TIE Futaba/SBHS Exchange

Summer, 2006

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July 5, 2006
Anita Zakrzewska

We got up at around six this morning and left our hotel rooms. In the lobby, several of the Japanese students and their families had come to say goodbye to us. After taking a few final pictures with them, the Americans left to eat breakfast. After breakfast, we checked in our luggage and boarded our plane to Otaru. In Otaru, there was a bit of a layover, so many students went to buy food or final souvenirs. We then boarded the plane. The flight to Detroit took 12 hours, during which four movies were shown. Once we landed in Detroit, we had to go through customs and recheck our luggage. Our flight to Burlington was delayed by about 40 minutes, which was fortunate. Without the delay, we would have had very little time to make it to the gate our flight was leaving from. The flight to Vermont took an hour and a half to two hours. I slept for most of the flight. We arrived and were greeted by family and friends.

July 4, 2006
Anita Zakrzewska

Today we came to school with our packed suitcases. Although before I had always walked to school or come by bus, today I came by car. We left our suitcases in the meeting room and walked to the high school teachers’ room. There, each of us said a short speech, thanking the teachers and talking about our experience in Japan. We then walked to the middle school teachers’ room, where the same process was repeated. After speaking to the middle school teachers, we went to Futaba’s principal’s office. After the principal spoke to us, we took pictures with him. He also gave me a photograph of me he had taken in Montreal. We went to the cafeteria, where we said goodbye to the students. At around 1:00, we boarded the school’s bus and traveled to Sapporo. In Sapporo, we stopped by a mountain with an Olympic ski jumping course. Many of us went up the lift to view Sapporo from the top of the mountain. Later, we stopped at a mall and went shopping for about two hours. After shopping, we went to a Japanese restaurant to eat dinner. In the table, there were pots with boiling water in which we had to put our food to be cooked. The group got back on the back on the bus and traveled to the airport, where our hotel was located.

July 3, 2006
George Veve

Today, unlike our average day, we came to school and began our farewells. As usual, we entered the school building and gathered in the meeting room, where we left our bags and posessions. We took turns practicing our speeches which we were to read in front of the student body. Once the morning bell rang, our usual students from homeroom came and picked us up. I left with Anita, Paul, and Jon to my homeroom, 2-1. We did our morning prayers and waited for homeroom to end. After homeroom, we retreated to the meeting room. Everyone had such an adrenaline rush, and everybody was very excited to read in front of the student body. We soon found ourselves waiting in line to enter the gym, where the assembly was to take place. We entered, heard music, heard speeches, and spoke to the public (the student body). The farewell ceremony was emotional. Although you couldn't see it physically, you could tell by everyone`s behavior that they were begining to feel the impact of leaving Futaba High School. Once again, we all met back at the meeting room and discussed the farwell ceremonies and the gifts that had been presented to us. Homeroom students came to pick us up and we, for the last time, visited our homeroom for mini celebrations. In my home room we ate, played a sour gum game, and played musical chairs. After, we came to the World Language Center, had lunch in the cafeteria, then fled the school building for our afternoon activity. We took a train from the train station and went to the mall. Instead of shopping we went to view the Kittyhawk, a large U.S. aircarft carrier filled with about 5000 navy soldiers. WE were soon let free to explore the mall. Some people chose to shop, some chose to walk, Will,Jon, and I choose to ride the ferris wheel. Later on in the evening(about 5:30) the farwell banquet took place. We all spoke in front of ourfamilies, as they read speeches to us. Everyone shed a few tears, and hugged, and took pictures. Returning home, I grabbed a cup of noodles, and ate with my family while we lit fireworks (or fireflowers.)

Sunday, July 2
Paul Menson

Waking up at seven or so, Keith Milliken informed me with of a great American breakfast including cereal, French toast, sausage, bacon, and more cereal. Delighted, I contently cleaned my room before finding out, to my horror, that we were having Japanese lunch boxes for breakfast.

