to be more immersed with Japanese culture and was one of their favorite parts.
“It was amazing, it was incredible to get to view a new culture so personally by staying right in their homes,” Reese Qualls, 15, said.
“It was definitely a good learning experience about culture and learning about a different country other than going there as a tourist and seeing sights. I was able to really interact with people who lived there,” Claudio Carusone, 15, said.
Carusone said it was really funny to dance around the language barrier, but everyone was very nice. Chaperone Kristin Kimmell said the language barrier can be seen as difficult, but once you’re there it is not as big of a deal.
Ai Hirota, a former resident of Japan and now of Cherry Hill, felt it was a unique experience to see Japan as a tourist and do all of the things she hadn’t done for years such as Hagoita, painting wooden paddles, calligraphy, archery and tea ceremonies.
Kimmell and Hirota hoped students who went experienced close friendships with their host family and have a greater appreciation for the beauty of Japan, the culture and its people.
Students seemed to do just that. They all loved the food, people and sights. Qualls loved the shrines, while Flores loved the city of Tokyo. He said it was cool to compare the Japanese cities with the American cities. Carusone enjoyed his time with his host family, being taken to a beautiful waterfall with them one day. He said he’d love to go back again.
From their trip, students feel they’ve taken away more worldly knowledge.
“Going out of the country at this point has showed me how there is so much more to learn from other people. Since going to Japan, I sort of realized how much there still is to even think about doing, and I am kind of glad that there is,” Carusone said.
“I think (we’ve learned) to try new things, cultures and experiences that we’ve never experienced before,” Flores said.
Although the experience was life changing for many, students were happy to be back home in Haddonfield, though chaperones found it difficult to say goodbye.
Another difficult goodbye was for HJE founder Bill Brown, as this is his final year spearheading the program. However he said he will still continue to help in the wings. Haddonfield’s Carlton Chin will be taking over in the future.
The HJE is a non-profit that raises money for children to travel to and from Japan, asking those traveling only pay for airfare and souvenirs. As the HJE exchanges Haddonfield and Japanese students, switching every other year, next year the Kasukabe students will be coming to Haddonfield. The HJE will be looking for host families for next summer. To learn more about the HJE and possibly be a host family, visit www.hjex.org.
