Santa Rosa/Kagoshima Student Exchange Visit
On August 8, Sunrise was treated to a program honoring our SRKSEP students’ 2019 visit to Japan. Shauna Lorenzen and Steve Amend provided introductory comments about the program, including Sunrise’s creation of the program, our long history supporting it, and the Sunrisers who have spent so much of their time and efforts on the program. Our 2019 program featured chaperone Janis Couvreux and student participants John and Logan Leddy, Rob Giacomini, and Ari Vozaitis. All were in attendance and spoke at our Thursday program.
The group departed from SFO on July 9 and arrived in Tokyo, where they connected with their guide, Yumi, the universally recognized “World’s Best Guide”. They traveled to Kyoto on the 16th and then to Hiroshima on the 18th. They were greeted by members of the Hiroshima Rotary Club, participated in a peace study, toured museums, and learned the difference between a “shrine” and a “temple”. Their journey then took them to Kagoshima, where they stayed for several days, living with host families and visiting government offices, attended Rotary meetings with our sister club in Kagoshima, and participated in activities at Professor Mori’s university and the IBS Institute. They practiced their calligraphy, archery, Rotarian meeting skills, and chopstick domination. It turns out that Logan Leddy is the chopstick champ! Maybe he can give us a lesson sometime?
The students themselves did most of the presenting at the meeting, showing us their photos, talking about the people they met and the things they learned, and teasing each other a bit. We learned that Ari is the Renaissance man, John Leddy is the baby whisperer, and Rob is the congenial social media editing expert/geek. They did a great job; I’m sure that the program helped them develop presentation skills because they seemed very calm, relaxed, informative and generally adept at public speaking – a skill that will serve them well!
This is a fantastic program and we should all be very proud of our members who keep it alive and all the 2019 participants. Their parents (and grandmothers!) can be especially proud of these talented, dedicated and enthusiastic young men – and they can be proud of themselves!! On to next year when we receive students from Japan!
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