Perez and Consul General of Japan Yoshiyuki Kimura said the five-year program was started this year to commemorate the work done for U.S.-Japan relations by Taylor Anderson and Montgomery Dickerson, two American teachers in the JET Program who lost their lives in the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.
The 32 students will first rendezvous in San Francisco on July 16 for a one-day orientation program before flying on to Japan for a 10-day program. In Japan, the students will live with Japanese families in the Osaka area, and will have the chance to experience Japanese food, culture, language and people first-hand.
According to Perez, her Japanese language teacher at GWHS recommended that she apply for the program at the last minute, and she had to submit an essay on “What is important for successful communication between cultures?” Her answer: “open communication and first-hand experience.” When her teacher later emailed her to let her know she had been selected, Perez at first exclaimed, “You must be joking!” and then immediately called her mother to share the excitement.
When asked what her goals are for the program, Perez replied, “Just to go and learn as much as I possibly can with whatever they want to offer me.”
As for the future, after high school, Perez said she would like to study Japanese at the University of Guam, go to Japan again after graduation as a JET exchange teacher, and someday become a Japanese language teacher herself.
Kimura said he was “very happy” when he heard Kyra had been chosen, and that he thinks she is just the kind of person the program is aimed at – those who will help to deepen and expand the mutual understanding between Japan and the United States in the future.
Both Perez and Kimura expressed the hope that more students from Guam take part in programs such as this one in the future. In Kyra’s words, “It would be really great to have other people from Guam participate!”
