Page 8 Vtm ('_CMMIIIIITV Tile r" - June 6, 2012
m Amigos
From page 1
Tomono, a very capable clari-
netist, joined the band and choir.
And, since she took ballet lessons
as a young girl before quitting "be-
cause I had to study to take a test to
get into junior high (at Josai)," she
joined the dance team too.
Chang joined the Key Club
and the Drama Club.
Chang and Harada also sang
in the Symphonic Choir, which
requires an audition to get in. Do-
mashenko didn't join the choir, but
not for lack of talent, as everyone
found out when she performed a
Russian pop number at the May
Week Talent Show -'in which
Chang accompanied both Tomono
(clarinet solo) and Harada (Japa-
nese pop song) on the piano.
"Anastasiya has a beautiful
voice, but she told me, 'I came here
to learn. I didn't come here to take
foufou classes," said Burford, who
hosted Harada for half the year and
had much interaction with the four
girls, who, she said, bonded even
though the only common language
they spoke was English.
"(Domashenko) can sing in
three or four different languages."
Domashenko had to leave
early to take a test back home and
Chang was busy serving as a coun-
selor at Outdoor Camp for local
grade-schoolers last week when the
others got together with a reporter
to talk about their experiences.
Nguyen, 17, said he thought
it took them a while to get accli-
mated, but by the second semester,
"especially Shiho and Anna talked,
oh my gosh."
He said they've picked up a lot
of new language skills during their
stay. "We even learned a lot of new
slang."
"You probably shouldn't write
that," said Tomono.
All three said there are big dif-
ferences between what schools are
like at home and Sweet Home High
School.
"It's so different," Tomono
said. "Today, in American history
class, we were talking about school
uniforms. Some students thought
they were bad."
"They don't separate students,
whether you're rich or you're
poor," said Nguyen, who, like the
Japanese students, wore one at
home. "Everybody's dressed the
same."
Other differences: "You can't
eat food during class," Tomono
said.
"We have to clean the school,"
said Harada, referring to a common
practice in Japan.
"Yes, after school we sweep
and empty the garbage," Tomono
said.
• Nguyen said students stay in
one classroom in his school, and
teachers rotate from classroom to
classroom during the day.
"American students probably
exercise more," he said.
Not necessarily so, said the
Japanese, whose school is multi-
story and who have to climb steps
to get to class.
"Our cafeteria is down, under
the building," Tomono said. "Here
your buildings are so wide, but in
File photo by Scott Swanson
From left, Shiho Harada, Yoshiko Tomono and Anna Chang compete dur-
ing a track meet.
File Photo by Sean C. Morgan
Enjoying Homecoming festivities with their escorts and families are, Yoshiko Tomono, center, with her host moth-
er, Marlene Zurcher, and, at left, Shiho Harada with Bob and Cynde Burford, with whom she lived last fall.
Japan they're tall."
Another big difference, they
said, is students' relationship with-
teachers.
"There's so much more famil-
iarity here," said Nguyen. "It's OK,
it's just different cultures. In my
country students have to respect
teachers."
"At first I was shocked," To-
mono said. "I wondered how I
should speak to my host mom."
"In my country, when students
receive anything from an adult,
they have to take it in two hands,"
Nguyen said. "Here," he gestured
with a quick one-hand sweeping
motion.
"You can't choose your class-
es (in Japan)," Harada said. "That's
cool here."
Another big difference, they all
said, is the extra-curricular activi-
ties available - clubs and sports.
"I really like the sports system,
the after-school activity," Nguyen
said.
"You guys don't do one sport
all year long," Harada said, noting
that in Japan students have to join
a sports club and practice and com-
pete in that sport year-round. Or,
as Tomono, pointed out, they could
join a chemistry club.
"I was so surprised," said Har-
ada, who said she enjoyed swim-
ming immensely.
