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SN T------_ i ------ A Ln Alt SA tater mt 8 tn Sov ms | f i i} § ! i re re --------t------ FI IO ---- 8 " -- - - - + " + matt grr "A Family Tradition for 127 Years" Loreallyneat." 3 Freer OF SOROS Exchange students coming an By Scott Anderson Port Perry Star The Rotary Club's revolvin door was in full swing last wor as a number of youths were sent packingin various directions. A total of four young girls, all a part of Rotary International's Exchange program, were either coming or going as the local club held its weekly meeting. Kumi Uehara, a student from Yokosuka, Japan, said her good- 'byes to the club members after a year-long visit. Tabatha May, a 17-year-old Port Perry High School student, also said goodbye as she began a year-long exchange in Turku, Finland. But it was not all goodbyes as a new visitor to the Port Perry club was also introduced. Marja Soininen, a 16-year-old student from Finland, met the members of the Port Perry Ro- tary Club, to begin her visit to the area. ' ; Amber Herder, a Scugog stu- dent who was on a year-long vis- it to Australia, also returned re- cently but was unable to attend the meeting. Kumi, a shy and quiet girl when she arrived at the airport last year, was anything but.that as she spoke to the members for the last time Wednesday eve- ning. "I found a lot of things that were the same, but in many ways things are different," she said of the comparison between the two countries. By Julia Dempsey Port Perry Star The Port Perry Rotary Club said sayonara to a Japanese ex- change student who has been visiting Scugog Township for the past year. Kumi Uehara returned home to Yokosuka, Japan yesterday to relate fo friends and family her Canadian adventures since arriving here August 23, 1992, as a Rotary International ex- change student. For Kumi, it was a bitter- sweet goodbye. "This has been a really good year for me," she told the Port Perry Star last week. "This is a really nice place to live." If nothing else, Kumi wanted to experience one thing from her trip abroad: Culture shock. "I wanted to have culture shock," she said. "I wanted to see something I couldn't even imagine." Kumi was not disappointed. . Besides the obvious physical differences between Japanese and Canadian people, she said everything from their lifestyles to their diets were very differ- ent. - During her stay, Kumi lived with the Callery, Hopkins, Bax- ter, Mayes and Goodwin fami- lies. "All the families were so dif- ferent," Kumi said. "That was has LARA BEEP Eris dows 'But one thing she did realize is that "Canadians are human." She recounted many of her ex- .,periences over the past year and the memories associated with them. Perhaps the most exciting ex- perience for her was Christmas, which was also her birthday. "It was the best birthday I had in 17 years," she said, add- ing that "sitting on Santa's knee was just like a fairy tale." Snow on Christmas day was also an experience for her. "I was dreaming of a white Christmas and I just couldn't dream that much," she said of the new experience. _ "I'had a wonderful, wonderful year," she said of her stay in Scugog. "I think the Rotary exchange program is the best program of all," she said pointing to the fact that it provides an opportunity to experience a number of differ- ent families. to One girl who is about to real- ize what Kumi is talking about is Tabatha May who is heading to Turku, Finland. The city, on the southwest tip of Finland, has a population of approximately 160,000. She will attend school in the down- town core and will stay with ~ four different families. Tabatha says the trip to Fin- 'land will be an interesting learning experience and a very valuable one as well. Students learn four languages in school and she is excited about the Kumi heads home afte Kumi Uehara bids R sayonara to friends and the Rotary Club She attended Port Perry High School during the year and studied Grade 9 Canadian his- tory, Grade 10 Canadian geog- raphy, Grade 10 and Grade 11 English, Grade 11 drama, Grade 12 math, physical educa- tion and vocal music. Kumi said she was surprised that grammar was not a part of the English courses. Instead, the courses focused mainly on literature. So As part of one class, students were to memorize 10 lines from Romeo and Juliet. Kumi said she found the exercise difficult because the Shakespearean prose was foreign to