Every year, the two cities alternate sending students to visit the other country
Published in the August 20 – September 3, 2014 issue of Morgan Hill Life
By David Little
Photo courtesy Murv Little
Nia Lyn, Bret Latos, Lainie Moniz, Rosa Quiroz, Chloe Little, David Little and Angel Lara pose in traditional kimonos during their 10-day trip in July.
Seven Morgan Hill students traveled to Mizuho, Japan on a 10-day student exchange program last month. They gained from this experience a change in perspective about the world by learning that other people in other countries have different ways of living.
The travelers were middle school students Laine Moniz, Nia Lyn, Chloe Little, Bret Latos, Rosa Quiroz, Angel Lara, and high school student David Little. They stayed with individual host families who provided them with different experiences during the trip that took place from July 9 to July 19.
Mizuho became one of five Sister Cities for Morgan Hill in 2007. Every year, the two cities alternate in sending students to visit the other country. Similar to Morgan Hill in demographics and industry, Mizuho has a population of about 40,000 and has agricultural and industrial businesses. It is 35 miles from Tokyo.
Britton Middle School student Quiroz saw several differences from the experience such as Japanese driving on the opposite side of the road than Americans and, based on a tour of a Mizuho recycling center, that Japanese tend to be more “eco-friendly” than people in the U.S.
“They care about the environment. They don’t litter,” she said. “When we went to the recycling place, they said that they have people sort through all the things that people send in and they separate the stuff that can still be used and sell it at affordable prices to families who are looking for a bargain.”
When they arrived, the American students performed individual talent show acts for their hosts and Mizuho officials at a welcoming party. For her act, Quiroz read a poem in the Farsi language written by the Arab poet Rumi. She suspects no one in the crowd understood but said the Mizuho mayor seemed impressed.
“(The Mizuho mayor) was really friendly and seemed like a nice guy,” she said.
The Japanese bullet train system which reaches speeds up to 200 miles an hour also impressed Quiroz. “It seems like everyone goes on the train every day because it gets really crowded,” she said. “Kids go to the school on them.”
A home school student, Moniz said among her favorite parts included going to the Studio Ghibli Museum where anime movies are made. She also liked the Harujuku fashion district where she found interesting clothing items and enjoyed watching people.
“My other favorite part was going to school and being, like, the popular kid,” Moniz said. “The school trip was really fun, especially drawing all the (goofy) faces on the chalkboard. … One thing that’s different is that the kids can draw on the blackboards, which would totally not be acceptable here.”
Another difference is that the Japanese teachers in a music class made students squat while they were singing.
“I guess that helped something, I don’t know,” Moniz said. “It was kind of different. I’ve been to so much theater, and I’ve never seen that.”
Chloe Little, who will be an eighth grader at San Jose’s Bernal Junior High School, said communicating with her host family could often be difficult because of the language differences.
“They were very nice, but the kids were shy,” she said. “I think they were shy because they didn’t know a lot of English. They used the translator a lot to talk to me and I used some Japanese to talk to them. Sometimes, they understood me, but not always.”
Chaperone Murv Little said this is the third Sister City trip he has helped organize to Mizuho. He said he sees many benefits in American students traveling to Japan, including seeing their own country in a new way.
“It opens up doors to do things that they never thought of before,” he said. “Some things were similar and some things were different. The students bonding together helps everybody.”
Next summer, students from Mizuho will visit Morgan Hill for 10 days and participate in school activities and meet many of the students who traveled to Japan this year.
David Little is a freshman at Santa Teresa High School in San Jose. He wrote this for Morgan Hill Life.
