HADDONFIELD — Many teens spend part of their summer vacation away from home, but usually not as far away as this group of Haddonfield students. Next Friday, 19 Haddonfield Memorial High School students will travel nearly 7,000 miles to learn firsthand what life is like in Kasukabe, Japan.

"We have an opportunity to be a part of their lives, to live like they do," said 14-year-old Amy Sparrow, a 10th grader. The students will stay with Japanese host families during the two-week trip, arranged by the Haddonfield Japan Exchange, a cultural exchange program headed by a group of residents. "I'm so excited because everyone I know who has been to Japan, they don't just like it, they love it," said 14-year-old Danielle Bergman, a 10th grader.

The program is the brainchild of longtime Haddonfield resident Bill Brown, a real estate agent and retired Philadelphia teacher. Brown has represented Philadelphia in Japan several times, having guided visiting Japanese businessmen and hosted Japanese exchange students for the past 30 years.
Last year was the program's first exchange.

Haddonfield families hosted 19 Japanese students from a girls' high school in Kasukabe, a city of almost 225,000. "The language barrier was really hard to break," said 15-year-old Paige Arruda, a 10th grader, whose family hosted a Japanese student. "There was a lot of charades going on," added 15-year-old Emily Russo, who also hosted a Japanese student. "After two weeks of spending time together, we were really close," Arruda said. "We were all so upset when they were leaving."

 

"We live in totally different areas of the world and we have so much in common," Sparrow said.
This year, Kasukabe residents will return the favor by hosting Haddonfield students, who were hand-picked to participate in the program.

Students had to attend a series of lectures on Japanese culture, food, religion and language. In one of the sessions, students had to use chopsticks to pick up a specific number of crackers, given in Japanese, and place them in a cup. Students also visited a Japanese Festival at Westtown, Pa.; the annual Cherry Blossom Festival in Philadelphia and a Japanese restaurant in Haddonfield. "I find Japanese culture very interesting because it's so different than ours," said 15-year-old Maura Knewell, an 11th grader.

While in Japan, students will perform a series of musical numbers for elementary and high school students, as well as the community. They will also visit Tokyo, the Sumida River and a kite museum.
"I'm still a little nervous about the cultural differences, I don't want to make a mistake and offend somebody, but it's such an amazing experience that I just couldn't pass it up," Arruda said.

 

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CourierPostOnline.com • June 17, 2008

 

For the past several months, a group of students from Haddonfield Memorial High School has been meeting regularly and immersing themselves in all things Japanese. The students are hard at work preparing for a two-week trip to Japan as part of the ongoing Haddonfield Japan Exchange program.

Last year 19 Japanese students and their adult chaperones from Kasukabe Girls High School came to Haddonfield and stayed with host families for two weeks. During their stay, the guests visited the cities of Philadelphia, New York, Washington, and Baltimore, spent a day at the Jersey shore in Stone Harbor, and got an up-close look at their host town of Haddonfield. The group also took in a Phillies game, went tubing on the Delaware River, and enjoyed a summer evening at Cowtown Rodeo. And, because the students were of the female persuasion, American-style shopping was also a highlight of their stay.

This year, 19 Haddonfield students will visit Japan and stay with host families from July 11 through July 25, and Haddonfield Japan Exchange Director, Bill Brown, and Home Economics teacher Boe Daley have been helping the students get ready for their trip. Calling on his experience as a leader of similar student trips and a regular visitor to Japan, Brown has been giving the students an overview of Japanese customs, religion, culture, food, and language.

The classes have also featured guest speakers, such as Dr. Frank Chance, from the University of Pennsylvania, who shared his expertise on Japanese tea ceremony, and local resident Mrs. Kazuai Tsuda, who presented a class on Japanese language and home life.

A recent regular session included a demonstration on chopstick (hashi) use during which Brown challenged the students to pick up a specified number -- given in Japanese -- of snack goldfish and place them in a cup.

The Haddonfield students have also gone outside the classroom. They have taken part in a Japanese Festival at Westtown, Pa., and enjoyed the annual Subaru Cherry Blossom Festival, hosted by the Japan American Society of Greater Philadelphia. Still to come is a meal at Fuji Japanese Restaurant in Haddonfield, which, for many of the students, will be their first taste of "real" Japanese food.

Finally, the students will work with high school teachers Paula Meyer and Scott Glading to prepare a performance they will present while in Japan. In addition to Bill Brown and Boe Daley, Karen Benaveidez, a former HMHS student who now attends University of Delaware and is studying Japanese, will be chaperones for the trip.

For more information about the classes or the Haddonfield Japan Exchange, contact Bill Brown at BillBrown 08033@aol.com.