A little taste of Japan. This is what students got with the Japanese exchange student program West was hosting on March 28 and 29.

    Students and faculty are excited to share this experience with each other. “It will be great to have the students be able to talk to ‘real’ [native] speakers,” said Sensei Sledge (Japanese Teacher). These students will only have a few years worth of English learned, really putting the Japanese students to a test. “Since their school is science based it will be fun to watch how they interact with all the other students due to West also being very science oriented,” concluded Sensei Sledge (Japanese Teacher).

    Student exchange programs are very widely known. Faculty and students both shared how they enjoyed the experience. A culture change for both students from West and Japan show how well we adapt. “These students are coming from the countryside, it will be interesting to see how they adapt to an urban city like Torrance,” said Sensei Sledge (Japanese Teacher). Going from country to city may be a bigger culture shock than just the language.

    Classes at West seem to be a fit for our visiting guest as we show them our Warrior hospitality. “Yesterday [March 28] was really fun. Japanese class was the best part of the day,” said Masahiro Tanaka (10 guest). Throughout the interview Tanaka expressed, “Japanese class here is really fun.” Here we shared our hospitality with playing games and really including the exchange students to feel apart of the student body here at West.

    The students are going to travel around the U.S. to different high schools since they have finished their sophomore year in Japan. Students will be staying at a homestay program while they are here in the U.S. Our guests are from Shiga, Japan which is the bottom part of the mainland.

     Our music program at West had a great impact on one of the guests. Airi Tamura (guest) said, “ The stay at West is really fun. It is different compared to my school. I especially enjoyed the drumline.” Even though the Japanese visitors were impacted greatly with a little slice of West, West was glad to participate in multicultural event.