Student ambassadors in Japan: a field trip of a lifetime

He's visiting our sister city in Japan through the Hikone-Ann Arbor Educational Exchange Program. Twelve student ambassadors, selected from Ann Arbor's seventh and eighth graders, spend the summer months planning, fundraising, and learning Japanese language and culture. Students from Hikone visit Ann Arbor for a week in October, and then our kids jet off to Japan for a two week adventure. This year is the 40th anniversary of the sister city cultural exchange, and we're grateful for the opportunity to participate.

This week, the ambassadors attend their respective sister schools and live in Japanese homes. Next week they'll travel to Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples in Kyoto and Hiroshima. At Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, our Ann Arbor students will lay one thousand handmade paper cranes at the foot of the Sadako statue in a gesture of peace and goodwill.

As his mother, I've been choked up about his departure, but not for the reasons you might expect. I must admit, sending our young ones off on Halloween day to retrieve them on Friday the 13th gave me slight pause. But I needn't be worried. By all accounts, the students are treated with care by the Hikone citizens, who place tremendous value on this international connection.

What keeps needling me is how much this journey will change his world view. He’ll connect with family and friends in a completely new culture, and he’ll learn how similar we are where it really counts. He’ll get a glimpse of the impact, more than 50 years later, of a real weapon of mass destruction. He’ll gain some respect for religions quite different from ours. I also know much of his “adventure” will include quirky things, like the fancy toilets and ubiquitous slippers. They'll be quirky details he'll remember the rest of his life, because he experienced them on his own, without his parents.

With all these experiences, he can’t help but come back a different son. I look forward to that, while at the same time I’m sentimental about saying goodbye to the innocent one.

All of the students have worked hard to earn this trip, and I know every moment has been worth the effort. I only hope that someday down the road, my son will appreciate this opportunity as much as I do.

Pam Stout is a mother of three Ann Arborites and is waiting one more week for her son to return from Japan. She reflects on life's big and small adventures at BeyondJustMom and can be reached at pam@beyondjustmom.com.