Spring Break
Exploring Japan up close
Ya-an Chan
Issue date: 9/4/08 Section: News
"I kind of felt like a big cousin in the family," said Frame, who stayed with the Urasugi family of five along with two other SJSU students.
Frame said the father took them for drives around the outskirts of the Kyoto, while the mother made them yukatas, a traditional Japanese summer garment.
"The family is the most important thing I learned," Frame said. "I learned a sense of community as I became a part of the family's normal life. I wasn't just observing it; I was involved in it."
Inaba said one of his goals was to expose students to the relationship between language and culture.
Even though her host family, the Taniguchi family, spoke English well, Helms said she learned so much of the culture as the parents tried to incorporate tradition at all times. One day, they dressed her up in traditional Japanese kimonos and on another, they taught her calligraphy.
According to Helms, the Taniguchi family always explained to her the reason certain things are important in Japanese culture, from regular house rules such as wearing slippers in the house to learning traditional arts.
"Of course I would make mistakes," Helms said. "But the family was always there to help me."
This close interaction between students and Japanese families not only changed the host families' perspective of American stereotypes, but also helped the students discover new sides of themselves.
Helms said that since her return from Japan, she has become more respectful of others and more aware of her surroundings.
Frame, on the other hand, said being in a foreign country has taught him to take more risks and be open to new environments.
"I became more willing to accept what other people do as I became part of the family's normal life," he said.
At the end of the program, students delivered speeches on stage before their host families in an auditorium.
"Thank you guys for helping me open myself up more," said Tacmo. "I found something within me that I didn't know before."
Frame said the father took them for drives around the outskirts of the Kyoto, while the mother made them yukatas, a traditional Japanese summer garment.
"The family is the most important thing I learned," Frame said. "I learned a sense of community as I became a part of the family's normal life. I wasn't just observing it; I was involved in it."
Inaba said one of his goals was to expose students to the relationship between language and culture.
Even though her host family, the Taniguchi family, spoke English well, Helms said she learned so much of the culture as the parents tried to incorporate tradition at all times. One day, they dressed her up in traditional Japanese kimonos and on another, they taught her calligraphy.
According to Helms, the Taniguchi family always explained to her the reason certain things are important in Japanese culture, from regular house rules such as wearing slippers in the house to learning traditional arts.
"Of course I would make mistakes," Helms said. "But the family was always there to help me."
This close interaction between students and Japanese families not only changed the host families' perspective of American stereotypes, but also helped the students discover new sides of themselves.
Helms said that since her return from Japan, she has become more respectful of others and more aware of her surroundings.
Frame, on the other hand, said being in a foreign country has taught him to take more risks and be open to new environments.
"I became more willing to accept what other people do as I became part of the family's normal life," he said.
At the end of the program, students delivered speeches on stage before their host families in an auditorium.
"Thank you guys for helping me open myself up more," said Tacmo. "I found something within me that I didn't know before."
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