Feasting only upon the rice and vegetable rolls (and greatly fearing everything else), the Americans resolved together that we'd have a very hearty breakfast one day upon our return. I also let Keith know of my fury, many many times. He didn't seem worried, though.

After that we went home for any activities our family wanted to do. I went home and started to clean my room before Aki's family and I got CD's and I bought my mom her only present; a digital camera. Following my shopping spree, we returned to her house and I promptly passed out at 7:30.

Saturday, July 1
Paul Menson

We woke up at a normal time, much to my chagrin. The Middle School's field day had been moved a week back due to the rain last weekend, so we couldn't sleep in like I had so healthily discussed with Chikara. It was a bummer, but at least we didn't have to work our Seifuku.

Aki and I arrived at the Field Day to find Morie and John already watching, and so we slipped through the school and made our way to right where it was happening. Corey eventually crutched his way over to where we were, with a fresh new cast to boot.

Sadly, in one of the worst judgment calls of the trip, we were convinced to take part in a game that involves putting your face in water, and then finding a candy in a tie pin full of flower. Taking that candy in your mouth, you'd then run across the finish line. However, I couldn't find my candy (a spirited entry into said flower had ejected the faithful orb of sugar from the tin, causing me great sorrow), and finished last. Will, John, Rundown (Nate), Mrs. Rauch, George, and Gill all took part in the race (though only 4 at a time).

After this, we took part in the final relay against the basketball team, who had defeated all opposition. George started out our team, after whom was Nate, then me, then Gill, Will, and finally John. We came back from a rather embarrassing start and John covered a pretty hefty distance in seconds to finish first. It was a little embarrassing for to have been so close,
though.

We went home and then came back to the school so that we could go to the English camp. The transit had to be around forty minutes, and we spent the majority of the afternoon cooking curry in groups. The night was dominated by a bonfire and a few games around it, ending in Duck-Duck-Goose that (once again) proved fatal. Ikeba-sensei fell at least three times and I myself fell once while fleeing from the Gym teacher.

It was the dirt, I swear.

After that, we went to sleep (or at least, we were supposed to). However, it was difficult without provided pillows. Also, I need to ask my mom if I woke up every forty minutes to look out the window when I was in the middle school, because these kids were more reliable than the North Star on that account.

June 30
Jillian Mann
Today we started the day by attending morning prayers in our assigned home rooms. Following morning prayers we attended The 7th grade English class where we played a treasure hunt with the students. The treasure hunt was to find the English questions hidden around the school, then after finding the hidden questions we answered the questions practicing writing the English. After the English class we made gifts for our host family. We took a picture of the whole family then we glued it on paper and decorated it. We also practiced singing the song we are performing at the fare-well banquet. We ate lunch with the students then had the rest of the day free, which was a nice break for all of us.

Thursday June, 29
Jillian Mann
This morning we started the day by attending our morning home rooms for prayer. Today we made a special trip to the pre-school that is connected to the Buddhist temple. We played with kids and attended prayer with them. After visiting the pre-school students we visited the Temple where the Buddhist priests played their instruments for us and joined us in prayer. The Priests gave us chop sticks, prayer beads, and a pin as gifts.

When we arrived back at Futaba we participated in a flower arrangement class. In this class we cut the flowers and arranged them; our flowers are being displayed throughout the school. After the flower arrangement class we ate lunch with the Futaba students. In the afternoon we participated in English class where we played games and spoke with the junior high school students. We also attended English class with the 7th graders. In this class we introduced ourselves and asked the kids questions. We ended the class by playing a gesture - like game.

In the afternoon we participated in the clubs, some went to play volley-ball in the gym while others played soccer outside. Other activities were Kendo, basketball, archery, table tennis, and some chatted with the students in the World Language computer lab. We all kept busy.

Tuesday, June 27th
Nate Lurie

On June 27th , we were invited to watch a Japanese tea ceremony. It was interesting to see because I don`t think there is an American equivalent to a Japanese tea ceremony. It was very cool to see something very traditional. After that we went to the Otaru Music Box factory to make our music boxes. Looking at the music it was funny to see how many American songs there were, even though they were mostly "Beatle`s" songs. I`d imagine that the Otaru Music Box factory is the equivalent to the Vermont Teddy Bear factory.

