Trip offers more than just language learning
For 20th year, Woodlands kids are able to experience Japanese culture
a child in Mexico, Mauricio Adame was hooked on Japanese cartoons known as anime. But the shows were only in Japanese with shoddy English subtitles. Adame decided to start using language-learning software in an effort to bypass those distracting subtitles.
“I thought wouldn’t it be easier to just learn the language instead of reading subtitles. I really didn’t want to read subtitles,” Adame said, thinking back on how his love of Japanese culture got started.
Eight years later, Adame graduated from The Woodlands High School in May and passed his Advanced Placement Japanese class. Though he
realizes now that learning another language wasn’t easier than bearing with those subtitles, he’s proud to have stuck it out. His years of studying Japanese, three of which were in high school, have paid off.
Adame and 20 other students from The Woodlands and College Park high schools are traveling to Japan for more than two weeks this summer, where they will stay with host families and visit Kyoto, Tokyo and Hiroshima. The students along with TWHS Principal Gregg Colschen and TWHS Japanese teacher Masumi Reade took off on June 19 and expect to return on July 6.
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Japan trip at The Woodlands High School.
“It’s a wonderful opportunity for them to experience another culture,” Colschen said. “Regardless of where we live, most people have the same wants and needs as people on the other side of the earth. We’re not all that different although we don’t speak the same language.”
While most students choose Spanish or French as their foreign language credit in high school, dozens of teenagers at The Woodlands High School choose to study Japanese each year.
Reade, who has taught Japanese at The Woodlands High since 1993, finds that although many students first find the Asiatic language through anime and the vibrant cosplay community, her students develop a sense of reverence for traditional Japanese culture over time.
“There are always students very attracted to the Japanese culture,” Reade said. “It’s something really different from what they’re used to. … It’s one of the oldest nations in the world.”
Reade’s students memorize and learn the two Japanese alphabets — Hiragana and Katakana — as well as a logographic system of writing called Kanji.
In Japan, there are more than 2,000 commonly used Kanji characters with thousands more in ancient Japanese literature. With so much ground to cover, Reade hopes that the trip will allow her students to fully immerse themselves in Japanese culture and propel their love of learning.
“I love doing this for the students, and I get a kick out of seeing Japan from their eyes,” Reade said.
The trip is not covered by the Conroe Independent School District.
Students pay out of pocket for everything, including airfare, hotels for a portion of the trip, food and entertainment. The price tag can be anywhere from $2,500 to $3,000 for the entire trip, the largest chunk of which is international airfare.
Adame worked parttime at a Which Wich sandwich shop in The Woodlands to save enough money to buy his roundtrip ticket. His family pitched in for the rest. Now that Adame has realized his dream of going to Japan, he hopes to make the most of his experience.
“Now that I’m going to Japan, I’m going to use every minute of my trip to my advantage,” Adame said. “Whatever is traditional there just give it to me. I want to try everything.”
The students will spend a weeklong home-stay with families at the Chiba Municipal Inage Senior High School in Chiba, Japan, which is less than an hour east of Tokyo. Students also will get a chance to visit the Hiroshima Peace Memorial, where President Obama laid a wreath and called for a “moral revolution” on May 27.
Inage High serves as a sister high school to The Woodlands High since the two exchange students each year. Students from Japan are expected to stay with families in The Woodlands this August.