Exchange student shares culture with Nevada family

Friday, June 1, 2007
Shiho Hokari

By Lynn A. Wade

Nevada Daily Mail

The first thing Shiho Hokari saw when she got of the airplane in Joplin was land. Open fields, some dotted with horses and cattle. The exchange student from Hemaji, Japan, who came to spend the school year with the Nicholses, a rural Vernon County family had spent most of her life in cities, so the livestock and open land was more prevalent than she'd expected.

Shiho came to the United States through International Fellowship, a non-profit student exchange program. If she wanted to soak up local American culture, she got what she'd bargained for -- perhaps a little more.

"The first place we took her to eat in Nevada was the White Grill. She really liked it," said Donna Nichols, her host mother.

She arrived just two days before the school year began in August, and was very excited to see American football, marching bands, (sophomore Zachary Nichols is in marching band), and the Prom -- all aspects of high school life she wouldn't have experienced in Japan. She also liked riding the school bus. In Japan, there are no school buses -- only public transportation. "I think not having the public transportation available was a real shock to her," Nichols said.

Shiho's host family learned to say "hello" in Japanese, and a bit about Japanese culture, while forging a strong friendship with Shiho. The families got to know one another a bit via e-mail -- but at first, Shiho thought she was going to the state of Nevada, not a town in Missouri.

"It's a fantastic experience. We have learned so much from her, and we have really enjoyed it. Of course, there are always those 'teenage things," but she was a delight to have with us. She has wonderful English, so it really wasn't a problem to communicate," Nichols said. "We're all just people. We just experience things differently."

The differences came from many aspects of Shiho's life. For example, she had attended an all girls' school in Japan, so a co-ed setting took some getting used to. She found a niche though, taking three hours of culinary arts classes.

"I really enjoyed that," Shiho said.

"I think she enjoyed the prom the most -- getting to get all dressed up, and all that kind of thing," Nichols said.

The school year is from April to February in Japan, so while she was still attending school in Nevada, her classmates were graduating in Japan.

"I have already graduated from high school (in Japan), so I will be going to a university when I get back, majoring in tourism and hospitality," Shiho said.

Nichols said she'd discovered a surprising connection between Shiho's family and people in the United States. Shiho and her parents had lived in New York City when she was very young, so the United States was not completely foreign to her. In fact, her father had worked at the World Trade Center, and was acquainted with a few who lost their lives in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack. Many others, from all over the country, were personally touched by that tragedy as well.

"It kind of brings (the connection) home, when people realize that she was touched by that, too," Nichols said.

Nichols said that those connections continued at Christmas, when the two families agreed to open presents at the same time, sharing the moment via webcam. "It was really fun, seeing their faces as they opened their gifts," she said.

When she goes back home on June 17, she'll take with her many memories unique to the United States, and unique to the Vernon County area-- Valentine's Day, Bushwhacker Days, and much, much more -- but what she will miss the most are all the people she's come to know in Nevada.

"I will miss my friends, and the school. I really liked the school," Shiho said.

"She comes from such a big, urban area that to have so many people know her and welcome her has been special for her," said Donna. "It's been such a pleasure to have her here. If you're thinking about being a host family, I highly recommend it."

According to Interna-tionalFellowship.org, three, six, and nine-month school year programs are offered, as well as a shorter summer program. Language preferences, as well as cultural interests are taken into account when deciding where students will go.

For more information on the exchange program, visit www.InternationalFellowship.org.

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