Houston-Chiba Sister City 30th Annual Student Exchange Trip

[It's true I was somewhat slack in posting something when the four Houston middle school kids went to Chiba this summer.  For one thing, I was waiting to receive some good pictures before doing a write-up.  Time passed.  Oh, well.  So, I'm writing this from the future (October '12); if I get some pics, I'll add them later.  Or my future self will.]


You heard right.  This year is the 30th Anniversary since the exchange started back in 1983.  I know the math might seem weird.  'Cause I was born in '82 and I'm thirty now...  Maybe they had two exchanges at once or somebody jumped the gun.

Incidentally, this year also makes the 40th Anniversary of the sister city relationship.  No fuzzy math there - it started in 1972.  So, big news, yeah!  Unfortunately, no, there won't really be any headline celebrations that I know of due some various factors that I can't really talk about that much, other than the fact that Japanese in Houston tend to be way too political about every little thing and party poopers in general.

By the way, it's also the 100th Anniversary since the Japanese donated the cherry blossom trees (sakura) to Washington, D.C.  Houston will be celebrating that Sakura Gifting on October 19th in the Japanese Garden in Hermann Park with Mayor Parker and other official folk.  Don't think I'm invited to that one, so I guess that excuses me from reporting on it.

From what I read of the students reports, they had a great time with their host families.  They got to meet Mayor Kumagai of Chiba, the Board of Education, went on a tour of Minami Boso, and on their overnight trip visited the coastal resort of Shirahama.  Since I was chaperone two years ago, I know firsthand how well-prepared the schedule is.  Chiba City International Association (CCIA) does a superb job.

Izumiya Junior High School website's itinerary with the Houston kids.

At school they were offered various culture activities like karate, calligraphy lessons, koto, and judo.  A far cry from my middle school days.  I didn't learn an instrument growing up; the only cultural activities I had to choose from were electives like Newspaper Club and Auto Shop class.

I'll leave you with the words of one of our exchange students, "I loved Japan - no one word could ever describe how much I had fun and learned."

With last year's Japanese exchange students in Asakusa