Neighbor News
2016 Toyokawa Sister City Visit Journal - Audrey Rey
Audrey enjoyed making some new discoveries during her visit to Cupertino's Sister City of Toyokawa, Japan.
By Audrey Rey
Throughout the June-July 2016 summer, I experienced something most people haven't done. I went on a 10-day student exchange trip to Japan! There were so many places to explore, so many foods to eat, and a whole different language! When we arrived we were greeted by the wonderful City Hall. Our host families met us and from that day on, we had another family. They took great care of us and took us around Japan to get us acquainted. We tried all our new discoveries and had our own opinions. Take me, for example. I thought it was totally cool how there were vending machines almost everywhere, even outside on the streets! Whenever you felt thirsty, you could just go to a vending machine 15 steps away, and get your well-needed beverage.
Photo 1: From left to right: Ai (My host delegate's partner), Lyric (my partner), Hikaru (my host delegate) and me all making soba, buckwheat noodles eaten with cold broth.
Find out what's happening in Cupertinofor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Photo 2: Me playing with a sparkler. On Saturday night, we lit sparklers and fireworks for fun.
Photo 3: From left to right: Lyric, me, Rika (Hikaru's older sister) and Hikaru enjoying ice cream at Baskin Robbins. They had a lot more flavors over in America, like a gummy bear scoop and a Pop Rocks scoop!
Find out what's happening in Cupertinofor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Photo 4: My delegation group and I taking a picture with a samurai at Nagoya Castle. It was really fun talking to him.
Photo 5: Lyric and I on our last day at City Hall. We said goodbye to our host mother Miki and our host father Hirotaka. Miki was crying, as she was really sad to see us go. It's amazing how seven days with strangers can do to you!