her. "It took me five minutes to re- cite the 10 lines," she recalls. "After I was finished, everyone in the class clapped and said that I had done well. That was the day I knew I had made friends." : Kumi also enjoyed physical education. "I got to do things I had never done before like ca- noeing, horseback riding, and curling. I loved all of those activ- ities." Christmas was the most ex- citing time for Kumi during her stayin Canada. "I was dreaming of a white Christmas and 1 certainly wasn't disappointed," she said, adding that although snow is not uncommon in Japan, they don't get as much as we experi- ol Cd > A PORT PERRY. STAR - Tuesday, August 17, 1993 - 17 The Rotary Club of Port Perry saw a number of girls come and go last week as part of its Rotary Exchange program. Pic- tured are (left) Kumi Uehara, who will return to her home in Ja- pan, Marja Soininen, who just arrived from Finland , and Taba- tha May, who is heading to Finland. See story. =... = ; ; prospect of learning Finnish, Swedish, Russian and German. _The 17-year-old youth is also excited about learning more tS i 2 pe Kumi Uehara returned home to Yokosuka, about the native Saamelainens. from Lapland. As her fatheris a native Canadian, Tabatha isin- terested in learning' more about year-lon, ship for a year. Kumi was part of the Rotary International guest at five local Rotarian homes. While in Canada, School, participated in a month-long cross-country dents, and visited many other points of interest in Ontario. Rotary Club president Al Bertrand and Rotarian Roy Goo host families. enced last winter. . "I had never seen that much snow in my life," Kumi said. She also said school is never closed because of a snowstorm in Japan. Instead, they got days off whenitrains toomuch. Christmas traditions also vary between the two countries. "In Japan, we have a small tree and receive one gift from Santa," Kumi said. "We don't have a turkey dinner because the ovens are not big enough. One time we had a big chicken and that was a really big deal," Christmas in Canada was made extra special for Kumi by her Canadian hosts. December 26 is also her birthday and the Rotary Club held a surprise par- ty for her. Another highlight of her Ca- nadian visit was a cross-country tour with about 90 other ex- change students. . During the month-long bus tour, the students ili to the west coast and then re- turned through the states. Kumi said she especially en- Joyed taking the id of.the SY eat 33 » Sg aT Hi 3 x 2 é "i : AE _ the native peoples. of another Zeountry. ou Rabe ©) 'She will also get a firsthand . opportunity to meet the natives, asa tripis planned ta Lapland. ; The Rotary exchange expert: ', ence is nothing new to her fami- ly as her sister, Tracy Primeauy was on an exchange trip to Ja- 'pan a number of years ago and the family also hosted a girl from Thailand, . = While, Tabatha was packing for her trip to Finland, Marja was on her:way to Canada from Finland, She was also intro- duced to theclublastweek. After a round about route in which she was promised a num- ber of countries, the 16-year-old. * finally found her way to Cana- "da. Although the United States ._-was her first choice as she has a few friends there, she was not disappointed in her final desti- pation. oA CELT So "I'm really happy I'min Cana- da," she told the Port Perry: _ Star, EERIE % ~~ "Canada is wonderful. It's al-- mostlike Finland." © © + © But while the landscape may. 'be somewhat the same; she says the people are radically differ- 'ent. She'noted that Canadians: are: "more open 'and friendly" -. thanthe Finnish people, =~ =~ "It's usually. pretty 'hard to; make friends (in Finland)," she tunities to make friends as she: 'will' be attending Port 2 H ighSchoolin the all, Japan yesterday after living in Scugog Town- exchange program and was a Kumi attended Port Perty High bus tour with other exchange stu-. She Is pictured with Port Perry dwin, a member of oné of her Mist ride at Niagara Falls and the journey through the Rocky Mountains. goa ih Ty 'Other sites she enjoyed were the CN Tower, the S me, the Parliament Buildings in Ot- tawa, and a trip to a local farm 'where' she milked a cow by: hand. % Upon Feturning to Japan, . Kumi will complete her high school studies. . Although she? doesn't 'know what the future holds, Kumi said she hopes to go: to university and maybe stags COMPUberS,. 0 ny - "Marja will have many gppor-: Perry: