Unexpected bond forms between Panama students and Japanese visitors

Each spring, SUNY Fredonia’s International Studies program hosts a group of Japanese students from Aichi University. The timing of this year’s visit coincided with the student-teaching schedule of a student in SUNY Fredonia’s Adolescence English Education program who was teaching at Panama Central School.

It also occurred just two days before the devastating 8.9 magnitude earthquake and resulting tsunami struck Japan’s northeast coastline.

And what began as a relatively routine cross-cultural learning experience for a group of Chautauqua County seventh graders soon became something much more significant for them, thanks to the proactive efforts of SUNY Fredonia’s Andrew Garvey.

Mr. Garvey, a senior from Ashville, N.Y., recently wrapped up an eight-week student-teaching assignment at Panama Central, during which he shared his study abroad experiences in Japan last summer with his class. He wanted to help his students to better understand and appreciate a culture that is much different than their own.

With the approval of David Becker, the teaching professional that normally heads the class, Garvey taught the students about the similarities and differences between Japanese lifestyles and our own, and led them in reading, “The Samurai's Tale,” a book about a Japanese boy and his quest to become a samurai.

Shortly thereafter Garvey received an email from Azusa Ishida, one of his Japanese friends from Aichi, who was unexpectedly coming to Fredonia with about a dozen other students for a two-week exchange program. Garvey immediately invited them to Panama to meet his students.

“They had an extremely full schedule,” Garvey said, “but they had a small window available on the morning of March 9th, and my friend immediately said ‘yes’ to coming.”

Garvey encouraged his seventh graders to prepare questions for their visitors about Japanese life, history and culture. He also arranged for the students from this relatively rural district to be treated to some traditional Japanese food like sushi, using chopsticks, as most had never tried it before.

“Some of them didn’t like it too much,” Garvey laughed, “but some couldn’t get enough of it and walked around the room asking people if they could have theirs if they didn’t want it.”

The Japanese guests taught the seventh graders as well, including demonstrations of origami and calligraphy. The Panamanians were completely engaged, especially during the activities. In fact, one of the main focuses in education and English education today, Garvey attests, is teaching “multiculturalism,” an awareness of and a respect for diverse cultures.

“They clearly developed a newfound respect for the culture,” Garvey stated. “One student came up to me the very next day and said, ‘Well, Mr. Garvey, it’s official. I love Japan.’ I couldn’t have asked for a better endorsement.”

The day after that, however, he received a very different response from his students, who had already heard about the massive earthquake which had claimed thousands of Japanese lives.

“As soon as I walked into the room and put my stuff on my desk, a half dozen students were right there asking me questions,” Garvey said. “They were very worried about their new friends and wanted to be sure they and their families were safe.”

They were, thankfully, although their flights home were significantly delayed. Fredonia’s visitors hailed from the southeast portion of Japan, far enough from the disaster’s center to not have been significantly impacted by the tragedy.

However, although the Panama students were relieved to hear that their new friends were indeed safe, they had developed a fondness for Japanese culture in general, so much so that they began to think of ways in which they could help.

“Normally, a catastrophe like this would only be another news story to them, but this time it affected them personally,” Garvey explained.

Garvey is amazed as he looks back at the experiences he has had in the past year, which all began following a team-taught seminar led by Dr. Kim Marie Cole. He went on to become a guide to last year’s cohort of Aichi visitors before studying in Japan himself. It has been so fulfilling to him that it seemed only natural to share what he’s learned with members of the next generation.

“It feels really good to have been able to give these students such a unique experience,” Garvey said. “This is the kind of thing that will stick with them for a long time, I hope. And that’s good, because the world seems like it’s becoming more global every day. I’d be very happy to one day learn that this visit led one of those students to a career that involved the Japanese culture.”