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Japanese students arriving on Friday
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Posted on Jul 23 2008
Japanese students will get a taste of Saipanese culture beginning Friday.
Twenty-one students from Tokyo will arrive Friday to take part in the 29th annual Kokusai Seiyounen Kensyuu Kyokai exchange program.
The students, ages 8 to 14, will live with local families for two days and at Hopwood Jr. High School for two days.
A second group of Japanese students, from Nagoya and neighboring cities, will arrive Monday to take part in the 30th Annual SANPO-EN. SANPO-EN students, ages 10 to 17, will live in a homestay for eight days.
Besides learning about local culture, the groups will visit historical Japanese sites, said Mayor’s Youth Programs Coordinator Olinka Cabrera Chaudhry.
“They’re here to pay homage to their past,” she said.
Chaudhry said a Buddhist priest would also take part in the activities with the students to bless the sites.
Some of the locations the students will visit include Suicide and Banzai cliffs, Airport Bunker, Bird Island Lookout, the Governor’s Office and the Last Command Post.
Local students will go to Japan in October, Chaudhry said.
During their time there, they will visit significant sites and Disneyland, she said.
“They treat our kids the same way we treat theirs,” she added.
The Mayor’s Office sponsors the program with Saipan’s sister cities.[B][I] (Kristi Eaton)[/I][/B]
