Sister school teens spend time visiting American counterparts at Crescent Valley

Crescent Valley High School sophomores Maria Barnes and Sammi Waite can’t speak Japanese and Mika Shimada and Chihiro Shikishi of Tokyo speak very broken English. But the four teenage girls have discovered a common love of shopping, Starbucks and “cool” cell phones that trumps language barriers every time.

Mika and Chihiro are two of 24 exchange students here through Wednesday as part of a 23-year-old sister school relationship between Corvallis’ two high schools and Nichidai High School in Tokyo. Nichidai is a private college preparatory school of about 2,000 middle- and high-school students affiliated with Nihon University.

This year, it’s Crescent Valley’s turn to host the group and when Maria and Sammi heard about the students’ visit, they thought it would be fun to get involved.

“I’m taking Spanish II,” Sammi said, “and I can’t imagine going to some Spanish country like what they’re doing, coming here to America.”

The Japanese students flew into Seattle on March 21 and arrived in Corvallis on Saturday afternoon. The four girls spent Saturday evening visiting Jamba Juice and the Urban Laundry clothing store near Oregon State University, followed by dinner at American Dream Pizza downtown.

Later, they settled in at Maria’s house where Mika and Chihiro are staying until they fly back to Japan on Wednesday morning. Sammi is staying at the Barnes’ home as well to help entertain the two exchange students.

Typical of most late-night gatherings of 16-year-olds, there was plenty of laughter and noise as the two pairs of friends snacked on Swedish Fish candies, played Jenga and shared pictures stored in each other’s cell phones of their families, friends, pets and places they’ve been. They also made plans to go shopping Sunday afternoon at the Valley River Center shopping mall in Eugene.

“It’s amazing how kids, especially girls, are the same all over the world,” said Maria’s dad, Dean Barnes.

He laughed as he shared how eagerly Mika and Chihiro responded with “shopping” when they were asked what they’d like to do over the weekend. Specifically, Mika wanted to look for some Harry Potter books printed in English and Chihiro wanted to shop for perfume.

Other host families took their students to the Beavers’ baseball game Sunday, to the coast or to see other local attractions. Today and on Monday, the Japanese teens were to attend a variety of classes at Crescent Valley.

The main purpose of the exchange program is to expose students to American culture and to allow them to practice their English skills, said Yasushi Ichikawa, one of three adult chaperones on the trip and an English teacher at Nichidai. In Japan, students are required to take English each year in middle school and high school.

“We want them to experience life in the United States and help them improve their English,” Ichikawa said, adding they spent a lot of time the week before leaving home studying American expressions so they would be prepared for conversations with students here.

The group waited in Seattle for the end of Corvallis’ spring break as guests of host families from North Seattle Community College. They visited such sights as Safeco Field, the Burke Museum, Pike Place Market, Seattle Center and made a trip to Vancouver, B.C., but the visit to Corvallis is always the highlight of their trip, Ichikawa said.

“This sister school relationship is very significant and important to us,” he said.

Crescent Valley principal Cherie Stroud said the exchange program was also valuable to the Corvallis School District. “It’s important to give our students an opportunity to learn about Japanese culture and to learn about their rituals and traditions, too.

“To me, teenagers are the same everywhere,” Stroud said, “and yet there are some big differences in cultural values between the Japanese and Americans. This helps us prepare our students for a global world, to be able to give them a different perspective.”

The Nichidai officials have invited Crescent Valley to send a group of students to their school June 17-26. A delegation from Corvallis High School was unable to make the trip last year, and the Japanese hosts shared how important it was to them for American students to visit them this year.

The trip would be open to students from both high schools. Though details of the trip must still be worked out, the estimated cost last year was $1,650. Anyone interested in participating can call Stroud at 757-5801.