More than a simple exchange from across the Pacific

WASILLA — This summer I was one of the 16 students from Wasilla High School who opened their homes and hearts to students from Takefu Higashi High School.

Initially, I didn’t know what to expect. My family agreed to host Erii, Minami and Yuho, not knowing much more than that they were high school students from Wasilla High’s friendship school in Fukui, Japan. I was worried the 3,000 miles that separated our homes would mean we wouldn’t have much in common. However, when I started emailing them, my worries swiftly dissipated. I found out they were teenagers like any American teenager: they love music, video games and hanging out with friends and had dreams of leaving their home town and dreaded going to school. It quickly felt like we had been friends for a lifetime.

Two months later on July 31 at 2:38 p.m., a small trickle of people began to walk through the gate of Ted Stevens International Airport. I could feel the anticipation as we began frantically waving our signs and looking around anxiously for any sign of our host siblings. Before long, we were united with our new “sisters” and “brothers.”

Over the course of 10 days, we went on many adventures together. We hiked Hatchers Pass, explored Talkeetna, visited Martin Buser’s Happy Trails Kennel and so much more! My new sister Erii Tanaka and I loved the two-day trip to Seward, where we slept at the Alaska SeaLife Center and stopped at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center and the Begich Boggs Visitor Center at Portage Glacier along the way. While we were there, we took tons of photos and taught the Japanese students how to skip rocks. Erii said she really enjoyed this trip because she was able to learn about the animals and she liked being able to sleep in the SeaLife Center.

Not only was it was an amazing opportunity to show them the unique animals and the scenery of Alaska, but the six-hour round-trip bus ride provided great time to teach each other games, tongue twisters and belt out Survivor’s “Eye of the Tiger” at the top of our lungs in the back of the bus.

Besides the group excursions, the three of us also had tons of fun memories just hanging out like friends, including making sushi together and getting my best friend and mother to eat it (which was quite the challenge), as well as playing super intense games of Twister, Mario Kart and Kerplunk, which often ended with someone rolling around on the floor demanding a rematch.

Even though it has been several weeks since Erii, Yuho, Minami and the rest of the Japanese students returned to Japan, little things still remind me of them and our inside jokes. I can’t hear a cat meow without thinking of Erii’s awesome cat impressions or see a picture of the aurora borealis without chuckling to myself and thinking of the day we all crowded onto my couch and added random commentary to a “The Wonders of Alaskan Wilderness” silent documentary. And every time I hear a song, I think back to the car ride where Yuho showed me the band Funky Monkey Babys while also simultaneously fighting the urge to break out into the crazy man dance that Minami and Erii taught me.

I really wouldn’t trade these experiences for anything in the world. I learned not only about the Japanese language and its rich culture, but also about my community and myself — probably more than I have in my 18 years of life. By trying to explain day-to-day things that I normally take for granted, I learned how to express myself in more than words. I learned that everyone makes mistakes and that no matter what part of the world you grow up in, we really aren’t that different.

Overall, this experience ended up being so much more than a simple exchange. It was 10 days of laughs with friends I will never forget, 10 days of learning experiences and 10 days of memories that will stay with me a lifetime. I can’t thank my sensei, Carla Swick, enough for giving up her time and both Wasilla High School and Takefu Higashi High School for giving us this opportunity. I hope that our sisters and brothers in Japan valued this experience as much as we did.

Gwen Swingle is a senior Japanese student at Wasilla High School.