Middle school students from Japan tour Douglas County as part of longstanding cultural exchange program | News
Over a dozen students from the city of Kuki have spent the past few days doing various activities around Roseburg and other areas. The 10-day visit is part of a decades-long effort to share cultures across the Pacific.
ROSEBURG, Ore. — Since July 22, 14 middle school students from the Japanese city of Kuki have been on a 10-day trip exploring various activities around Douglas County.
The organization “Roseburg Sister Cities” is coordinating the trip, with volunteers taking the students around and local businesses and groups offering free events for the students to enjoy.
Janet Johnston, president of the organization, said cultural exchanges have been going on since the late 1980s. Students from Kuki visit the Roseburg area one year, and students from Roseburg visit the Kuki area the next. Adults from both sides of the Pacific also have their own excursions.
An image from an adult cultural exchange, courtesy of the Roseburg Sister Cities website.
“It’s been a very interesting type of travel that you don’t see,” she said. “We’re not tourists, we’re getting involved in the community and their events.”
According to Johnston, some of the items on this year’s itinerary included seeing horses in action at Roseburg’s Bracken Barn Arena, camping along the Oregon Coast and meeting with Roseburg leaders and first responders.
Manami Suda is a 14-year-old from Kuki who was at the Bracken Barn Arena visit on July 26. She said she briefly lived in the United States at a young age and took this opportunity to come back and visit.
“We saw a lot of things that we can’t see in the daily life,” she said.
Students pet a horse at the Bracken Barn and Arena off Big Bend Road in Roseburg.
Another part of the cultural exchange is staying in a home with a local host family. Eric Fullerton, Student Exchange Coordinator with Roseburg Sister Cities, said visitors can make stronger connections when they live in familial space with others.
“If you’re staying in only a hotel, you don’t get the experience of an everyday life,” he said. “You don’t get to have breakfast with your family. You don’t get to see maybe the pets or the animals. You don’t get to have the relationships that form with a family.”
The major goal of the student visits is to build relationships and better understand other cultures, Fullerton said.
“Our purpose is really about forming friendships that are international friendships and connections with families in both of our cities,” he said.
Some of the students involved in this year’s cultural exchange.
Fullterton himself participated in the exchange program when he was in middle school, kicking off a series of future foreign trips with a lasting impact.
“I absolutely loved the experience,” he recalled. “It was the first experience to help me know what international travel is, get to relate with people from abroad and it really helped broaden my world experience, too.”
Danny Bivens is accompanying the students on their tour. As someone who teaches English to students in Japan, he provides translations for the program.
He said traveling as a young man helped him broaden his horizons, and he loves helping people immerse themselves in a meaningful experience they would not normally get if they stayed home or went on a regular vacation or tour.
“They see stuff that they only hear or read about and see on TV and movies. So, I think for them to see some of the stuff firsthand is great,” he said. “Some of the stuff they see on TV and movies, it’s true. Some of the stuff, it’s not. They get to learn just more about the daily life, real life — especially staying with families.”
A student visiting from Kuki sits on top of a horse.
Johnston said the connections made during the exchanges last a lifetime. She herself has made many friends over the years during her excursions and many cultural exchange alums sing the praises of the program and offer to help out. She even said some participants have even found love through the experience.
Organizers hope to continue their long tradition of sharing cultures far into the future. They said they are currently in a “rebuilding phase” after a recent snag.
“We’re rebuilding the student program. The student program got completely shut down like we did during the pandemic,” Johnston said.
According to Johnston, student exchanges only resumed just last year with Roseburg students visiting Kuki – including those whose previously scheduled trip in 2020 was cancelled due to Covid.
Students and adults gather around to talk with one another.
The program is currently looking for students to travel to Japan next year, families to make a two-year commitment to the program to both travel overseas and host visitors, and other community donations to support future visits between the two cities.
“We’re trying to make it affordable for the students, as well as the adults. And have a wider variety of our community involved,” Johnston said. “So we’re always looking for new members and new involvement.”
More information about the program, its history and how people can get involved can be found on their website.
Students and adults gather for a horse skills demonstration.
This year’s visit by the Kuki middle schoolers wraps up on July 30, with a farewell dinner.
The shirt provided to students engaged in this year’s cultural exchange.
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