June 13, 2001

School explores international culture firsthand

Yoshi Kamiya ends internship at Immaculate Conception


      By LISA PERKINS
Herald staff writer

      Yoshi Kamiya came to Immaculate Conception Elementary School with one purpose in mind- to immerse himself in American culture.
      Kamiya, who arrived at the school in April as part of an International Internship Program, is a 25-year-old from Yokohama, Japan, with a degree in business.
      "I came so I could study English language and experience America. I like kids, working with them is fun," explained Kamiya who has worked with the children in grades three through five.
      "I taught them origami, calligraphy, some language and have shared pictures of my town and family and a video of a Japanese school," Kamiya said.
      Kamiya found that kids are basically the same in Japan as they are in Traverse City.
      Third-grader Josh Kurtz confirmed that idea when he noted, "kids in Japan do the same things for fun as the kids in America," after seeing the video Kamiya presented.
      Kamiya, however, found some big differences in Japanese and American schools.
      "The students here get right down on the floor, students in Japan must sit in their seat, all the seats are in very straight rows." He also explained that Japanese students are responsible for cleaning their classrooms and restrooms.
      "No students in Japan ride a bus or get a ride to school, they always walk or take train. My high school was an hour and a half away, I took two trains," added Kamiya. "Schools in Japan are much more competitive."
      Kamiya, who has been staying with a host family, Mr. and Mrs. James Sterk of Williamsburg has found everyone to be "very kind and very friendly." He has enjoyed pizza and McDonald's hamburgers, though they have both at home, but misses Japanese rice, explaining "American rice has no flavor."
      Kamiya has also enjoyed his time in northern Michigan. "Traverse City is full of nature, in Yokohama, no one has a yard, the yards here are like golf courses in Japan."
      His American experience will continue when he leaves Immaculate Conception this week. Kamiya will spend two weeks on the Inland Seas schoolship, where he looks forward to spending time with a crew member who speaks Japanese. He will spend two months in Chicago with friends and then on to another school in Kansas where he will stay until he returns home next April. Once home, he plans to use the knowledge he has gained to pursue a career in the import/export business and travel throughout the world.
      While Kamiya is accomplishing his goal of learning American culture, he is also sharing something very special with the people he meets.
      Immaculate Conception's principal, Robert Bridges, who found out about the intern program and brought Kamiya to the school could not be happier with the results.
      "This experience has been more than we had hoped for. One of our goals for the school was to open up and expose the children to international culture," Bridges said.
      "This experience is going to make a difference, Yoshi will be able to tell people in Japan that America is not all guns and violence and we have been able to get to know someone from a different culture. It's a small step toward peace."