Over 100 students from Seisa Gakuen High School in Japan were treated to four days of fun-filled activities as students and staff from Marianas High School did their best in hosting a tradition that began some 19 years ago.<\/p>\n
\u201cEighteen years ago, many students from Japan, from this particular high school\u2014Seisa Gakuen High School\u2014they usually come annually,\u201d said MHS counselor Elaine Perez during an interview Saturday. \u201cThis is their 19th trip, and its just all amazing that 19 years ago Mr. Miyazawa and Bert Thompson, who\u2019s a teacher at [MHS], started this and its lasting so long so their friendship is really running deep here.\u201d<\/p>\n
The guests arrived to welcoming hands Wednesday, and had their first initiation to the school through a welcoming party hosted by MHS.<\/p>\n
One of the main reasons the students travel to Saipan every year was for exposure to the English language. The language barrier, however, also provides an opportunity for students from both schools to improve communication skills, finding ways to overcome the barrier.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s truly a relationship now that we have built with them,\u201d Perez said. \u201cWhat they bring to us is their language and their traditions in their songs and dances that they share with us. We bring that also to them and of course the beautiful island of Saipan.\u201d<\/p>\n
The students were then paired with MHS students Thursday for a tour if the island\u2019s historical sites including the Last Command Post, Banzai Cliff, and the Sugar King Monument.<\/p>\n
As in the previous years, students from both schools engaged in friendly sports competition Friday as well as traditional practices from both cultures at the MHS campus. Among the sports were basketball, Rocball, softball, soccer, badminton, and table tennis.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe other thing we share with them is our education system as they partake in a lot of our activities here in our school,\u201d Perez said. \u201cThey get a taste of the western educational system and they share also in the classroom their way of cooking, their way of language, and their way of doing what the Japanese school usually does.\u201d<\/p>\n
Seisa Gakuen students also celebrated their sister-school\u2019s Cultural Day on Saturday, with students from both institutes performing traditional dances and songs. The campus also featured huts built by MHS classes.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo [Saturday\u2019s] event is really about all the different cultures,\u201d Perez said. \u201cAs you know, [MHS] has a very colorful cultural group of people and they\u2019re showcasing their different cultures in dance, song, and all these different performances.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOur students, they\u2019re always so excited and they are truly island people. The students of [MHS], they really open their arms and they just accept them and get so excited by their presence and so today, by the success of this cultural day, shows that we really do are good hostesses,\u201d Perez added.<\/p>\n
Before returning to Japan, the Seisa Gakuen guests treated their MHS family members to an appreciation party last night at the World Resort Hotel.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s very much educational in a different sort of way. It\u2019s kind of all around in just the relationship when they come and they share with us and we just really welcome them,\u201d Perez said.<\/p>\n
Perez also extended appreciation to the Marianas Visitors Authority and the Saipan Mayor\u2019s Office for taking part in the gift-giving during the welcoming bash.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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