Twelve exchange students from Palo Alto’s Japanese Sister City Tsuchiura landed March 14 to a warm welcome from their Palo Alto buddies and host families, many waving handmade welcome signs. The middle school students have been corresponding since December, so by the time they met in person, new friendships were already taking shape.
The visit also carried a lovely sense of history. One of the Tsuchiura chaperones, Taeko Banno, first came to Palo Alto as an exchange student on the same program 30 years ago. Now a ninth grade English teacher in Tsuchiura, she returned this spring as a chaperone, a full-circle moment that says a lot about the staying power of this much-loved exchange.
Tsuchiura co-VP Evelyn Shimazaki, who has skillfully coordinated the exchange for several years, says many people on both sides of the Pacific make the program possible. “Just a few of them include Saki Matayoshi, Japanese teacher at JLS and Greene, who worked with us to market the program to parents and students at Back to School night. She also hosted the chaperones in her classroom and included their participation in her lessons. I’d also like to thank JLS Principal Chris Grierson, JLS Assistant Principal Sarah Pierce, Greene Principal Courtney Carlomagno and Greene Assistant Principal Mimi Kwon for their warm hospitality in hosting the Tsuchiura students and chaperones.”
This year, Evelyn was delighted to share program planning duties with our new co-VP for Tsuchiura, Lydia Kou, former Palo Alto mayor and city council member.
The Tsuchiura students shadowed their Palo Alto buddies for a real taste of middle school life here. They also got a behind-the-scenes look at Palo Alto civic life, enjoyed outings to San Francisco, visited Silicon Valley landmarks including Google and Stanford, and even squeezed in an overnight adventure in Yosemite.
“It was such a joy to see the students connect so quickly and so naturally,” Lydia says. “What makes this exchange so special is not just the places they visit, but the friendships they build and the window it gives them into each other’s daily lives, families and communities.”
This reciprocal middle school exchange has been going strong for 33 years.
Neighbors Abroad is Palo Alto’s Sister City organization.
