BY MATT MACKINDER
Clarkston News Staff Writer

For some Clarkston High School students, summer vacation had a little extra travel this year.
After students from Japan visited and lived in Clarkston this past spring, Clarkston High School students returned the favor over the summer by flying to Chiba, Japan, for two weeks, June 30-July 14.
“My favorite part of the trip was visiting the Tokyo Skytree,” said CHS senior Garrett Bailey. “You can see the entire Tokyo metropolis and some of the mountains behind it. You really don’t understand just how massive the city is until you see it. I also enjoyed the public transit. The trains are always on time, to the minute, no exceptions. I got to see up close how courteous everyone in Japan is. Everyone is willing to help and is very polite.”
Sixteen tenth-grade students from Chiba, a town located about 19 miles southeast of Tokyo, stayed in Clarkston for the week of March 17-24 with host families.
High school Japanese teacher Faye Valtadoros joined the students on the trip, her latest since taking over the program in 2006. The program originally began in 2000.
“My highlight of this trip is always the second week, when we are with our host families,” Valtadoros said. “I see how my students become a part of the Japanese family, how they communicate in Japanese and English with their host. I see them laugh, smile, be happy, making a lifelong friend. This is all organic. Everyone always ends up with the host family that is the best fit for them. And the last school day we are there, they have a farewell party for us. When that ends, and speeches are given by staff and myself, there are always tears. The day we leave, at the airport, as we go through customs, there are so many tears. Tears of happiness that we met, hopes that we’ll meet again, but promises that we’ll stay in touch.”
Senior Charlie Arnold said the World Peace Museum in Hiroshima affected him.
“Being able to see destruction from long ago moved my heart, in a brutal way,” Arnold said. “I will always remember going in bright and happy and coming out with a changed mind.”
Arnold added that the trip has given him an idea of what to pursue academically down the road.
“I learned a lot of Japanese slang, and I developed the urge to study Japanese in college with hopes to become fluent,” he said. “Having the practical application of the language really helped my liking of it.”
Abby Mason, current junior at CHS, enjoyed Japan for all it entails.
“My personal highlight was exploring Japan with my friend Karlee Neumann,” said Mason. “She had never travelled out of the country or been on a plane, so a 13-hour flight was a jump into the deep end. My favorite city was surprisingly not Tokyo. I really liked Nara with all the wild deer. Getting attacked by deer was really fun.
“The best part of the trip was using my Japanese to Japanese people. One time, Karlee and I were sitting on a bus and we offered an old lady our seat. We said, ‘Please sit down’ in Japanese and she smiled and said, ‘thank you.’ I think the polite nature of the Japanese has rubbed off on me.”
Mason added that with so much food to be had in the country, looking at the residents was confusing.
“The food is delicious,” Mason said. “Many Japanese people are pretty skinny, and I don’t know how. There’s food in vending machines everywhere and so many temptations. They sell a lot of ice cream and it’s very refreshing.”
Junior Marco Petrucci took a liking to the cities of Hiroshima and Tokyo.
“Hiroshima has always been a point of interest for me and seeing the Atomic Bomb Dome and the World Peace Museum was very moving,” said Petrucci. “To see the history of Hiroshima before and after the bomb dropping mad a big impact on me. I loved Tokyo because of its amazing skyline, the delicious food, and the epic culture.
“Seeing the lifestyle of the Japanese people was very unique. Everything is very punctual and organized. Everything feels cleaner and everyone that tended to our group made us feel welcome. Seeing the lifestyle of a Japanese family was also awesome. Taking public transportation everywhere was unique as well.”
The next trip to Japan will be in 2021, where more memories are waiting to be made. Chiba students will be back visiting Clarkston this coming spring from March 22-29.
“I always tell my students before leaving to appreciate each day,” Valtadoros said. “Not everyone is lucky enough to go on a trip like this. This is a chance of a lifetime. And this year proved to me, again, that they took everything in, enjoyed every second of it, and many talk about going back one day.”
Any advice for future Clarkston students making the trek to Japan?
“Honestly, don’t spend a lot of time taking pictures or deciding what to buy,” offered Arnold. “I had a blast just knowing I was somewhere I’ve always wanted to go, and you’ll make more memories having that mindset than a ‘I want to take millions of pictures and buy lots of souvenirs’ mindset. Let your mind rest and relax and make the most of it all. Use the time to get to know your peers and have fun with your host families. You can’t buy memories, you know?”