FFJ Meets FFA

Recently my family and I hosted a FFJ student from Engei High School. Nervous and excited we picked Yuriko up. My first thoughts were, oh my goodness, she speaks Japanese and I speak English, this is gonna be a long and quiet car ride home. Quickly I learned that the language barrier wasn’t that big of a deal and the car ride home was fun. With the help of hand motions, sounds, expressions, and the use of her portable computer translator it was easy to carry on conversations. It didn’t take long before Yuri and I bonded.

As her first day of school approached we were both very nervous for her first day at an American high school. When we got there, she kept saying, “Dokey dokey,” which is the Japanese word meaning her heart was beating fast, but that soon went away. She soon trusted me and if she didn’t understand what someone was asking her, she would look at me with an expression of confusion that seemed to shout, “Please help me understand.” I would in turn translate what they were saying in simpler English.

Even though she was 3 years older than me, I felt as if I was her older sister guiding her through a new experience. As I was teaching her new words she was teaching me new Japanese words. I would write down the word and the English translation on a piece of paper so I would remember them if I needed help. I was slowly but surely speaking a very little bit of Japanese. I’ve learned that even though we are from two different countries and we speak two different languages we are so much alike, and we share our sense of humor. Besides speaking Japanese, she was just like any other American teenager. I would advise anyone who hasn’t had this opportunity to quickly ask to host a student from Japan or any other country, because regardless, the experience is still the same. It was a life changing week that I’ll never forget and will cherish forever. Yuri has become a member of my family who lives miles away, and someone whom I, my friends, and my family have grown to love.

-Karlyn Wolfe
Rosewood FFA