From November 30th to December 6th, 2024, ETHS hosted 29 Japanese students from Kokusai Joho High School (KJ), in Niigata, Japan. ETHS and KJ have been in partnership for over 30 years, currently overseen by Michael Van Krey and Margaret O’Connell.
“30 students from our sister school travel to Evanston, [and] stay here for about a week. They do homestays with ETHS students in the Japanese program, attend ETHS for the week, and travel to Chicago,” explained O’Connell.
Both ETHS and KJ students deeply enjoyed the exchange as many ETHS students in the Japanese program participated in the trip to Japan last year. The trip spanned two weeks, where students had the opportunity to learn about cultural customs and traditions, and even take a tour of Japan, which consisted of shrine visits, hiking, and visiting Tokyo. During the second week, they were able to shadow a student at KJ, where they were taught about school customs in Japan. This allowed many KJ and ETHS students to reunite.
“One of [the students I hosted] was my host sister when I went to Japan, so it was really fun hosting her in return,” said ETHS senior Delila Liston.
O’Connell, an ETHS Japanese teacher, is an alumnus of the ETHS Japanese program who participated in the exchange when she attended ETHS in 2009.
“It’s so nice to have something come full circle. Learning a language and another culture has enriched my life in ways I never imagined, and I’m happy to have facilitated similar experiences for current students. That’s why I do what I do now” said O’Connell.
Nao Tsukagoshi is a KJ student with a familial connection with this exchange program through her siblings. Her experience in America was very different from what she had been told through the media, and from others.
“I have always thought that there was a lot of racism in America, and before I went to America, I thought that I would face discrimination against Asians, but there was nothing like that at all. I came to feel that America is friendly regardless of nationality. I learned about the cultural differences between Japan and America,” she said.
Ryunosuke Ibe, another exchange student from ETHS’ sister school, discussed how the exchange program has shaped and changed his perspective on American culture.
“I was able to feel the freedom and diversity of America. Before America was just something I saw in the media, but this experience made me feel much closer to it,” he said.
During the exchange, Ryuunosuke learned how to maneuver the English language and create connections through ‘American slang’. The exchange allowed him to adapt to the native American language outside of textbook English.
“I learned that, even with language barriers, people can always connect,” he said. “We were both learning Japanese and English, so miscommunication was inevitable at times. However, I learned that when people approach each other with empathy and a willingness to convey their thoughts, the language barrier is broken, and connections between people are formed.”
Drew Watson, an ETHS senior, and a host student who attended the 2024 Japanese exchange has had positive experiences with this cultural exchange. “My favorite part of hosting was creating a close bond with a stranger from the other side of the world,” he said.
This exchange has been a learning experience for everybody involved and makes language much bigger than just a class. It engages students to stimulate their learning and makes it tangible for them to apply the language they are learning outside of the classroom.
