East meets West — again: Sister Cities program in its 10th year

By WILL STEWART / Staff Reporter for the Southern Standard

Japanese student Mai Sato, left, and Haley Bouldin, feast on Japanese and American foods at a picnic held Saturday at Rock Island State Park. The picnic was part of the Sister Cities exchange program. (Will Stewart photo)

The Sister Cities program has once again allowed East and West to come together as a delegation of 16 Japanese students and four chaperones recently visited their local counterparts here in Warren County.

The idea for the Sister Cities exchange program between McMinnville-Warren County and Mikawa-muri and Mikawa-machi, Japan arose in 1992. The purpose, officials say, was and still is to promote international friendship as well as the exchange of international ideas and cultures. Since 1993, delegations of both Warren County and Mikawa students have visited each others’ homelands in alternating summers.

After an unexpected layover in Detroit, this year’s Japanese delegation began its American visit in Washington, D.C., where students toured the capital and its many sights. Last Wednesday the group of students and chaperones made their way to Warren County via Nashville.

While here each Japanese student was paired with a local student and his or her family. Sister Cities chairperson Beverly Crouch said placing students with a host family helps give an accurate picture of daily life in America.

“We ask our host families to go about their normal routines, to do everyday things – going to Wal-mart, to church – while the Japanese students are with them,” she said. “We want the students to experience typical American life.”

Of course, the local Sister Cities coordinators also want the visitors to get a broader picture of life in Warren County and Tennessee. During their week-long stay the Japanese students and their local “host buddies” participated in a number of fun and educational activities. These included touring Yorozu, Cumberland Caverns, making their own pizzas at Planet Pizza, roller skating at Hot Wheels, watching and riding horses at the Warren County Saddle Club and spending a couple of days in Gatlinburg.

One highlight of the visit was a cultural program performed by the Japanese students during a banquet held at McMinnville Country Club. The performance featured a musical number in which the students dressed in traditional Japanese attire, danced and played native wooden instruments.

Local host buddy Shay Mullican said he thoroughly enjoyed hosting his student counterpart, Syota Koike. “It was a lot of fun – I made a lot of new friends and learned quite a bit, like how everything is much smaller in Japan. I hope to be part of the group that gets to go over there next summer,” he said.