The anticipation has been building since January - since our acceptance letters went out to students for the 2016 Shinhidaka Student Exchange. Those 10 students have be anxiously awaiting hosting their guest from Shinhidaka in Lexington. The visit finally happened March 25-30, and it could not have been a better experience for all involved!
Day 1 - Arrival
As the Lexington students began arriving at the airport, a variety of signs accompanied them as they were prepared to welcome their students to Lexington. The students milled around the baggage claim, stealing glances every few minutes to see "arrived" next to the Japanese student's flight number. Finally, green letters flashed and everyone was standing up waiting for their counterpart to come down the stairs.
Then, they find each other. As the Shinhidaka students walk down the stairs, our students rush towards the stairs to greet them, finally, after months of waiting to meet. There are nervous greetings all around, made even more awkward by the pictures I force them to take upon meeting for the first time. They are totally worth it though.
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| Chaperone Hiromasa-san with host family member Zane. |
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| Chaperone Moeko-san with host family member Vanessa. |
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| Priscilla and Mana. |
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| Saika with host many Amy. |
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| Lucy and Rui. |
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| Caili and Sao. |
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| Lauren and Rutsuhibiki. |
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| Marguerite and her family with Hikaru. |
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| Griffin, who stayed with Haruki last summer, and his host for this year, Holden. |
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| Dalton with Kakeru and Ibuki. |
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| Allyson and her family with Runa. |
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| Alexander and his mom with Reishi. |
After a night of rest and recovery from jet-lag, the Shinhidaka students spent the day with their host families. Many families took their students to Fayette Mall to shop. Others went to Natural Bridge. One family took their student to ride horses, since both the Lexington and Shinhidaka student are riders. They even practiced some vaulting moves together!
Prizes were given out to 10 lucky students who had a "you're a winner!" sticker in their egg. A giant chocolate Easter bunny was awarded to the person who collected the most eggs!
It was a great chance to see all the students together, and amazing how close they had already become after only 24 hours together.
Lexington students had another day where they could plan activities to have with their Shinhidaka student. Some students took this day to go to Natural Bridge, while others attended a UK baseball game.
Day 4 - Tour Day
Asking 21 teenagers to wake up early on Spring Break might seem impossible - but not for this group! Promptly at 8:45am, a full day of tours began, starting with meeting Council Member Angela Evans for a meet and greet in the Council Chambers. Council Member Evans welcomed the students to Lexington, explained about the process the Council uses to vote and talk about issues, and gave them all "keys to the city" of Lexington.
From here, the group traveled to Frankfort to tour the Kentucky State Capitol Building. They even got cozy with a statue of Colonel Sanders. KFC is worldwide!
After touring the Capitol building, the students stocked up on candy at the Rebecca Ruth Candy Factory. Salt water taffy seemed to be the candy of choice for all students!
After enjoying lunch at McDonald's, the students were excited to visit Coolmore Ashford Stud, home to Triple Crown Winner American Pharoah.
What a beautiful horse! They were even able to get a group picture with the historic stallion.
American Pharoah wasn't the only interesting part of the Ashford Stud tour... the barn cat was also a big hit!
And what better way to round out a tour than playing invisible baseball in the parking lot?
After saying farewell to American Pharoah, the group headed over to another "must-see" site in Lexington: Keeneland. By now, the sun was shining and the true beauty of the Racecourse was on full display. The students were able to see inside the Racecourse, the Winner's Circle, the beautiful view from the top floor, and even the Sales Pavilion.
They had become a little goofy by the point now, leading to these antics:
It seems the group was just really excited for BOWLING later that night.
Day 5 - Tour Day
On the second day of tours, the group was able to visit WKYT-TV an experience a behind the scenes tour from Dave Baker. Following the newscast, students met Bill Bryant and Barbara Bailey.
The group also practiced their on-screen skills with meteorologist Micah Harris!
We might have a few future TV personalities in this group.
And of course, what is a day of tours if you aren't taking pictures on the van?
Or with the drivers...
After being TV starts for a few minutes, the group then traveled to Winchester, KY to experience "swamp water" - aka Ale-8-One. There were definitely some side effects from the caffeine after this...
On the last tour stop, the group visited Locust Trace AgriScience School. For several years, Lexington Sister Cities has been building a program between Locust Trace and the Shizunai Agriculture School in Shinhidaka. Each year, students tour Locust Trace in Lexington and Lexington students visit the Shizunai Agriculture School in Shinhidaka. It's amazing the things that can be shared between two cities over 7,000 miles away from each other.
Goats were definitely one of the highlights of the tour.
The students has a great tour guide who even gave them a sneak peak at some 2 day old piglets!
And so another tour day ends, but the activities don't stop for the students. On their last night together, they all kept the fun going with a trip to Gatti Town.
Day 6 - Farewell (For Now)
And so soon we've arrived at the departure day for the Shinhidaka visitors. I'm actually wondering if some of the students just won't show up to the airport because they want to stay in Lexington so bad. But, as they all arrive at the airport, I'm instead witness to one of the most tearful farewells I've seen from our exchange groups.
There's some last minute packing - a couple students venture to the shop nearby to buy a carry-on bag for all the candy and gifts they've purchased in Lexington.
And so begin the Farewell Pictures...
But don't despair for too long - you will be reunited in Japan in July!
And so the countdown begins...
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