Josai ‘Sayonara Party’ caps very active two weeks of learning about Oregon

Scott Swanson

In a flurry of fans and some good old-fashioned picnic fun, Sweet Home’s summer Josai Exchange ended last week.

The 12-day visit wound up with with the traditional “Sayonara” picnic featuring a Japanese dance, akido martial arts demonstrations and something else typical – tears.

The 10 students from the Tokyo prep school, which also sends students to Sweet Home to stay through the school year, spent 12 days seeing everything from the ocean to the desert, according to coordinator Suzette Andersen.

“They got here and we hit the ground running,” she said. “We went shopping at the Woodburn Outlet mall on the way down from the airport.

“My goal was to show them all of the different things you could do in America – in as short a period as time as possible, said Andersen, who has coordinated the Sweet Home end of the exchange program for four years. A family/consumer sciences teacher at the high school, Andersen finished things off with a sumptuous seafood dinner for the final farewell on Wednesday, July 20. Most of it was caught and prepared by herself and her husband Eric.

The Josai summer exchanges switch off each year, with the Japanese coming to Sweet Home every other year. The exchanges have continued for some 35 years, though the numbers “on both ends” have dwindled a bit, Andersen said.

Next summer members of Sweet Home High School’s Josai Club, members and alums of which participated in this summer’s activities, will travel to Japan to be hosted by Josai families.

“It was a nice trip for me,” said Takashi Takahashi, known by students as “Taka Taka,” a Josai English teacher who manages the exchange program and accompanied the group. “Josai loves Sweet Home and I think Sweet Home people love Josai. I think this is a nice relationship that we can improve our personalities and English abilities.”

The 30-some attendees at the event included multi-generational hosts of the students who came on this trip.

Chris Wingo said this was the fourth time his family has hosted summer students and they have hosted a school-year student as well.

“All three of my kids have been to Japan on the exchange program,” he said. “I think Japan is very rich in the culture and traditions they have and sharing that with us is something I enjoy a lot.”

Japanese students at the Sayonara event performed a fan dance, demonstrated akido martial arts, and taught the Americans a “horse” game in which two teams of contestants support a teammate who is wearing a cap and trying to remove the cap of the opposing “jockey.”

Taka Taka said he appreciated the “kindness” shown to his charges, and noted that their English improved dramatically in less than two weeks.

“The first day of the short-time exchange, nobody could say anything – just “yes” or “thank you,” he said. “Now they can say a lot of words to their host families. That’s just in a short two weeks.”

Suzette Andersen said the guests change perceptibly, “even in that two weeks.

“If you have them six months or a year, the change in them from beginning of school year to Christmas is wonderful. By the end of the year you don’t want them to go.

“Even in two weeks, relationships form. They’re crying,” she added, gesturing at the clusters of students around her.

Marika Chiba wasn’t part of this year’s summer group. She participated in the exchange this past school year and then stayed longer with her hosts, the Ivan Wolthuis family, until the short-time group arrived. She left with them Thursday.

Chiba said she visited Sweet Home with the summer exchange group in 2015, then decided she wanted to come back for the whole year.

“People here are so nice,” she said, between sniffles. “It makes you continue your English study. I loved being here. I had a great time.”

Nichole Wingo, Chris Wingo’s daughter-in-law, has never visited Japan, but wants to now, after hosting summer exchange students twice and a school-year exchange student for part of last year.

“It’s a good experience,” she said. “It’s just nice to get to know someone from a different place, to see what’s important to them, what you know they like to do. It makes me curious. I want to learn Japanese.”

She said her husband Ian is taking a college Japanese class already.

Chris Wingo said his own family hosted Japanese students when he was a teenager, “but I never had a chance.”

“It wasn’t an exchange program where we could go over there. I enjoy this program in that every other year we send students and all my kids have been able to go to Japan. It’s something I’ve enjoyed them being able to experience.”

Andersen said she has been working to build the program and to make the Sweet Home end more financially stable – less dependent on contributions from Japan.

This year, she said, Sweet Home was able to host the Japanese without help.

The two big challenges are finding families to host the visiting Japanese students and raising funds for the Sweet Home students to visit Japan, which costs approimately $1,500.

She said she would also like to see more Sweet Home students go for longer-term stays at Josai.

“They no longer have to go for a whole year,” she said. “They can go for one term. You have to be there longer to assimilate their language. I would love to see someone go.”

She said if better fund-raising mechanisms were in place, more Sweet Home students would probably be interested.

This year, Josai members worked during football and volleyball games and cleaned up after football and soccer games, as fund-raisers, she said.

“The kids are not above emptying garbage and picking up trash. Last year we were able to make more money and it helped.

“It’s such a great experience – even the two-week version is so rewarding.”

With two Josai students due to arrive for fall term, a boy and a girl, Andersen said she is seeking host families.

“If people are willing to take them for a term, we can do a term share,” she said.

Anyone interested can contact her at (541) 401-2750. Leave a message.

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