Wednesday, June 28th
Nate Lurie

One of the many differences between American and Japanese High School students is that American High School students are definitely way more competitive than Japanese high school students. This became evident in our first period English class, when we played a game of Duck Duck Goose that will forever go down in history as the most DANGEROUS game of Duck Duck Goose ever played because this was the infamous game when Corey Bunnell, an American student, broke three bones in his foot. Yes, during a game of Duck Duck Goose. This was also proven in gym class, when you had American students viciously playing badminton, and Japanese students just hitting the birdie around. Also on this day we did "Shodo" (Japanese calligraphy), while it was very hard to do, it was still interesting. It was sort of like cursive writing in America. Not many people do it, but, it is still taught in classes.

6/25/06
Mark Daubenschmidt

Date Jidai Murai samurai and ninja-theme park
Jigoku-dani hot springs

6/26/06
Mark Daubenschmidt
Today we had a fun-filled morning. Everyone had to introduce themselves in Japanese in front of the entire senior high school. This made several people nervous, but not everyone. We made our entrance to the high school band. They played another song while we were sitting on the stage, and then played one last song while we were walking out of the gym. After
this we had a short Japanese lesson from Mr. Keith Milliken to help us make conversation with the Japanese students. Basically just "Excuse me, can I ask you a question? Where do you live? I live in.....". Then we played a game based on Monopoly with an English class. After lunch we went sight-seeing around Otaru. We visited the local aquarium and saw a
dolphin and sea lion show. Outside the building was a small amusement park. The only amusement coming out of that park was Corey trying to out-run Jon and Will on a single-railed exercise bike that moves. Yes, they actually paid money to go on this. Mr. Milliken paid for Paul and Nate to go on a very small kids ride, one of those things where you sit on an animal and go around in short circles at an astonishing twice, yes, TWICE THE SPEED OF SMELL! What a way to spend $2.00....

We returned to school for club activities/free time and put a wrap to this Monday afternoon.

Saturday, June 24th
Jonathon Covell

Because Saturday was a family day and we didn't do anything as a whole group, I will just give you a brief summary of that I did.

I woke up at about 9:00. My exchange student and a couple others had to come into school for a few hours to study, so I decided to come in and play basketball with a couple of American students and Japanese ones. We did that until about 12:00 and came back to the World Language Center. We hung out there for a while and then went out to do a little karaoke. The karaoke center itself was cool. You walk in and rent a room that has a huge television in it and a stereo that had about 10,000 songs. The Japanese kids all sang a lot while the American students sang only a few. But all in all it was a good time.

After that we headed back to one of the Japanese student's houses and had a magnificent barbecue that tasted so good I kept asking for more. We were there for about 3 hours until we all went back to our respective exchange students' houses.
The past two days were extremely fun. I'm not only excited to see where this trip takes me, but the group as a whole. Thanks for reading my journal entries, and the next students should bring even more information about our exciting adventure. See you all soon.

Jonathon Covell
Friday, June 23rd

As soon as we got to school on Friday we were introduced to the Junior High School faculty and staff. They were all great people and were excited about meeting us. After that we went into Junior High School homeroom classes and participated in the morning prayer and activities. Once that was over we headed back to the high school for some activities in Keith Milliken`s English class. There we played an English skills building game where the American students acted out things silently while the Japanese students tried to guess what we were doing in English. The other two classes we participated in were a little more fun. One was a geometry class which had the American students divided into groups with the Japanese students who worked together in a game to create the most geometric shapes. That was a highlight of the day as we were in the Junior High School again interacting with all those excited kids. The final class of the day was a cooking class where we made a burdock, carrot, and rice dish. That was a blast as we finally did some good old fashioned Japanese cooking. By the way the food was great.

