Oak Park and River Forest High School is home to 3,226 American students, according to the Illinois Report Card. In February, the school population grew by 20, when students from Noshiro, Japan visited for two weeks.
OPRF students annually host Japanese high school students who travel to America to immerse themselves in American culture, language and cuisine.
The students come from Noshiro Shoyo High School, a small school with 500 students enrolled. Noshiro Shoyo High School and OPRF exchange their values with one another by sharing cultural similarities and differences.
Although small in size, Noshiro Shoyo has big goals and high expectations for their students. This is clear through their three guiding principles for school life: autonomy (jishu), represents identifying challenges and taking initiative; creativity (souzouryoku) means having the ambition to create new ideas and innovations; and lastly collaboration (kyoudou), involves cooperating with others and developing resilience in society.
For two weeks each Japanese exchange student is paired with an American host family who is responsible for providing three meals a day, an appropriate sleeping place and transportation for their student as well as inclusive activities exchange students participate in.
The program prioritizes the immersive experience for exchange students to learn about American culture and be comfortable with speaking and listening to English. Therefore, during their stay it is recommended that their host student know their whereabouts at all times even when attending personal responsibilities like work or practice. Throughout the program, the student needs consistent immersion in language through spending time with the host’s family and hanging out with new American friends from school.
“There was a lot of translating and showing her around, and as an OPRF student there are plenty of things we are accustomed to, so I spend time informing her on our school’s culture norms and the opportunities offered here at OPRF.” said senior Lynn Warwick, who hosted exchange student Kako Takeda.
“It shocked me the most how freely American students dress,” said Takeda. “In my school we change our shoes and wear uniforms. In American schools many American students have different fashion styles.”
“The most challenging part about being a host was planning out days and activities personally and in collaboration with other host students,” said senior Sam Premo-Hopkins. “At times our schedules made it difficult to organize activities for our exchange students.”
During school hours every Japanese student has lunch during 4th period, even if their host student does not. This provides independence and opportunity for Japanese students to meet new people and exercise their speaking skills.
“My favorite experience has been talking to many people and making new friends,” said Momoka Otani, an exchange student who stayed with senior Liam Tuhey.
Every day, Japanese students attend classes with their host during periods 4, 7 and 8 if not attending a field trip. This program included four field trips where the exchange students visited Shedd Aquarium, Field Museum, Beye Elementary School and a good bye field trip with the seniors.
In addition, the students participated in the Japanese Festival held Feb. 1 where they were able to share Japanese culture with members from the community.
“My favorite experience has been talking to many people and making new friends.” said Otani.
