FCCLA exchange scholarship: Colfax junior reports on 6-week stay in Japan

Colfax High School junior Ysabeaux Ng said she didn’t get homesick at all during her six-week trip to Japan.

“The time flew by,” she said.

She was one of 14 students in the United States selected for an FCCLA scholarship exchange trip to Japan.

She landed at Narita Airport on the far east side of Tokyo where her host family met her.

Besides the host father and mother, Takashi and Yuko Fujita, the family included a boy, Hajime, 17, and his sister, Sae, 13. Takashi is a television network social consultant and Yuko is a stay-at-home mother.

“I immediately fell in love with them,” Ysabeaux said.

The Fujita home is in some ways traditional Japanese with sliding paper doors and bamboo mats to sleep on.

“A big house to them is a small house to us,” Ysabeaux said. “They build up instead of out.”

The bathroom was a Western-type with the exception that one is expected to shower, rinse off and then soak in the bath tub.

“I learned very little Japanese because everyone spoke English to me,” Ysabeaux said. “They wanted to practice their English.”

Her host brother spoke English very well because he had just returned from spending a year in Michigan. The host father and mother were not fluent in English, but they spoke it well, Ysabeaux said. Sae, the youngest, spoke very little English.

To welcome their American guest, the Fujitas cooked hamburgers and spaghetti for breakfast the first morning she was with them.

They dined on American food most of the time, but also had some traditional Japanese food. Ysabeaux said she tried nato, fermented soy beans, which were “disgusting.”

Among other traditional Japanese foods she tried was raw octopus.

Ysabeaux traveled outside of Tokyo to Odawara Castle, the largest Buddhist temple in Japan, and rode a boat in downtown Tokyo.

Ysabeaux, who is half Chinese, said her Asian heritage “helped me be a part of the community and made it easier for me to connect,” she said.

She also said she is amazed how safe it is in Tokyo.

“Kindergartners walk by themselves to school,” she said. The children wear distinct hats that Ysabeaux said alerts the community that the children must be protected.

Besides the Odawara Castle and downtown Tokyo, Ysabeaux said she also loved seeing fireworks by a bay.

“As different as our cultures are, there are a lot of similarities,” she said. “Our emotions are the same. We share a universal language such as food and laughter. I am so fortunate to experience it.”

“I also noticed how distinctly different the culture is. They are very quiet, safe, kind and a very calm culture,” she said.

She hopes to go back to Japan some day to see her host family.

As a result of her positive exchange experience, Ysabeaux and her family have decided to host an exchange student this year. A student from France will arrive here just before school starts and stay with their family.

“This was a good opportunity for me to expand my horizons,” she said.