Once we were done with the class participation, we went shopping. The mall we were at was huge and there were 7 floors all the size of the University Mall. Unfortunately the Japanese kids couldn`t go because of
school, but we still had a good time. With shopping done we came back to the high school and waiting for us was
a welcoming party for the students and the host families. About 50 students, parents, and faculty showed up for the ceremony. They were all excited to see us, and we all got to know one another better. The ceremony itself consisted of speeches from the Vice Principal and a senior teacher. After that the American students showed our appreciation
for the school with a demonstration. We didn`t do anything extravagant, but to most people`s amazement we did the Maccarina in front of the audience. IT WAS A HUGE HIT! With the Maccarina out of the way, the ceremony concluded with Mr. Schermer shaking hands with the Vice Principle in front of the SBHS/Futaba flag. After which we all went home to our respective families.

Thursday 6/22/06
Bianca Costantino

What a day! First we had a breakfast of french fries, ham, egg omelet, milk, and a kiwi diet drink! Got our shoes on and left for the bus. The first bus was really crowded, but on the second one I could sit down. Aki wouldn't sit; she's very polite. We walked to school after getting some gum. At school we met the high school teachers and then went to our homerooms. I am a celebrity! All the girls in the class (I believe) came to see me. They kept calling me kawaii, which means cute. After hearing all their names (and forgetting most), we all took a picture. The whole class prayed then we went to English class. Not so popular there. The girls in the class were very interested in the music I listened to and if I was dating anyone. The few boys I talked to were very shy but asked many questions. After rotating around the room we went to see Kumi who taught us about Japan and its prefectures. I figured out some of the Kanji. Lunched on curry rice and fried pork, then took a brief tour of the high school. Went sight seeing to a museum, canal, and some stores especially one full of toys and another filled with orgel (music boxes).

We went up to a viewpoint which was sadly fog-covered. Back at school I met Saeko and Michie, two friends of Aki. Aki had to leave for an extended biology class. After milling around for a while, we walked to the festival area. First we saw ocarina players, dancers, and taiko drummers. I got hungry so we all went down to the shops. I had takoyaki (octopus balls) which were very good. Had a chocolate covered banana, a chocolate filled crepe, and bobbed for water balloon yoyos. We went into an arcade for Furikura, tiny photo booths. I was with Gillian, Miki, Aki, Michie, Saeko, and for a while a girl named Asuka. Many people looked our way, especially boys but that's a given here. I returned home and got ready for bed after calling my parents. I went into the hallway and Aki burst out of her room. <I have to talk to you> she said. In my room, she showed me her translator which displayed the word <confidence>. <I know you are tired, but I do not have confidence in my English, so I can't say how I feel. But I want you to know I love you.> She was very tearful and I returned her sentiments. After all the moments lost in translation, and all the other words, there is an understanding: I love you Aki. I love Otaru. And I love Japan. Good night!

Wednesday 6/21/06 Morning
Bianca Costantino

Woke up at one o'clock. I am consistently awake at either one or three and I am alone in this behavior. At about 5 we left the Kyoto Tower Hotel Annex. After waiting a little while, we took a bus (it was labeled a limousine) to the Osaka Airport. The trip was about 50 minutes. Upon reaching the airport, we checked bags, received tickets, and located the security area. For about a half an hour Nate, Anita, and I waited at a restaurant. I had an egg salad sandwich, a ham and cucumber sandwich, and tea with milk. It wasn't expensive at all for all three of us to eat. We then went through security, which is much shorter than in the US. At the gate there was a play area and an international phone which I used to try to contact my parents. No one picked up. On the plane there were lots of TVs, each one showing the view of an outside camera. The camera was taping the runway. The earphones on the airplane were basically modified stethoscopes. The radio stations varied: Chinese ballads, live Japanese bands, children's songs, jazz, etc. The TV had just started to play the news right before we landed.

