WEBVTT 00:04.631 --> 00:06.368 - [Honey] 17 junior and high school students 00:06.368 --> 00:09.480 who live within Zama City visited Zama American Middle 00:09.480 --> 00:10.850 and High Schools in preparation 00:10.850 --> 00:13.125 for an upcoming youth exchange program 00:13.125 --> 00:16.051 between Zama City and the city of Smyrna, Tennessee. 00:16.051 --> 00:18.675 The visit gets them one step closer to experiencing 00:18.675 --> 00:20.927 what American school live is like 00:20.927 --> 00:25.094 before making a visit to their sister city this summer. 00:25.734 --> 00:29.263 - Hopefully, students are able to experience American school 00:29.263 --> 00:32.584 and see a day in the life of an American school student 00:32.584 --> 00:35.556 before they actually go to Smyrna in August. 00:35.556 --> 00:38.992 Also, since both Zama American Middle and High Schools 00:38.992 --> 00:40.920 are within our community, we should be able 00:40.920 --> 00:43.869 to gain our understanding through cultural exchange 00:43.869 --> 00:46.121 and learn each other's languages and increase 00:46.121 --> 00:48.211 the number of exciting events 00:48.211 --> 00:51.136 by interacting proactively with each other. 00:51.136 --> 00:55.303 Hopefully, today's event will be a great step towards that. 00:57.148 --> 00:58.175 - [Honey] After their arrival, 00:58.175 --> 01:00.195 students were welcomed by school officials 01:00.195 --> 01:02.494 and met with their assigned host students. 01:02.494 --> 01:04.909 Each group then moved on to their respective classrooms 01:04.909 --> 01:07.208 to experience classic American subjects 01:07.208 --> 01:09.089 with their counterparts. 01:09.089 --> 01:11.596 They also experienced lunch, American style 01:11.596 --> 01:15.763 at the school's cafeteria before touring both campuses. 01:16.821 --> 01:18.330 - In most Japanese high schools, 01:18.330 --> 01:19.747 we don't say hello to friends, 01:19.747 --> 01:21.604 even if we see each other in the hallway. 01:21.604 --> 01:23.276 But here at this American school, 01:23.276 --> 01:25.900 you greet your friends in an very friendly way. 01:25.900 --> 01:30.056 So I was really impressed by that, and really liked it. 01:30.056 --> 01:31.264 - I enjoyed it a lot. 01:31.264 --> 01:34.375 I think it was a great experience for all of us. 01:34.375 --> 01:36.929 I think it really started a bond 01:36.929 --> 01:38.485 that I think we could continue 01:38.485 --> 01:41.568 to carry throughout the coming years. 01:43.696 --> 01:46.038 - I realized that there are a variety of age ranges 01:46.038 --> 01:47.942 in a class based on their aptitude, 01:47.942 --> 01:49.916 which we don't see in Japanese schools. 01:49.916 --> 01:52.583 So it was very impressive to me. 01:54.212 --> 01:56.116 - They were really open to talking. 01:56.116 --> 01:57.323 Some of the students we've had, 01:57.323 --> 01:58.693 they were a little more quiet, it's hard 01:58.693 --> 02:00.644 to get them out of their shell. 02:00.644 --> 02:02.524 But a lot of the students today, you can tell, 02:02.524 --> 02:05.195 they're part of the Ambassador Group, they had said. 02:05.195 --> 02:07.112 So you could really see 02:07.308 --> 02:09.421 that they are examples of their school 02:09.421 --> 02:13.588 and that they represent Zama City's high school very well. 02:14.692 --> 02:16.967 - It was very different compared to our schools. 02:16.967 --> 02:20.134 It was a very great experience for me. 02:20.171 --> 02:21.673 - [Honey] Zama City and Smyrna began 02:21.673 --> 02:23.973 their cross-cultural friendship after establishing 02:23.973 --> 02:26.806 the sister city agreement in 1991. 02:27.168 --> 02:28.932 - For kids from Zama Middle and High School 02:28.932 --> 02:31.185 to interact with kids from Zama City 02:31.185 --> 02:33.994 and just appreciate each other's culture, 02:33.994 --> 02:36.618 how school works in the two different societies, 02:36.618 --> 02:39.056 and really, more than anything else, make friends. 02:39.056 --> 02:40.983 That's the main thing I want the kids to take away, 02:40.983 --> 02:43.375 is a friendship with someone from a different culture, 02:43.375 --> 02:46.022 and maybe a lifelong friend in some cases. 02:46.022 --> 02:48.321 - [Honey] Reporting for US Army Garrison Japan, 02:48.321 --> 02:49.711 this is Honey Nixon.