Making friends worldwide

FINDLAY — A genuine friendship is forever. That's what was emphasized yesterday evening at the Kawaguchi Friendship Camp Welcome Reception, held at the Alumni Memorial Union on the University of Findlay's campus. Ten high school students from Kawaguchi, Japan, will stay in Findlay for one week, experiencing a plethora of things the city has to offer. The trip will culminate in planting a cherry blossom tree next Wednesday at Riverside Park. "I'm especially looking forward to the communication with university and high school students because it's so fun to speak in English and Japanese," said Rise Shimada, a third-year student from Daiichi Gakuin High School. "In America there are so (many) things (and) everyone is so kind to us." "I already don't want to leave Findlay," she said. But the cultural exchange won't end when the Japanese students fly home — two Findlay High School students will depart to Kawaguchi next month to spend one semester at a Japanese high school. "I'm really looking forward to it. I'm looking to learn about the culture; I'm looking to create connections from people in a different part of the world," said senior John Paul Gray. "In college I want to go into a military academy, probably major in some sort of engineering, minor in Japanese, and then potentially do foreign relations, foreign area studies in the military." Shimada also has plans to study international relations when she graduates. "I think I'm going to go into international school to study English, and I want to learn another language like Spanish or German," she said. "And I know I want to be a Japanese teacher (abroad)." Both Gray and Shimada studied their second languages on their own beyond taking classes at school. "I'm really looking forward to the opportunity to use my Japanese skills in everyday conversation," Gray said. "I think I'm just going to really see my Japanese language skills skyrocket." In Japan, many schools only teach grammar and writing — "so not teaching a lot of speaking, so I (studied) by myself. It's tough, but it's fun," Shimada said. The city of Findlay has long cultivated ties with the nation of Japan. Findlay's first encounter with Japan occurred in 1984, when Findlay's government sought out financing to expand the city's water treatment plant from Dai-Kangyo bank in Kawaguchi City, Japan. Japanese businesses began establishing in Findlay as a result. "Friends of Findlay," an association of the companies, was created, and eventually, the state of Ohio and Saitama prefecture became sister cities. Kawaguchi is located inside Saitama prefecture. The University of Findlay accepts dozens of Japanese exchange students every year. Domestic students in the Japanese Language program also stay in Japan and attend university for a year as part of the curriculum. Findlay High School also offers Japanese classes and regularly hosts exchange students.