This is Barbara:

On the way home I asked the students to write comments about the trip and to give advice to students who might be going on future exchanges to Ishigaki. Here are their comments:

Austin: Don't eat shaving cream (he learned this from the "pie" throwing contest).

Be careful of what you do in the shower since the drains are weird.

Goya is...ok.

Get lost, it's fun.

Mention my name, they all love me.

(Forgot to write his/her name):

Be really photogenic.

Be ready to try new things.

Do kareoke.

Devon:

This is a trip that was filled with ups and downs. Highlights with friends and family, and lows with culture shock and stress. During the trip I most enjoyed the more touristy parts like snorkeling and on the tour bus. In fact, right up until the end, I felt like I had never fit in with my family. I did my best to be polite and unobtrusive while still being part of the family. However, I felt like an outsider. As my returning date arrived, I felt a breath of fresh air. I could get out of the their hair. But the last night, it was different. My host father and older sister and I played cards, and talked, and stayed up too late. Even still, I wasn't really sad about going.

And then we went to the airport, we took our last photographs, and spent over an hour saying everything but goodbye. I looked up, and my host mother was crying. They handed me a little folder, and sent me off. When I opened it, there was a picture of all of us sitting on the couch. I almost cried too.

Andre's tips:

Bring more money than you think you will need. You don't need to exchange it all, but the extra security is nice.

Be ready to eat a little bit of everything your family gives you. Even if you don't like it, they will be very excited that you tried it.

Make an effort to get to know your host parents, and other siblings, if possible. The parents are usually very interesting and are very happy to talk about themselves.

If an opportunity comes up to do something, but you have to pay for it (we had to pay for snorkeling), it is almost always worth it.

Feel comfortable when you're at school. The attention my be a bit off putting sometimes, but it's just because people want to meet you.

Don't do the smile and nod technique, don't be afraid to tell someone you don't understand. They'll appreciate that you are at least listening.

Pick up a few words of the dialect because everyone you talk to will be very impressed and amused that you're learning parts of their culture.

I hope more comments will still come in since not all students handed theirs to me.

What I want to remember about our trip:

--Devon being so generous with her time and starting this blog, downloading hundreds of pictures for everyone, being so cheerful and capable and adding to the blog throughout, especially since my laptop never could get internet connection at my host family's home.

--John coming one hour late to check in first thing when we were leaving Eugene and my thinking Yes, there will be some problems.

--Lots of cards games during our many layovers at airports.

--Austin coming up to me 5 minutes before boarding our flight to Okinawa and telling me he'd lost his ticket. The 2 minutes of panic and all of us wondering what to do and then the stewardess coming up to us holding a ticket and asking if it was ours.

--Cherise, Austin, and Tristan running up the stairs along the 12 story high series of escalators in the Kyoto Mall. Running the whole time.

--Devon being totally surrounded by hungry deer in Nara and barely getting the wrappers off the crackers for them and how she kept saying No, they're really gentle.

--Evan every time I asked how he was doing saying Fine, except for being too hot. And always having a smile on his face.

--Tristan and Devon being my speech writers when I had to address the entire student body at Yaeyama High School in Japanese and also later the mayor of Ishigaki too; later how they politely told me they thought I might have been understood.

--Oliver announcing to the whole school that he liked girls. Later, always being surrounded by girls.

--Tristan playing soccer on Games Day in 95 degree weather and probably 90% humidity and running really fast.

--All our 8:30 AM meetings in the Language Lab and Jade always arriving last.

--Snorkeling at the coral reef and being absolutely transfixed by the beauty, the colors, the variety of shapes of the coral and the fish and thinking how lucky we were to experience this. That every discomfort of the heat, humidity, not being able to communicate well, etc. etc. was absolutely worth every second because of the world I had been allowed to see under the water.

--Andre always cleaning the same landing on the stairs after school and being surrounded by girls. How thoughtful and interesting he was about his observations of all he was learning in Japan. One of my favorites was when he told me he was finally acclimated to the weather which I thought was impossible. I asked him in surprise if he had stopped sweating like a pig like everyone else. His answer: No, I haven't stopped sweating like a pig. I just don't care about it anymore.

--The contrast between Will stepping up to the mike at the beginning of our stay and at the end when he addressed the whole student body for us in Japanese because his confidence had grown so much. How happy I was to hear him address the parents the last night when we gave them a dinner party to thank them for hosting us. How they so totally loved him since he was able to use some of the local dialect.

--Tristan announcing to the student body on the last day that it was Will's birthday and leading them in singing Happy Birthday to Will.

--Our circle together for the last time at the airport on the last day with everyone saying Thank you and good bye, how Austin walked into the circle when it was his turn, raising up his arms, and being the first one to say his thanks in Japanese. How Kurara san told us all how much she appreciated us all, even Austin and Jade. How just about everyone cried to have to leave.

--Seeing all the the host families, the teachers, and the principal standing on the observation area waving goodbye to us as we got on the plane and even the whole time we were taxiing down the runway as we left Ishigaki.

--Feeling really proud of all the students- how they supported and looked out for each other, how they were responsible about exploring and enjoying themselves, how they understood what a valuable opportunity they had to experience the Japanese and Okinawan cultures as well as to share their own culture in this exchange between Ishigaki and Eugene that has lasted almost 25 years now. How Yaeyama High School has already chosen the next teacher to bring a group of students to Eugene next February and how our 10 students all want to host.

--Lastly that I want to thank South and Pam Scott for asking me and my husband David to chaperone and to the parents for entrusting their students to us. All of us learned a lot traveling so far from home - how to negotiate airports, to be patient, to watch out for each other, learn our way around new places, how to adapt to new situations and people, and how to make new friends. Thanks very much to all the students for their respect and patience with me. You were very fun to be with and I appreciate having gotten to know you.