The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

DAYTON - Dayton High School is brimming with cultural diversity this year as it plays host to six foreign exchange students, repre­senting France, Germany, Brazil, Japan, and Thailand. The Times spoke with Taka­yuki Inoue of Japan and Nora Mansur of Germany regarding their experience in the U.S.

Takayuki (Yuki), a soph­omore at Dayton High, is hosted by the Kerekulas, a family who resides in the country with their four homeschooled children. Rural life and a large fam­ily provide stark contrast to city life in Mito, just north of Tokyo, where Yuki lives with his parents and younger brother. Add a homeschool­ing family to the mix, practi­cally unheard of in Japan, and Yuki knew he was in for an adventure. He admits that doing daily chores was dif­ficult at first but now says, "It's good for me and I like the responsibility of being part of a family."

Yuki came to the U.S. to improve his English, play basketball and gain indepen­dence. Basketball was, "So fun. A really good time!" said Yuki, though Dayton's short season challenged him to learn the language and plays more quickly than the year-long intramural club he plays in at home.

U.S. holidays were an­other surprise. "At home, Christmas is a small cel­ebration and we don't have Thanksgiving," said Yuki who was impressed with Christmas gifts and the food-laden table at the "Thanksgiving party". Con­versely, New Year was noth­ing like in Japan. "I spent the most quiet New Year ever," he said, laughing.

Yuki enjoys learning to shoot with a 4-H club, though he still finds it "im­possible to think people can have guns here." He was also surprised at the impor­tance of religion in our cul­ture, as opposed to his own.

Yuki enjoys school at Dayton, though he feels it was easier to concentrate and get more accomplished back home where students don't change class every hour. He noted that U.S. schools utilize computers and technology more than in Japan, where blackboards are the norm. Homecoming was another highlight, as they don't have "dance par­ties" at his school in Japan. "I like it! It's so fun!" he said with a smile.

Nora Mansur, of Ham­burg, Germany is enrolled as a junior here, but will re-take her sophomore year upon her return home. Nora, whose Arabic father and French mother regularly travel with her to Turkey and France, welcomes cultural diversity.

She was drawn to the U.S. culture by shows like "High School Musical" and "Zoey 101". Nora's Eng­lish, interspersed with slang and the typical teen "like", is spot on, with only a slight accent to give her away.

Unfortunately, Nora ex­perienced some difficulty integrating with her original host family and had a rough go the first several months, experiencing severe bouts of homesickness. She moved in with the Lester and Jana Eaton and son Alex in Janu­ary and is coping much better.

Through her difficul­ties, she learned to let go of expectations, embrace a new culture and rely on her own strength. Her mother, who she converses with via Skype, has commented on positive changes in her char­acter. "She says she sees so much change in me, for the good," says Nora.

In keeping with her desire to live the typical American life, Nora took the opportu­nity to be a Dayton Bulldogs cheerleader. "I really liked it," she said. "I wish I could do it back home, but sports are just not big in our culture like they are here. We don't have school sports."

The Hamburg school day is significantly shorter than Dayton's, but Nora has more homework and feels the aca­demics are more strenuous in Germany. Upon gradua­tion, Nora expects to attend university to become a phar­macist like her father, and anticipates helping him in the family business, where her mother is secretary.

Nora Mansur

While Yuki and Nora shared both negative and positive experiences, both feel their personal growth has been the major gain. "It was a good experience," said Yuki. "Not only because I was happy and learned a lot, but also because of the sad, scary parts and that I could handle it all by myself, with­out my parents or school. I gained a lot of maturity." Nora shares the sentiment, stating, "I wish I could re-do the first part of the year. I've learned to be more open to people and am stronger and more independent now."

Yuki's host mom and vet­eran exchange host, Dawna Kerekula, summed up her experience with foreign exchange students saying, "The exchange program is fascinating in that every experience is richly unique. Each student will experience something completely dif­ferent than the next."