The Connection

Over the past summer, I participated in a program called High School Diplomats (HSD), which is a cultural exchange program between Japan and the United States held at Princeton University. The program selects 40 American students and 40 Japanese students amongst the hundreds who apply to interact with each other in a series of culture-related activities for 10 days, absolutely free of charge.

Each American student is paired with a Japanese roommate to receive the full cultural exchange experience. During the program, each day has a new theme to help expose different aspects of American and Japanese culture.

I would like to talk about two days during my HSD experience that I found particularly impactful: the Japanese Culture Festival and Halloween night. Through these two events, I felt a genuine sense of family that the HSD program creates. When I see fellow HSD alumni, I immediately feel a connection and bond with them through the unique and once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that we shared.

At the Japanese cultural festival, Japanese students were given time to show the American students a taste of the important aspects of their culture. Stations were set up throughout the room including practicing traditional sword fighting, making green tea, and a traditional Japanese dish, and learning how to write Japanese calligraphy. I had never tried Japanese food before and the festival gave me an opportunity to try it for the first time. I was nervous at first but I ended up loving it and I even learned how to make it on my own so I could show my family when I got home. I was shy to try out the different activities they had planned out for the American students at first, but the Japanese students were so warm and welcoming, I immediately felt a part of their family. Everyone greeted each other with a smile and it made trying new things so much easier. Although I didn’t like the green tea as much, it was amazing trying it out and learning the proper tradition and technique used before and after drinking the tea. I felt as though I was part of the Japanese family. To top the whole experience off, males wore traditional clothing called Jinbei and females wore Yukata’s, again something I had never done before, but thoroughly enjoyed.

Halloween night was another great night at Princeton where all Japanese and American students dressed up in different costumes to mimic the Halloween experience in the United States. The Japanese students do not get to experience the Halloween tradition back at their homes; to give them a true experience, the HSD staff created a haunted house full of surprises. After the haunted house we gathered around a fire and made s’mores, which may sound like an activity we do regularly but it really tightened the relationship between my roommate and I, as it was a great bonding time.

My best memories as a child were walking into my neighbor’s haunted house with my older brother and feeling the thrill of being scared. With so much importance in my childhood, I thought it was incredible to be able to share this experience with my Japanese roommate and friends because it is something they otherwise would not have experienced back home. And although these are little things, I felt as though I was making a big difference.

The High School Diplomats program has events everyday in addition to Halloween and the Japanese Culture Festival including an American Independence Day, Date Night, Community Service Day, Sports Olympics Day, and classes in which students learn about Japanese language and culture and so much more. The two days I elaborated on emphasize how incredible all of the events are at the High School Diplomats program.

I would highly recommend applying to this program. All current sophomores and juniors in high school across the country are eligible to apply. The application is available online at www.highschooldiplomats.com and is currently available. The deadline for the application is Jan. 8, 2017. The program itself for this upcoming year will be held at Princeton University from, July 25 – Aug. 5, 2017. Again I would like to reiterate that this program is free of charge and changed my life completely. It was an experience that I will never forget.

Prashant Desai is a Clifton resident.