2/12/2009 - Cultural exchange: Paris in Japan
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Eric Bozeman
The Charlotte Post
A trip to the Far East showed Paris Sharpe that people all over the world are a lot alike.
The 17-year-old Independence High School senior traveled to Toyohashi, Japan last March as a part of the American Field Service Program. Sharpe’s trip was funded by the Yoshi Hattroi Memorial Fund. The Post provided a $1,000 grant for her to buy a computer to chronicle her experiences while studying abroad.
Sharpe, who is in the top 10 percent of her class at Independence, learned how to communicate with her host family, experienced rigid educational standards, and developed an indiscriminate palate.
Family
Moving in with the Yamashita family was comforting for Sharpe, because the host family had already opened their home to three other international students prior to her arrival.
“Describing them as a host family seems so cold,” said Sharpe. “When someone feeds you, takes care of you, and welcomes you into their home you become family.”
Communicating with the Yamashita’s proved to be easier than expected at times for Sharpe, who spent a lot of time talking with Sachiyo Yamashita and her children. Rika, 10, and Itsuki, 12, gave Sharpe a mentally stimulating outlet when she struggled to communicate with others.
“I miss my Japanese mom, she picked up a lot of English from the other students,” Sharpe said. “My experience was a little different because my family was younger. My dad (Toru Yamashita) was very cool, very laid back, he was an architect. I could play with Rika, but Itsuki had cerebral palsy, so when I needed mental stimulation I would talk to him in English. He couldn’t understand me, but we bonded.”
Sharpe said that she came away from the experiences with Itsuki as well as attending disabled events with more compassion for the efforts to aid them.
“The appreciation for the disabled really touched me. I had an opportunity to go to a lot of disabled events. I attended a camp for the disabled that I enjoyed. We enjoyed camp fires, making jewelry, and I was called on to sing a lot. My mom kept volunteering me for things,” she said. “They were so excited to meet somebody from another country so they could practice their English.”
Whether living in Charlotte or Toyohashi, teenagers have household duties and responsibilities to live up to, and Sharpe always knew what her Japanese mother expected of her.
“She was very lenient, but she did tell me to clean my room!” Sharpe said. “I came home late once, and she told me next time I should call or text her.”
Education
While living in Japan, Sharpe studied at Toyohashi Higashi (East) High School, which is one of the preeminent schools in the city of 379,000. It is also home to three colleges, and Sharpe found higher education is serious business for just about everyone there.
“I went to the highest ranked school in my state, everyone is college bound and they are very focused,” Sharpe said. “Japanese students take their learning into their own hands. If they make an ‘F,’ it is their fault. (But) I find that American students are a lot better in social skills.”
Students at Sharpe’s school in Japan take pride in their campus, she said and are taught to prioritize their day. But they learned a lot from Sharpe, too. There was a premium on interacting with English speaking students at Toyohashi Higashi.
“The students have to clean the school at the end of each day before they can go to their club sports,” Sharpe said. “There were a lot of international students in my class, I took a lot away, but I gave as much as possible.”
Food
For a teenager from America, appreciating the culinary arts of Far East cuisine can either be a delicious sensation to the taste buds or an acquired taste. Sharpe relied on the help from her Japanese mom to prepare foods that Sharpe found appealing to her. Whether it was fermented soy beans or rice crackers, she quickly discovered her likes and dislikes.
“She encouraged me to speak up about what I liked and didn’t like,” Sharpe said. “There were some foods that I could not eat like Natto, which is fermented soy beans which smells disgusting and I couldn’t eat that. We also had Sembe (rice crackers) lying around the house, like we have lays potato chips here. At first I didn’t like them, but now I just pop them like potato chips.”
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