Fujinomiya visitors receive tour of Samo campus

Students who are in Samo's advanced Japanese classes and Associative Student Body (ASB) led delegates and councilmen from Fujinomiya, Japan, Santa Monica's sister city, around campus on Wednesday, Jan. 22.Garrison Finley (’15) who traveled and visited Fujinomiya in a summer program, was glad to meet and speak with Japanese people again.“It’s really good for Samo to have them come here. When we went there they invited us to city hall, gave a speech and we exchanged gifts in Fujinomiya,” Finley said. “They are all so incredibly polite, trustworthy and honorable.”Japanese student translator Akira Nagao ('15) said that the students led the visitors around campus, and showed them sites such as Barnum Hall and The Greek Theater.“We did a pretty good job presenting ourselves to the Japanese delegates,” Nagao said. “It is extremely important for one sister city to have the opportunity to visit and explore the other sister city in detail. This event definitely showed them what Samo really is.”After the tours, all of the visitors met in the Samo cafeteria where the students involved in Japenese classes, Japanese abroad programs and ASB welcomed the Japanese guests with gifts, conversation, photographs and a buffet.According to Japanese teacher Emily Kuriya, who organized the event, the visit from Fujinomiya served many purposes."They went to our city hall and talked to our mayor in a formal meeting and also visited other places in the city during their two day stay," Kuriya said. "It was a fun trip, plus an official trip for the delegates to keep in touch with the city and Santa Monica."According to Sofia Morales (’14), who traveled to Japan over the summer, the event did a great deal to further strengthen Samo students’ ties to Japanese culture.“I look at this as an opportunity to speak to Japanese people who are very open and accepting of us to grow to be more accepting of their culture,” Morales said. “It was really nice to meet new faces and see other people I remembered from my trip and to see that they are doing well.”Though their trip was short, Kuriya said that the Fujinomiya city council members, association members and citizens will remember not just the sights they saw, but the customs they observed."They learned about American ways and learned from interacting with Americans how to be more outspoken; for Japanese tend to be quieter and hold things in," Kuriya said. "They received different perspective, because when they interact with people from a different culture, they realize that what is done in one country is not the only way to do certain things."Morales said that the tour shone a positive light on Samo’s campus, student body and Japanese program.“Samo benefited from these visitors because it showcases the aspect of diversity that we have at this school,” Morales said. “The fact that our school has connections to a city that's thousands of miles away and across the globe is pretty remarkable and something to be proud of.”ekohut@thesamohi.com