Reunion for L.A.-Nagoya Scholar Trade Method Held Online

Los Angeles and Nagoya held an party identified as the “Student Exchange Application Reunion 2021” on the web starting up on July 30 with about 80 folks in attendance.

The event was jointly sponsored by the Los Angeles-Nagoya Sister Metropolis Affiliation (LANSCA), which celebrated the 60^th anniversary of the sister-city romantic relationship in 2019, and the Intercontinental Exchanges Part of the City of Nagoya. Its intent was to rekindle the ties involving previous learners and chaperones from the College student Trade Software as very well as taking part college officials, host households, and other people.

The college student trade system has been performed for the past 60 yrs, with every single sister metropolis sending 4 superior university learners and a chaperone to the other sister city in alternate a long time throughout summer season holiday. On the Los Angeles aspect, the exchange program has been financed with money elevated by LANSCA volunteers.

Teruko Weinberg, who created the thought for the occasion as chairwoman of LANSCA, defined the reunion’s essential premise: “We had to halt the Student Exchange Program in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, with the past exchange being Los Angeles learners who visited Nagoya in 2019. I saw a way to conquer this split in the software by producing a digital party that would revive the memories and experiences of plan alumni and also come to be a design for a equivalent annual occasion in the foreseeable future. We made the decision to give this plan an first try out and set it up with the City of Nagoya.”

The event applied the World-wide-web to join participants collected at Nagoya’s World Education Centre with others joining remotely from property. It was led by two individuals as emcees: Megumi Endo of the City of Nagoya and Dickson Perey, chairman of the LANSCA Scholar Exchange Software.

At the outset Nagoya Mayor Takashi Kawamura arrived to the Worldwide Education Center and gave his remarks in English, emphasizing the relevance of the relationship of friendship among Los Angeles and Nagoya.

He was followed by video messages from Los Angeles Deputy Mayor Nina Hachigian and Akira Muto, consul basic of Japan in Los Angeles. 

Subsequent on the system were alumni of the method, such as previous chaperones who appeared on display screen one by 1 and talked about their memories of the application as nicely as their latest life. 

Karl Lin, an trade pupil from Los Angeles in 2015, recalled how his participation in the application in the course of large school grew to become a turning place in his existence: “I am now attending Tokyo College as a Fulbright scholar. When I was in Nagoya, I was disappointed that I couldn’t connect very well with my host family members since I spoke no Japanese. With that in thoughts, I double-majored in science and Japanese at college or university (in the U.S.) and am now pursuing post-graduate research in Japan.” 

Cindy Martinez, who was a chaperone in charge of 4 pupils from Los Angeles in 2019, claimed, “I obtained a new Japanese household in the course of my keep in Nagoya. When men and women ask what I like most about Nagoya, I convey to them it is how fantastic all the people are.”

It is expected that the College student Exchange System will return to its usual format in the summer of 2022 with significant college college students from Los Angeles traveling to Nagoya.