Thirteen Renton School District students returned last Saturday from an experience “that will last a lifetime,” says one of the principals.
The students from McKnight, Nelsen and Dimmitt middle schools spent nine days on an exchange program trip to Nishiwaki, Japan, one of Renton’s sister cities.
The exchange has been a tradition in the school district since 1988 and despite initial fears about the aftermath of last spring’s earthquake and tsunami in Japan, it continued this year. Nishiwaki is in central Japan and is miles away from the earthquake- and tsunami-damaged area.
Nobody talked about the incident, said TJ Mallos, an eighth grader from Nelsen Middle School, who added that if anyone was affected, they didn’t show it.
Since the trip, he’s decided that he will definitely visit Japan again.
He was fascinated by the technology he encountered everywhere.
When asked about what he saw that impressed him the most, he hesitantly remarked on the “fancy bathrooms.”
“They had those toilets with all the fancy buttons that do crazy things,” Mallos said.
He was asked most often by Japanese students in their English class conversations whether he had a girlfriend. Mallos noticed they eat a number of their dishes cold and the Japanese like eating with family.
“Well, it also taught me that the American perception of life isn’t the only one,” he said. “Because, life is very different over in Japan.”
During the trip the delegation met Nishiwaki Mayor Juichi Kishi and other representatives from the city. They toured Hyogo Prefectural Flower Center, Himeji Castle, Miyuki Street shopping mall, two elementary schools and their host student’s junior high schools.
In August, 14 students from Nishiwaki traveled to Renton to spend 10 days with Renton students and their families.
“At first, these 27 students were shy with one another, but when the Nishiwaki students boarded the plane to return home, you could see that friendships were beginning to develop,” said Nanci Davis, Sierra Heights Elementary School principal.
Davis, along with Karli Timm, a teacher from Nelson, led the Renton students’ trip to Japan.
Davis said in the two months proceeding their trip, all the students involved kept their friendships alive through emails.
“Both groups experienced cultures so different from one another…from homes, to schools, to food,” she said. “We are living in a global world and in order for us to live together in a positive way, we need to know how others live in other areas of the world.”
Students had to go through a selection process to participate in the exchange.
The program remains special to administrators and parents that see its importance even as parents have had to be more responsible for the finances.
At one time the entire experience was paid for by the district; today parents bare more of the burden.
“I do not want to see the program eliminated, but I do understand the district’s budgetary constraints,” said Davis. “The financial outlay for the families is large and therefore it eliminates the opportunity for many students to participate.”
