By Karen Neill

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On Oct. 16, Fuchu High School students and educators from Hiroshima, Japan visited the MHS campus as a part of their five-day stay in Hawaii, experiencing American school life and leaving themselves and MHS students in awe of the differences.

“(At) Fuchu High School there is no (hair) coloring or piercing. Fuchu High School (also) has uniforms,” said Fuchu student Saiyaka Tomodaki. Fuchu High School English Teacher Mio Tanida added, “At first (during) the ceremony I saw many faces really surprised by the differences between American high school students and Japanese high school students. Of course we have good points. For example, we are polite (and) we are very organized, but at the same time American students are very friendly and very cheerful (while) we are very casual, so maybe our students envy something, obviously.”

MHS students also noticed differences between the sister schools. Senior Cassidy Kitano explained, “I think that they are more open to meeting new people. Like for me when we went to Fuchu (over the summer), I was really nervous and shy in the beginning when we met them. But when they came here they were very happy to meet us and excited to be here.”

Once the students got over the initial shock of how different the rules and norms are at MHS, they found themselves appreciating the school aesthetics. “(MHS is) very beautiful and so big,” said Fuchu student Rina Korama, “(Fuchu High School) is very small.” Fuchu student Natsumi Nakanishi added, “Mililani High School is wonderful; (unlike Fuchu), the gardens are large.”

The English teachers who accompanied their students on the trip hope that besides obtaining valuable experience, their students will return home with more enthusiasm for learning English. Tanida explained, “Some (students) are enjoying studying English, but actually others don’t like English or they feel just that studying English is obligatory, but through this experience maybe they can find joy of learning English and communicating with others around the world. Then maybe they will be able to study English with more enthusiasm or maybe it will help their future, to get a job in the world not only in Japan, but in the global society.”

Although visiting MHS and immersing themselves in an American school was the main goal of the visit, the Fuchu visitors were also excited to visit Waikiki, Diamond Head and Kualoa Ranch before returning to Japan.