From palm trees to cherry blossoms: Samo's Japanese program takes its language skills abroad

It’s the last school day before Spring Break begins. You’re sitting in your foreign language class, waiting for the bell to ring after writing definitions for hundreds of vocabulary words — most of which you’re probably going to forget come lunch. Instead of sitting in a classroom and wandering the halls of Samohi, Japanese language students had the unique opportunity of traveling thousands of miles across the seas to learn the language in the country where it began.

With the help of Santa Monica’s partnership with sister city Fujinomiya Douri in Japan, 20 students embarked on a two-week journey to explore the cultural monuments and cities during Spring Break. The students left the Los Angeles International Airport on Sat., April 4 and were accompanied by three parent chaperones, Athletic Director Al Trundle and Principal Eva Mayoral.

Upon their arrival to Fujinomiya Douri, the students were greeted by city officials warmly. Each student stayed with a host family to practice his or her Japanese and participate in the family’s daily activities.

The students introduced themselves to the natives of Fujinomiya, who welcomed the students to Japan by presenting them with gifts, including school supplies and a myriad of Japanese delicacies.

According to Japanese student Shannen Chandler (’16), the group traveled with the host families to various nearby Buddhist and Shinto shrines, temples and other monuments including Hiroshima.

“I was really nervous about meeting my host family,” Chandler said. “When I met everyone, I was really relieved that they were kind-hearted people and I got to speak in my rough Japanese [two years of learning Japanese]. Their house had pagoda-style roofs which pointed way up to the sky and floor beds.” 

According to Japanese student Emily Arvesen (’16), students explored Japanese traditional and cultural activities by visiting various sites.

“We saw samurais, monks and traditional tea ceremonies while we were at the traditional side of Fujinomiya Douri,” Arvesen said. “There were memorials dedicated to people who were very significant in Japanese history. Living with my host family felt like stepping into a whole different world. It was so enriching for my learning experience and growth as a student.”

Despite the many cultural differences between Japan and the United States, the students also discovered parallels between the two sister cities as they toured Fujinomiya.

According to Japanese teacher Yoriko Hongo, Japan’s towns are very diverse compared to the metropolitan world of Santa Monica and Los Angeles.

“I was born and I grew up in Japan, at a town just outside of Kyoto,” Hongo said. “I learned English at a young age and moving to the United States helped me understand the language and culture in a better way. This opportunity for the students to visit Japan and study abroad there gives them a much better outlook on the world from a different perspective.”

As a fan of Japanese books and television shows, Japanese student Daniela Vasquez (’17) said that it was interesting to observe the contrast between Santa Monica and the traditional towns of Japan.

“We visited Tokyo, which is a city filled with tons of skyscrapers, lights, cars and people,” Vasquez said. “Then in other towns like Kyoto, where it was really traditional, there would barely be any people in sight — just temples, nature and animals where we got to watch koi fish swimming in the lakes and we were able to take selfies with jaywalking geese across pebble streets among pink sakura trees [trees native to Japan]. It was really beautiful to see, since we saw a drastic change between traditional and modern cities.”

Students also noticed that the streets in Japan were much cleaner than in Los Angeles because many people there used bicycles as transportation instead of cars.

While the cultural differences were an inspiring part of the trip, the most important part was the opportunity the students had to improve their language-speaking skills among fluent Japanese speakers.

“I was so worried that I wouldn’t be able to say ‘I need to go to the bathroom’ or anything that would be important to survive in Japan since the class back at Samo made me feel like I wasn’t truly learning the language,” Chandler said. “Now that I have had the chance to visit the people and study the country, I feel much more confident about my speaking skills. Communicating with a person of a different culture introduced me to new and exciting things.”