Learning about a different culture

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This article was published 21/08/2017 (3212 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The countryside in Manitoba is a bit different than Japan’s, as exchange student Yuusaku Watanabe recently discovered.

The 16-year-old was billeted with the Scharf family in Sanford for a week as part of this year’s 4-H student exchange program. On Aug. 10, Onnolee Scharf and her three children Elie, 13 and twins Naomi and Luca, 11, took Watanabe to Rosser Holsteins, a commercial dairy farm in Rosser. Their next stop was shopping at a sports store then attending one of the Canada Summer Games concerts at The Forks.

Watanabe was one of 19 students who came to Manitoba along with their chaperones from Fukushima Prefecture in Japan. The students range in age from 16 to 18 and were selected by their high schools for their achievements and interest in global studies.

The Japan Homestay program has run for 30 years, with 726 Japanese and 197 Manitoba students and their chaperones participating.

“For the 30th time, the Japan Homestay program will allow 4-H families the opportunity to make lasting connections with Japanese youth during their two-week stay,” said Manitoba 4-H Council president Carlie Whetter, in a news release.

Onnolee Scharf said when she was growing up, her family also hosted a student from Japan, and she had the chance to travel to Japan when she was 18.

“It was an amazing experience,” Scharf said.

Scharf’s children are members of the Headingley 4-H Club and Elie, 13, said he’d like to be involved in the exchange when he’s old enough.

For more information about Manitoba 4-H, see www.4h.mb.ca