This story was originally published in the Spring 2012 issue of Harker Quarterly

Rina Sakuraba and Maki Shibata, two upper school students from Harker’s sister school in Tokyo, Tamagawa Gakuen, spent a month at the upper school experiencing the life of Harker students firsthand.

The students had a schedule of classes and activities for each week of their stay. Shibata enjoyed psychology class and listening to the Harker orchestra during rehearsal, while Sakuraba had fun participating in Masako Onakado’s Contemporary Japanese class and sitting in on Cantilena’s class sessions to listen to the talented singers.

The students also had a great time at the Winter Ball and went on a trip to Santa Cruz on a day off, where they had fun on the rides at the famous beach boardwalk. Middle school Japanese students were also paid a visit by the two students, who gave presentations on Japanese cultural topics such as origami, kabuki and Japanese hot springs (known as onsen).

Prior to heading back to Japan, Sakuraba and Shibata said they found Harker students to be very friendly and hoped to strengthen their newfound friendships in the future.