Exchange students from Takko-Machi will be in town until
Thursday
Gilroy – In broken English, reading from a prepared speech, a student welcomed a group of Japanese exchange students to Gilroy High School.
The GHS student, along with the other students who happen to be learning English, then joined pairs of Japanese students and attempted to converse with one another while seated at tables in the library on Monday morning.
Although the student’s backgrounds and cultures are diverse, they are all reaching for a common goal: learning English.
That’s why Shirley Nunes wanted her students to mingle with the 11 exchange students, all residents of Gilroy’s sister city Takko-Machi, Japan, who descended upon Gilroy High School on Monday.
Nunes taught her students Japanese history and culture and had them write questions for them to ask during the visit.
The Takko-Machi students, who arrived in Gilroy Thursday, spent Monday visiting classrooms, conversing with students and even joined their American friends in the quad at lunch. During their week-long visit they live with a local family and go on various outings.
On Friday, the students visited Rod Kelley Elementary and Brownell Middle schools and showed the children the art of calligraphy and origami.
Keiko Sato, who quietly observed the students while they chatted in the library, has been visiting Gilroy as a group leader for the past 10 years but she was only a teen during her first sojourn to the Garlic Capitol.
Like many of the students, Sato wanted to learn English and get a taste of the American culture.
“I like to watch T.V., like “Full House” and I just wanted to see with my own eyes,” she said.
Sato said the terrain of Gilroy is quite different than her hometown of Takko-Machi, which is rural, mountainous and currently covered with snow.
Visiting American schools is also interesting because in Japanese junior high and high schools, teachers change classrooms, instead of students. Also, students are all required to wear uniforms and piercings are a big no-no, Sato said.
During her visit Sato’s host family took her to Santana Row and to Santa Cruz.
“We went downtown and eat Tai food,” she said with a laugh. “And we went to the beach to watch the surfers.”
