By D’Amonie Armstrong

On the last Wednesday of March, our group had our first Japanese student exchange of Tora year 2. It was a group of nine boys from three different schools that had won the America Bowl – equivalent to our version of the Japan Bowl or Math Bowl. We had the honor of hosting this group of charismatic, lively boys. 

We’d been excited to get word that we were getting the chance to interact with more Japanese students, as last year’s KAKEHASHI exchanges were hits! It’s something we all, hands down, looked forward to. The studying and preparation to make sure we’re the best hosts is always our favorite. This exchange we created presentations to present to the students. 

We scrambled around with excitement even down to the second they came into the room. We had gifts and snacks prepared, alongside them bringing sweet treats for us as well. We began by engaging in small group discussion, in Japanese, where we got to put the phrases we learned into use. We discussed our ages, hobbies, and the things we liked, which mainly included sports. In my small group, I distinctly remember bonding with one of the students over our enjoyment of badminton. I hadn’t heard anyone say they played badminton, so I was excited. 

Afterwards, we both presented our presentations. Our class had spent prior class time preparing presentations of places in D.C. we thought showed the real D.C. to us D.C. natives. I appreciated how very lively they were for our presentations; they had fun reactions which helped with our nervousness. Through my group’s presentation we were able to show them Go Go music – D.C.’s music, and Rock Creek Park – D.C.’s biggest park. 

I enjoyed their presentations because they were very interactive. We learned about the importance of certain castle properties, what keeps the people inside safe and what puts them in jeopardy; the deep meaning of sakura and how it has been perceived throughout the years; and origami, something I struggle with heavily, but with their help, I made the tiny sailor hat! 

The two hours we spent together flew by devastatingly quick. But of course, we had to make time to teach them the Cha Cha slide – a very popular choreographed American dance that we do at all the parties and events. I love being able to share our culture through something as expressive as dancing. We had a good time and laugh, they are naturals! There was one boy, though, that came up to me and told me he had enjoyed dancing but wanted advice on how to learn dances. That moment was very special to me, as I felt honored that he had asked me for that advice. 

Then before we knew it, we were signing cards from comic book cut out cards that the boys individually chose, and escorting them back outside to their bus. I remember staying outside waving to them inside the bus until they pulled off. 

But that wasn’t the end. They weren’t heading back home until Saturday morning, so we decided to hang out with them again Friday after school. They had stayed with the DCI students from our group all week (you can read other blog posts about that), so once they finished up there, they traveled to the National Museum of American History, where I met them with sports equipment. 

Playing sports with them, even if it was only for fifteen minutes, was the highlight for the few of us that could go. There was a soccer ball, a football, some frisbees, and racquets and birdies for badminton. Some played frisbee, while others were having a soccer match. I engaged in a 2 versus 2 badminton game. In the end, we all participated in a huge soccer game, with even some local kids joining us for a bit. 

In essence, we were very grateful to have had this experience and hope that we can one day meet them again with better Japanese. We will work hard!