Saratoga News

Tanya Morin, 16, (from left) Alex Acharya, 17, Andrew Siegel, 14, Ted Siegel, 17, and Minnie Kuo, 16, dressed in native outfits while visiting Muko-shi, Japan, Saratoga's Sister City.

Saratoga teens visit Muko-shi in Japan as Sister City envoys

By Cecily Barnes

This summer, five Saratoga teens kissed their parents goodbye and embarked on a 10-day journey to Saratoga's Sister City, Muko-shi, Japan. But first, they opened up their homes to five Japanese teens, who had just done the same. These 10 venturesome youths from opposite sides of the world got a chance to experience how the other half lives.

Beginning on the receiving end, Saratoga High School students Ted Siegel, 17, Andrew Siegel, 15, Alex Acharya, 17, Minnie Kuo, 16, and Tanya Morin, 16, greeted their Japanese guests at the airport and took them on a 10- day, nonstop tour of the Bay Area.

"We did something every day," Ted Siegel said. "We went to San Francisco and rode the cable cars. We went to the [Santa Cruz Beach] Boardwalk, the Monterey Bay Aquarium, Capitola beaches, museums and city hall."

And when the whirlwind tour was over, the Saratoga teens hopped on a plane and jetted to Muko-shi, Japan, to receive the same treatment they had showed their Asian pals.

In Japan, the Saratogans stayed with their exchange student's family. And as a group, the Japanese and American students toured Muko-shi and surrounding areas.

"We went bungee jumping," Siegel said.

"And we got to wear kimonos to important ceremonies," Kuo added.

In addition to touring every attraction near and around Muko-shi, the kids were intrigued with the differences between Japanese and American people.

Siegel recalled how one night in Muko-shi, he noticed an unattended rack of clothes in front of a closed storefront. Assuming this was an accident, he asked a passerby if the clothes would get stolen. The man responded, "No, Japanese people aren't like that."

"People are a lot more honest there," Siegel explained. "You can trust them."

The kids were also shocked to see vending machines lining the streets of Japan, stocked with all the drugstore amenities of a Longs or Thrifty's.

"There were beer machines, condom machines, magazines and cigarettes," Siegel said.

The Saratoga Sister City program has been in motion for 11 years. Muko-shi was chosen as a compatible city in 1985 for its similar size and economics.

Each summer, Joan Gomersall and Yosh Okada, representatives for Saratoga's Sister City Program, choose five Saratoga teens from those who apply to participate in the program.

"We look for people who will be good ambassadors, who will represent the city of Saratoga, who can have a student in their home and have an interest in Japan," Gomersall explained.

The cost for Saratoga students is their airfare--around $1,000--and the cost of feeding and providing for the Japanese student who stays with them here. While in Muko-shi, Saratoga students are provided for by the family with whom they stay.

Before the teens take off to Muko-shi, they attend a series of Sister City orientation meetings.

"We teach them about the customs they are going to come up against, especially living in [Japanese] houses: customs, food differences [and] the basic words such as 'please' and 'thank you,' " Gomersall explained.

And for everything else, the kids are on their own. According to the teens, this year's exchange was a tremendous learning, growing and just plain fun experience.

"It's a wonderful program," Gomersall said. "These students remain friends for years and years and maybe for life."

And while the kids confessed that their parents had urged them to join the program, they added that once they arrived in Japan, they were glad they had. Experiencing a different culture and forming lasting friendships, the kids professed to have had an amazing time. And like true '90s teenagers, they keep up their new friendships via email.

The Sister City Exchange Program is not new, and Saratoga is only one of many cities involved. The program was launched by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1956 after World War II as a way to promote peace and cultural understanding between previously warring countries. Today there are over 900 U.S. cities involved with cities in 110 different countries.

Saratoga's Sister City program is open to Saratoga teens 15 and older. For more information contact Joan Gomersall at 996-8050 or Yosh Okada at 867-3141.