A week off, then it’s back to school

Published 5:00 pm Saturday, June 12, 2004

Bainbridge sends an unprecedented five students to summer exchange in Japan.

Jordan Anton will be starting his second year of high school, not in September, but next week – in Japan.

The BHS freshman is one of five Bainbridge High School students who received the Japan-American Friendship Scholarship, which funds a six-week summer exchange program in Japan.

They will be among about 100 students who will live with host families and attend academic classes – the Japanese school year ends in March and starts up again in April.

“I’m going to try to absorb as much of the culture as I can in the short time – and make the most of my trip,” Anton said.

The scholarship is sponsored jointly by the JAFS scholars program and the Youth for Understanding USA, an educational nonprofit organization.

BHS Japanese instructor Kristin Henshaw says that, typically, one student from the high school is accepted to the program each year. Five is the most Bainbridge has ever sent.

All five have completed at least two years of Japanese with Henshaw. In addition to freshmen Anton and Lucille Gendreau, sophomores Arthur Young and Brian Steyer and junior Patrick Saunders will fly to Japan next week.

“They’re all totally excited,” Henshaw said. “It’s such a wonderful opportunity for them to have a six-week homestay. They get to see Japan from the inside – not like a tourist.”

For Gendreau, visiting Yokohama will be her first time out of the U.S. “I want to go see basic life and how people live there – go to where the teenagers are,” Gendreau said.

She is bringing Mariners’ goods – a team popular in Japan because of right-fielder Ichiro Suzuki – for her homestay family, which includes a 16-year-old girl and 14-year-old boy.

With thoughts of going into psychology, Gendreau says she is interested in seeing how people outside the United States live.

The feudal age of Japan, the era of the samurai, holds a special interest for Anton. He hopes to learn more about Japanese culture, customs, religion, society and history during his visit.

Anton will be staying in Nara, known for its beautiful scenery as well as for having the largest Buddhist monument in the world.

Henshaw emphasizes the value of the homestay experience. “It sticks with them – their Japanese improves, and their understanding of the world,” Henshaw said.

“Their horizons expand and become much more international.”