Why Do A 'Sister City' Exchange?

When we go on a trip overseas, we aren’t merely journeying. We are both learning and growing as individuals, and, teaching others about our culture and our language.

Natasha, Jo, Casey and Abbie will be doing exactly this when they travel to Japan next January. They will visit both Tendo, our sister city to the north, and Otari, our sister village located in the middle of Honshu. One a small semi-rural city similar in size to Blenheim, the other a very small village situated in the middle of the Japanese Alps.

They will learn to change shoes every time they enter a house, bath Japanese Style, slurp their noodles, eat raw fish, be super punctual for trains, dodge people in rush hour commuting, bow continuously, sleep on a futon, shovel snow, and be exposed 24-7 to not only a different language and script(s), but also to a population density 40 times greater than our own here in New Zealand.

These young women will be at times overloading their senses, and how they cope with the situations they face, will determine their success as ambassadors from our country. Natasha, Jo, Casey and Abbie have taken the first steps by learning some language before they go next year, and by hosting students from Tendo earlier this year. They, like many students that have been accepted for the Sister City Exchange in the last 20 plus years, will be enriched by the experience, and enrich the lives of those they meet.