A month following the visit to Brea Olinda High School by the delegates from Hanno, Japan, seven Brea Olinda High School students and two chaperones boarded a ten-hour flight to Hanno, Japan for the 29th annual Sister City Exchange.

Prior to the trip, the students spent about a month preparing. In order to learn about customs and culture of Japan, they attended regular meetings that covered a variety of topics, including traditional Japanese culture and etiquette.

During these sessions, the students were not only told how they were expected to behave, but also discussed what they expected to see during the trip.

“We had to learn courtesy phrases like itadakimasu, something you say before a meal and gochisousama, something you say after a meal. Roughly translated, they both mean ‘thank you for the meal’ and signal the beginning and end of the meal,” said Jen Lee, senior, who went on trip to Hanno.

After familiarizing themselves with proper etiquette and the itinerary for the visit, the students boarded their flight and arrived at Hanno at 9:30 a.m. to meet their host families, who they shared their whole exchange experience with.

The students experienced a welcoming party at the Fujimi Community Center where they ate lunch and had a chance to socialize with their host families.

On the first day of sightseeing, the students visited the Hanno Disaster Prevention Center. Afterwards, they went to Shinnoji, a 1150 year old temple, to watch a traditional Japanese tea ceremony, which is an ancient form of aesthetic art. This tea ceremony, also known as the Way of Tea, involves the preparation of powdered green tea and was primarily influenced by Zen Buddhism.

Similarly to the Hanno visit in February, the group of students from Brea Olinda High School visited a junior high and high school in Hanno. They attended classes with their host student and sat through various lessons, much like the Hanno students did during their visit to BOHS.

Afterwards, they toured Surugadai University, where the two groups of students shared their cultural differences.

“[The Japanese students] made a big deal over there about our visit,” said Julian Lee, junior. “When [the Hanno students] came to visit us, only a few people were interested because only a few people study Japanese here. However, since everyone there is required to study English, everyone wanted to get to know us and learn about our culture,” continued Lee.

Later, the students visited the Tokyo Tower, which is often known as the Japanese version of the Eiffel Tower. The Tokyo Tower, standing at 1091 feet tall, is the second largest building in Japan and also a communications and observation tower.

Upon reaching the tower, the students had lunch and spent time with their student hosts, who explained the different features of the structure as they ate.

“We went to a lot of temples like Kannonji and Asakusa. There, we learned many new things about their culture and explored the different types of Buddhism,” said Lee.

On Feb 19, each of the host families were given an entire day with their student. During this day they planned separate activities, unique to each visitor.

“My host family took me to Tokyo Disney Sea, a Disney resort stationed in Tokyo, and they also took me to go sightseeing in the cities of Shibuya and Ikebukuro,” said Alicia Keech, junior.

Throughout the entire country exchange, both Hanno and BOHS students put on special performances to enrich one another with their culture.

When the Hanno students visited, they performed a traditional Japanese percussion dance, and when the students from Brea Olinda High School went to Hanno, they prepared a dance show of Michael Jackson’s song, “Thriller.”

“I met so many new people and saw so many new things. It was probably the greatest cultural experience of my life,” added Keech.