Most days, 27-year-old Suzuki Airi is teaching English to students in her classroom at Kita Junior High in Miyoshi, Japan.
Aug. 26 wasn’t like most days, though.
Airi is one of 21 delegates from Miyoshi who traveled to Columbus between Aug. 21 and Aug. 29 as part of a long-standing relationship the Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp. has with the Miyoshi school district. The delegation includes faculty and students.
In her large black bag, Airi carried a stack of paper fans and hundreds of stickers, prepared to teach the nearly 30 students in Danielle Bonam’s third-period social studies class about Japanese culture. This was Airi’s first time teaching American students.
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“The students asked me a lot of questions about (speaking) Japanese and Japan,” Airi said. “The difference between Japan and Columbus is students are eager; of course Japanese students enjoy their class, but they are very shy so they hesitate to raise their hands and ask questions. Here, if it’s very interesting, students show interest to me and raise their hands quickly and ask questions.”
Airi introduced herself to the students, displaying photos of her favorite foods, her pets and where she lives. She taught the students about traditional Japanese characters and selected students to wear a blindfold and place facial parts, including eyes, a nose and red cheeks, on a Japanese character.
The students were also taught how to create a Japanese fan using paper that they could stick to the plastic fan. Airi provided stickers shaped like “Hello Kitty,” Sumo wrestlers and paper cranes for the students to use to personalize their creation.
“It’s easier to understand and students can enjoy,” Airi said. “It’s difficult to explain something in English, so I wanted students to enjoy games and creating fans. I want the students to experience Japanese cultures, so I chose making fans.”
Sister cities
Miyoshi and Columbus became sister cities in 1994, and the first educational delegation from Columbus visited Miyoshi in 1996. Since that time, students and teachers from both cities have been traveling to visit each other to learn more about educational practices on the other side of the world.
Similar to Columbus, Miyoshi is home to fewer than 100,000 residents, automobile manufacturing is a leading industry and people are known for their hospitality. Miyoshi has nearly 60,000 people living in an area half the size of Columbus, which has about 47,000 residents.
Brett Findley, principal at Columbus Signature Academy — Lincoln Elementary School, traveled to Miyoshi in October 2017 as a BCSC ambassador.
“I got to see firsthand what this relationship means to them,” Findley said. “Anytime you can provide the opportunity for students to experience something different or new, you’re going to broaden their lens of the world.”
The Japanese delegation, who arrived in Columbus on Aug. 21, spent their first day exploring downtown Columbus and taking in the area’s natural beauty.
They met Mayor Jim Lienhoop, toured Columbus City Hall, Cummins Inc. and other Columbus highlights, and gathered in Friendship Alley, a paver-lined walkway in the 400 block of Washington Street leading to the parking garage at Jackson and Fourth streets.
Dedicated in August 1998, materials for the alley were a gift of friendship from the citizens of Miyoshi. Public art, removable murals and other displays, including beautiful garden beds, have been a part of the area through the years.
Airi said Columbus’ beautiful scenery and rich admiration for architecture left her with cherished memories of the city.
Attending class
For three days of their trip, the students spent their day as they would spend any other day in Japan — attending classes at school.
The Japanese students visited either Northside or Central middle schools with a host student.
“I think of course Columbus and Miysohi is so far,” Airi said. “We can get the information through internet or TV, but not the real experience, so my students who are here are very excited to get real experience. They hear about the school from their delegation, but it’s real. At first here they are very nervous, but if they get to know Columbus, they feel it’s American. It’s real experience.”
The most rewarding part of the experience, Findley said, is the friendships that are formed between the delegates and host families.
“It’s always a tear-jerking moment when they leave,” Findley said. “There’s tears everywhere. They’ve really come to build a strong bond.”
Findley’s Miyoshi host family also traveled to Columbus with the delegation and visited Findley and his family at their own house. They even prepared an authentic Japanese meal for them to indulge in, something that Findley said is very common for most of the delegates when they visit Columbus.
When a delegation comes to Columbus from Miyoshi, they bring their own money to purchase ingredients and prepare a traditional meal for their host family, exposing them to their own Japanese culture.
Findley said it’s never a bad thing to be able to view the world from multiple perspectives, and because the Miyoshi culture is so different from American culture, it empowers students from both countries to experience the differences.
“We can make real friendships with our host families,” Airi said. “We can teach each other. We can be the bridge between Miyoshi and Columbus.”
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The partnership between the Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp. and the Miyoshi school district dates back to the mid- to late 1990s.
The formal relationship between the cities occurred July 5, 1994, with the signing of a cultural partnership agreement by then-Mayor Bob Stewart and Mayor Michio Tsukamoto.
Source: Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp.
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