The Cupertino Courier

Photograph by Robert Scheer

Cupertino host Michael Hultquist, 14, loads luggage into the family car for Yukihiro Matsushita and Shohei Nakao, visitors from Toyokawa.

Friends From Afar

Cupertino greets students from sister city

By Natasha Collins

As young Shiokei Nakoa boarded the plane, she did not know what lay ahead for her. She had heard stories about America, and while she sat on the flight for 17 hours she pictured in her head what Cupertino must look like.

It had not been that long, just a few months, since her friends from Cupertino had been to visit her in Japan. When she got off the plane, she was greeted with hugs and kisses from her American friends and rushed off to her American host's car.

While she rode down U.S. 101 and looked out the window, she realized America was nothing like she imagined. She became excited and nervous all at the same time; she knew her week as a member of the Toyokawa sister city program would be memorable.

"The roads and everything are much bigger than I thought," Nakoa, 14, said, with the help of an interpreter. "I like it here very much."

Every year students from Toyokawa, Japan--Cupertino's sister city--spend a week touring the city and getting to know what it is like to live in America. This year, 12 students and three chaperones came to Cupertino Sept. 23-30.

"We try to show them the things we have here in Cupertino to help them experience American life," said Trish Klein, who has been part of the sister city program since the 1980s. "The friendships you make while they are here last forever."

Most of the host families were chosen because their children had gone to stay in Toyokawa during the summer.

"When they walked off the plane, it was like they were all long-lost friends," said Mary Mangone, whose daughter went to Japan and who has two students staying at her home.

The Japanese students had their days filled with activities, including shopping trips to Mervyn's and McWhorter's, attending classes at Kennedy Junior High, Monta Vista High School and Sedgwick Elementary School, taking tours of Hewlett-Packard and De Anza College and playing a round of miniature golf at Golfland. But what the students have enjoyed most is the time spent with their host families.

"It has been so fun having them here," said Mary Anne Larimore, who had two students staying at her house. "They want to see how we live our everyday lives, so we have taken them on errands to the market and Blockbuster. Things we find so mundane they find really exciting."

For Ikumi Nakasawa, 15, the best part of the trip has been the food.

"I really like the barbecues," he said.

In Japan, beef is very expensive, so students do not get to eat it that often. But in Cupertino, they have had tri-tip, hamburgers and steaks.

"We took our two guests over to TGIFridays to get an all-American hamburger," said Carey Harbin, who had two students staying with him. "You should have seen their eyes light up when the meal came. They could barely get their hands around it."

When the Mangones' two students arrived at their house, the family was amazed at the things their Japanese guests found interesting.

"They were taking pictures of everything in our home," Mary Mangone said. "They even asked if they could take pictures of our kitchen to show their mothers back home."

In Japan, many families do not have modern kitchens or houses that are as large as those in the Silicon Valley.

"They called their house a rabbit's house compared to ours," Klein said. "To them our houses are mansions."

Students staying at the Larimores' house were amazed when Mary Anne turned on the garbage disposal.

"I turned on the garbage disposal, and all of a sudden I heard all these 'ooohs' coming from behind me," she said. "They had never seen a garbage disposal before. I guess they just don't have them in their homes."

It is a Japanese custom when traveling to bring gifts that represent that person, their family or their homeland. Each of the students brought gifts for their host families that they or members of their family had made.

"They brought us fabulous gifts," Harbin said. "They brought us silk scarves, a beautiful lacquered case and a handmade porcelain doll for my wife's collection. One of the boys made us a painting with his name in Japanese characters on it for us to hang on our wall."

The Japanese students do not speak much English, and most of the American hosts do not speak Japanese, but that has not gotten in the way of their communications. One of the host families speaks Japanese and has helped translate for the other families. There has been a lot of pointing, using charades or pictures to get their ideas across, Klein said.

"It is a lot of drawing, laughing and fun," Klein said. "Somehow the connection is made."

Besides, everyone is beginning to pick up words in each other's language, Harbin said.

The Japanese students showed their willingness to learn English by singing the song "Do Re Mi" from The Sound of Music.

In Japan, the students had heard how easy American schools were compared to the schools back home, but when teachers at Monta Vista sent the Japanese students home with homework, they were all amazed, said Yukihiro Matsushita, 15.

"We were surprised Cupertino students study so hard," he said, with the help of an interpreter.

Students were also shocked by the number of Japanese restaurants and stores in Cupertino.

"They almost felt like they were in Japan as we drove down Sunnyvale-Saratoga Avenue," Mangone said. "They pointed out places like Sumitomo bank and the sushi bars as we drove by. They would point and whisper to each other and then laugh."

Students in the Cupertino Union School District are invited to participate in the sister city program and travel to Japan next summer. Residents are also invited to become host families.

"We wish more people would become host families for just a week," said Lucille Honig, who is president of Cupertino's sister city program and who helped organize the visit. "It is a wonderful experience for everyone involved."

For more information about participating in the sister city program, contact Lucille Honig at 257-7424.

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