"It was so hard," she said. "Jo-
sai doesn't have a swim club and
I haven't done swimming since el-
ementary school. We had to swim
every morning and every after-
noon. I had to get up at 5:30."
The Japanese students said
they've missed the bustle of a huge
city and "the trains."
"People," Tomono said. "1
miss the people jammed on the
trains."
But they've enjoyed the slow-
er pace of Sweet Home, they sai d .
"I feel relaxed here," Harada
said.
"I like the nature," said To-
mono.
"Everybody knows me," Har-
ada said. "They say, 'Hi Shiho.'"
"I come from the big city too,"
Nguyen said. "Here it's so peaceful
and green. People are very friendly
too."
"Even the homeless," said To-
mono. "They say to me, 'Hi, baby.'
I'm scared but maybe it's OK. I
say, 'Hi.'"
Hannah Mather, a sophomore
who lives near the Burfords and
whose family has hosted Japanese
visitors before, and who hosted
Harada when the Burfords have
been out of town. said she's en-
joyed the students.
"When we did track together,
they were always happy, always to-
gether," she said. "They run up and
jump on you. The expressions they
make are so funny.
"Anna, if you say something,
she'll say 'Oh my gosh, that's so
funny.'"
She said that she's seen chang-
es in the visitors as well.
"Shiho was really friendly
when I first met her. Yoshiko was
friendly when they were all togeth-
er, but she didn't know you. But
they've gotten more excited and
participating and stuff like that."
"Yoshiko has really opened
up," Burford said.
The Japanese students will
return to Josai for their final year
of high school, while Nguyen said
he plans to attend college at Santa
Barbara City College in Califor-
nia.
Burford said this group of ex-
change students has stood out in
the way they've interacted with
not only the student body, but each
other.
"Four different countries are
represented here," she said. "They
clicked together. I had so much fun.
They'd come over. They'd play the
piano. Yoshiko didn't have the In-
ternet (at home) so she'd catch up
on her e-mail. Shiho would sing
and Anna would play the piano.
Anstasiya would talk and pet the
dog.
"I told them, the last time I
saw them all together, 'We have
changed you guys into Ameri-
cans. Yoshiko laughed and said,
'Yeah.'"
Being here has definitely
changed them, the students said.
"We talk and we mix Japanese
and English. It's so weird," To-
mono said.
Harada, in particular, hit it off
with Chang.
"She loves Japanese music
and dance," she said.
They agreed that Domashen-
ko's intelligence particuarly stood
out.
"She was so smart," Harada
said.
"She was amazing," Burford
said. "I would love to know what
her IQ was because she could de-
bate politics with my husband. Not
many people could do that."
Stineff agreed that Domash-
File photo by Scott Swanson
Anastasiya Domashenko performs
during the May Week Talent Show.
enko stood out among the many
exchange students who've been at
Sweet Home.
"She spoke five languages,"
she said. "She was a real excep-
tional girl. The whole group has
been exceptional."
Susan Angland, who, with her
husband Larry, hosted Domashen-
ko since December, said the expe-
rience was "life-changing." Ang-
land, who has no children, said she
became a "mother (or grandmoth-
er) for the first time, then quickly
has experienced the 'empty nest.' It
happened so quickly," she said.
"At 59, I finally get a sense of
what it is like to have a daughter,"
she said. "We did so many little
things together. We read a book out
loud. I helped her with homework.
We sang. We listened to music. I
comforted her when she cried, she
did the same for me.
"I watched her compete in
swimming and track. I witnessed her
compete in a talent show at school,
and I was amazed at her confidence
and ability and sheer beauty. I
watched • her give speeches about
her country and her life, and she is
getting so much better at this - very
polished and confident."
They also practiced yoga,
went on walks, went to the Cirque
du Soleil "OYO" show, went roll-
er skating.
"We went shopping - a lot
- even to Goodwill, her favor-
ite store. I bought her miscella-
neous things, music, DVD movies,
• See Amigos, page 9