Wednesday 6/21/06 Night
Bianca Costantino

Rained at Chitose Airport. Keith Milliken and Toshi-sensei (he came to South Burlington on the first two trips) met us there and then we took an hour and a half ride to Otaru using the high school school bus. Once at school we were given slippers, met some of the students who were yelling from the windows, and deposited our luggage in a conference room. The student body, as well as staff, and especially the junior high school students, were very excited and welcoming. After lunching on a mini curry rice and tempura soba and having a few meetings, I returned home with Aki and her father. The car ride took 10 minutes, but by bus it takes 30. The house is lovely. It connects to a pharmacy which the father owns. The
family is Catholic, so we pray at dinner and numerous Mary statuettes and alters decorate the mantles. I was given the tatami room, which is lovely and simple. The grandparents are very loving and grandma cooked us dinner that night, as with every day. Two friends of Aki, Shohei and Hiro(fumi) stayed for an hour to talk and trade pictures. They brought me gifts! The contents were haichu (taffy like candy), takoyaki flavored cracker (octopus ball flavored), and ramen snacks. I had my first Japanese bath. The process is first you thoroughly clean yourself outside of the tub using bowls of water and soap. Then you can sit in the bathtub to relax. After looking at family photos I was really tired. Goodnight!

June 20, 2006
Will Canning

June 20th was a much anticipated day. This was the day we would travel to Hiroshima and drop off our cranes as well as visit the A-Bomb museum. Before we went to Hiroshima, we traveled by train to Miajima. As we got off the ferry we had an encounter with about 100 deer. Believe it or not that wasn't even the most exciting part about the island. The exciting part was actually a shrine that stuck about 100 or so feet out of the water. As we walked along the dock looking at it, there was also a couple getting married on the dock, only making the mood sweeter.

After that was Hiroshima. Hiroshima is so beautiful. The A-bomb tower was really impressive as it is the only building still standing after the A-bomb hit. The museum was probably the most heart breaking thing I have ever witnessed. The images of people affected the the bomb as well as before-and-after maps of the city were truly not something you can describe in words. I think I speak for the whole group when saying that as I walked through the museum I had a big urge to apologize to the Japanese people in the museum with us. After the museum we traveled back to the Kyoto Tower Annex and said good bye to Mika.

June 19, 2006
Will Canning

June 19th began with an 8 AM breakfast. We met our tour guide Mika, as well as a former South Burlington student, Ioulia. We toured the city of Kyoto this day. Some sites we saw were the Kiyomizu-dera Temple, the Imperial Palace, as well as the Ryoan-ji Temple and the Heian Shrine. These sites were really beautiful and everyone seemed to have a good
time. Although the city was very hot and humid on this day, we had a lot of fun and spent a lot of yen at the beverage vending machines. George learned that after losing his luggage, he will get it back. It was a good day.

Corey Bunnell
June 17 and 18

The plane departed at about noon on June 17th. The flight was only an hour and a half long, but it seemed like forever. While in the air, I spilled an entire can of Mountain Dew on my lap. Great start eh? Once the plane finally arrived in Detroit we had about an hour layover. The airport had Japanese writing on almost all the signs, so we began to imagine what Japan was going to be like. Paul, Nate, and I ate lunch by the jumping water fountain and Paul talked to a Japanese lady. Shortly after the plane was boarding, everyone got their stuff and got in line...almost everyone anyway. George and Jill were M.I.A. Where were they? Oh, they were in CHILIS!!!!!!! They nearly missed the flight but thanks to my abnormally bright Hawaiian shirt, Jill saw me.

Now this is where the REAL fun began. Fourteen hours of non-entertaining flight time. Basically we watched four movies in a row and got little or no sleep. Oh and I spilled another soda in my lap.

When we FINALLY got to Japan, it was all worth the wait. The airport was something from the future, and that is no lie. The bathroom`s hand dryer could have been a prop in Star Trek. It worked really well too. We met up with our tour guide Mika and she basically led us through everything we needed to do. We then boarded a train for a 1 1/2 hour ride from Osaka to Kyoto. We finally arrived at our hotel at 9:30 PM.

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Last edited July 13, 2006