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Japanese
teens having a ball with Alpine families
By Chris Mac Kenzie
The Alpine Sun
ALPINE — Sixteen young Japanese girls are having a wonderful time seeing the sights of Southern California, but the biggest whoop of delight
occurred on a recent hot afternoon when their program director Krista Sopfe, announced they were heading to the community park for a water balloon fight.
They are, after all, not very different from American teenagers.
They love to go shopping, go to the beach, and see new places. They even look like American teenagers with their jeans or shorts, t-shirts, and straight hair-dos.
They study English in the meeting room at Exit Realty three or four mornings during each of the two weeks they are here. Greg Gibson, one of their teachers, reports, "They’re very bright and learning a lot even if we have to act out words sometimes."
Most of the girls speak and understand a little English already but they have trouble spelling their own names with English letters.
A tour of Julian was a highlight one afternoon. They enjoyed seeing the old buildings and figuring
Ice cream at the Video World was the treat after one busy morning. The girls ordered different flavors and then traded tastes with each other. Here a group of them are saying thanks for the sweet dessert before setting out for a visit to the Alpine Fire Station and community park.
Photo:
Chris Mc Kenzie/The Alpine Sun |
The
students and their
"families away from home" are:
Chizuru Abe – Art and Naj Taylor
Yukino Akamine – Pat and Pam Price
Fumika Arai – Ron and Julie Shaffer
Nozomi Arima – Don and Ranae Anna
Emiko Ishii – Jan Zemke
Nagisa Ishii - Glenn and Loretta Bagge
Kazue Kojima – Bruce and Lesley Rancourt
Tomoyo Maruyama – Steve and Debbie Ulsand
Masayo Sakamaki – Ray and Betty Sopfe
Ayumi Sasaki – Brian and Gael Ramey
Hiroko Shimada – James and Susan Gripshover
Madoka Susuki – Tom and Susan Vineyard
Chiori Susuki – Dana and Anitria Zeno
Midori Takubo – Kitten Reid
Yuka Tanaka – Kari and Mike Janak
Tamami Usukura - Linda Rost
The girls were escorted from Japan by two adults, a male teacher, Kiyomitsu Mori, from the school staying with Jim Mowry, and the woman who acts as translator when needed, Orie Egama. staying with Paul and Daphne Brown. Krista Sopfe is the program coordinator while the two local English teachers are Stephen Heck and Greg Gibson. Linda Heck is the regional manager for the Ayusa Group Homestay Program. |
out the dates on their signs, "Yes," they agreed, "there are towns like this in Japan."
They went on the scavenger hunt that Julian lures its visitors into trying, but the big treat was the apple pie. They loved that!
"Very tasty," one girl said, trying out a new word. They allowed that they have apple pie in Japan, "but it’s different," and attempted to describe Japanese crust or pastry.
A get-acquainted stroll around Alpine included the post office, fire station, the park and Video World for ice cream. They had a hard time deciding which one of all those flavors to choose, so, to solve the problem, they shared tastes all around.
The ice cream stop also was a chance to check out American videos, trying to read the titles and find familiar ones. Kazue Kojima, cruising the children’s section, recognized Barbie, the Disney videos and the like, but was especially excited when she found Yu-Gi-Oh.
"See,” she said, "it is made in Japan!" Lesley Rancourt, the host parent for Kazue, added that the girls all seemed to enjoy animation games and cartoons on TV.
They used the same taste testing system during their visit to Seaport Village where small groups went shopping and chose lunch places, again sharing bites of each dish. The host families report that the girls all seem to eat anything and everything they’re served and enjoy it.
The downtown San Diego junket included a swim at the Del Coronado beach.
"Oh, that water was cold," they admitted, but they had a great time anyhow. From there the bus took them to Shelter Island for a look at the Peace Bell, the gift from our sister city in Japan, Yokohama.
Shopping was popular, a chance to compare the items in American stores not available in Japan. Yukino Akamine found a jewelry shop in Seaport Village and treated herself to a new necklace and matching bracelet, Masayo Sakamaki celebrated her 18th birthday here, so her host family, the Sopfes, took her shopping at Fashion Valley on one of the open afternoons.
"Orie, please come," was a common cry in the group.
Orie Egama, one of the two chaperon escorts who brought the group from Tokyo, speaks fluent English so she was constantly called upon for translation duties: English to Japanese and back again.
Before the two and a half weeks is just a memory, the girls will also have been to a Padres game, visited Sea World, the San Diego Zoo and Balboa Park and a trip to Disneyland.
They prepare for their return home with a farewell party on Aug. 9 attended by all the host families and friends.
The group flies back to Los Angeles to board their flight for Tokyo on Aug. 10.
And if their departure is like those of previous years when other girls from the same Japanese school departed, there’ll be more than a few teary goodbyes.
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