By Ikuko Karacsony | Program Manager
The staff at Kizuna Across Cultures are busy this summer preparing for the 2023-24 Global Classmates program. After the success of last year’s program, we are excited to welcome this year’s 2,000+ students and cannot wait to see them grow and develop friendships through the collaborative online international learning experience.
As we anxiously await the start of the program in September, we’d like to share some memorable moments from last year’s program.
The students from Chiba Chuo High School introduced their cultural festival and club activities in a video to their partner students from South Mecklenburg High School in North Carolina. The video introducing the etiquette and manners of tea ceremony by the tea ceremony club intrigued the students from South Mecklenburg High School so much that they tried their hand at tea ceremony in their own classroom! The students served each other matcha tea along with traditional Japanese treats, yokan and dorayaki-style mini pancakes with red bean paste sandwiched between them. The students had fun experiencing the Japanese tea ceremony in their American classroom.
Students from Cupertino High School in California and Otemae Takamatsu High School in Kagawa introduced their favorite mottos to each other. By sharing their beliefs and values, as well as experiences that influenced them, they were able to find some things in common, but also notice different perspectives. Japanese students shared phrases such as "When three people get together, they get the wisdom of Manjushri" and "Hard work lasts a moment, but what is gained lasts a lifetime", and American students shared phrases such as "Treat others the way you want to be treated" and "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” The students responded to each other's mottos by saying, "That's a nice phrase. We have a similar saying in my country," and "I’ll remember your motto when I feel down while studying for exams.”
Students from Falls Church High School in Virginia and Rakuhoku High School in Kyoto utilized videos to share their food culture. Students made fun videos introducing food-related culture such as buying food in an American high school cafeteria, the wide variety of food available at a Japanese convenience store, and step-by-step recipes on how to prepare their favorite home-cooked meals. The students responded to the videos with comments like, "I'm going to try to make that dish,” “I'm surprised that they put peanut butter on a bagel!,” and “Is it true that you don't eat raw eggs in the U.S.?” The students not only learned about each other's food culture, but also got a glimpse of each other's daily lives through the video, deepening their connection.
In fact, we saw a record high percentage of students who said that the program strengthened their connection with their partner classmates and strengthened their desire to visit the partner country this year. We were also excited to see that several U.S. schools were able to visit their partner schools in Japan this spring and summer after the program wrapped up.
One such school was Glenbrook South High School in Illinois. Students took a class trip to Japan and were able to meet their partner classmates at Yokohama Shogyo High School in person this spring. After spending six-months exchanging online with one another, the moment the Glenbrook South students saw their friends from Yokohama Shogyo holding up welcome signs was moving! They spent the day together chatting in groups, playing musical chairs, and tasting different Japanese tea and sweets together. They finished the day off by enjoying a meal together in Minato Mirai.
We’re so happy to see how Global Classmates has helped to create ties between students across borders. We look forward to working alongside the teachers to continue fostering cross-cultural understanding in this year’s program. Thank you so much for your support to make it possible for us to continue to offer Global Classmates to a wide variety of schools with diverse regional, academic, and socio-economic backgrounds.
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