For a second year in a row, students from Okinawa’s Naha Nikkei Business College spent one month in Bozeman studying English at INTERLINK MSU. The two year vocational school selected two sites in the U.S. to send 11 students for a hands-on learning experience – Bozeman, MT and Chico, CA. While here, the youth live with American host families so there were great opportunities for cultural learning and exchange. The students prepared an interactive presentation to introduce their culture and these were given at MSU and at a senior living community. When students gave their farewell speeches at the end of the presentation, they shared a number of things that had made an impression on them during their stay in Bozeman. It was the first time they had seen snow and the first time they tried skiing. They went ice fishing, visited Yellowstone, ate bison, and made many other wonderful memories. The kindness of their host families and the whole Bozeman community made them treasure their time here.
These students recently led activities for the campus community at Montana State University. The students became the teachers as they shared Okinawan traditions, games, and food with the group. The audience was excited to learn how to make a bamboo dragon fly!