Visiting an unfamiliar country, surrounded by people who speak a different language, and exposed to an unusual culture-  this is an experience that Japanese 4-H members had while visiting Harford County, Maryland.

      Risako Sumii and Yuki were two of the ten Japanese students who came on a trip to the United States organized by LABO, the 4-H program in Japan. These students spent four weeks living in the homes of Maryland 4-H members.

      “We got to learn a lot about Japanese culture,” stated ninth grader Joey Burgess, one of the hosts for Sumii during her stay. “Having her stay was kind of like adopting a child for four weeks, it was fun.”

      Sumii came to Maryland from Hiroshima, Japan, and stayed with the Burgess family in Jarrettsville.

      “When she came she brought lots of gifts for us from Japan,” stated Joey. With her, Sumii brought foods, fans, chopsticks, and children’s toys that are common in Japan.

      During the time that the Japanese students stayed with their host families, the host would take them to the popular attractions around Maryland, and Pennsylvania.

      “It gave us something to do(taking Sumii to attractions)and we explored our own area,” stated senior Becky Burgess, another one of the hosts. “We realized we had a lot to do in our own area as we showed it to her.”

      For Summi, the Burgesses took her to Ocean City for a weekend, to baseball games, Kilgore Falls and shopping.

      Yuki spent his time with Nick Carini’s family.

      “We showed him as many of the sights as we could- we gave him the American experience,” stated Carini.

      Although each student stayed with a separate family, the entire group went to two amusement parks and Washington DC together.

      “Because of the communication barrier it was cool to see when he finally understood things,” stated Carini about Yuki. “It was also neat to show him how we lived and then for him to show us how he lived too.”

      The final night that the Japanese students were in the US, they performed a play to all of the host families.  The next morning the families exchanged their final goodbyes before the students went to the airport for the 14 hour flight back to Japan.

      The Burgess family has confirmed that Sumii has continued to email them since the trip. They plan on having another exchange student in the future from different countries. Carini also would like to have another exchange student in the future.