{"id":38387,"date":"2022-09-16T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-09-16T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/exchange-program-immerses-japanese-student-in-durango-culture\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T02:43:55","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T08:43:55","slug":"exchange-program-immerses-japanese-student-in-durango-culture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/exchange-program-immerses-japanese-student-in-durango-culture\/","title":{"rendered":"Exchange program immerses Japanese student in Durango culture"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Aoi
Aoi Yamagishi, right, sits next to his host brother, Tucker Owens, as Tucker\u2019s mother, Lisa Owens, helps the Animas High School students with their homework on Wednesday at their La Plata County home. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

For Durango resident and single mom Lisa Owens, raising a child has been the most fulfilling part of her life. When the opportunity arose to open her arms to another child and be a host mom to a visiting exchange student from another country, she took it.<\/p>\n

Four years ago, she welcomed a child from Japan into her home named Aoi Yamagishi, only 12 years old at the time. This year, Aoi came back, now 16 and eager to tackle all that comes with attending an American high school.<\/p>\n

Aoi is part of the Lex-Hippo Family Club, a Japanese-based institute that sends young children to live from a few weeks to a year in other countries to become fully immersed in their language. Aoi has been a member of Lex-Hippo for five years and said many children join the organization to learn one or more of the 22 languages taught in the classrooms.<\/p>\n

Lex-Hippo works with many exchange programs like the States\u2019 4-H International Exchange Programs, a nonprofit that has been in service for 50 years and has worked with more than 63,000 youths in 43 countries since 1972.<\/p>\n

In 2018, States\u2019 4-H International sent out flyers to Durango parents hoping to generate interest in being a host family to an exchange student, and Owens jumped at the chance.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought, \u2018Why not?\u2019\u201d Owens said. \u201cI wanted to make a difference.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 12-year-old Japanese boy she welcomed into her home, however, did not speak a word of English.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wasn\u2019t expecting that,\u201d Owens said. \u201cIt was hard.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t understand a thing for the first couple of weeks,\u201d Aoi said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was a lot of hand gesturing,\u201d Owens\u2019 14-year-old son, Tucker, said. \u201cLots of pointing at things.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI was doing a lot of guessing back then,\u201d Aoi said. \u201cI would try to read people. Guess what they wanted or were saying, but then I just started to pick things up here and there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aoi stayed for four weeks during his initial visit to the United States, and then realized he wanted to come back.<\/p>\n

\u201cI live in Tokyo, in a city,\u201d he said, \u201cbut I liked being in the country (Durango).\u201d<\/p>\n

At 16 years old, Aoi decided to return for his entire junior year to live with his former host family.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think he missed my cooking,\u201d Owens said with a wink.<\/p>\n

\"Lisa
Lisa Owens fixes lunches Wednesday for her son, Tucker Owens, left, and foreign exchange student Aoi Yamagishi, as they do their homework. It is the second time the Owenses have hosted Aoi. Lisa Owens joked that he came back from Japan for her cooking. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Besides Owens\u2019 cooking, the stark contrast between Animas High School, a public charter with a project-based curriculum that has two to three exchange students yearly, and the kind of school Aoi attends in Tokyo is another reason he had for crossing the ocean and spending a school year in the U.S.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe went rafting my first day of school,\u201d he said with a grin. \u201cI feel more equal here. They give you opportunities to discuss things. To state your opinions. It\u2019s a good school. In Japanese schools, there isn\u2019t much discussion. There is a one-way lesson. When they teach English, it\u2019s just reading and writing. You don\u2019t get to speak it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAoi has just jumped right in with everything we offer here,\u201d said Libby Cowles, AHS\u2019s dean of enrollment and assistant head of school. \u201cHe\u2019s been very positive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other cultural differences Aoi has noted while attending AHS are the differences in American students\u2019 lunches versus Japanese students\u2019, the fact that students are allowed to snack and drink water in a classroom and being able to use the restroom when they need to go.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou cannot go to the bathroom in Japanese classroom,\u201d he said with a shake of his head. \u201cYou have to wait until class is over.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whether Aoi decides to finish his postsecondary schooling in the U.S. or stay in Japan once his junior year is over, he knows he wants to go into some kind of a nature-based architecture very different from the Tokyo building structures he is used to. He is also interested in international relations and a job that allows him to keep traveling around the world. Oh, and maybe climb Mount Kilimanjaro with his host family some day.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe all want to go to Africa together,\u201d Tucker said. \u201cIt would be so much fun!\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Tucker
Tucker Owens and Aoi Yamagishi are all smiles sitting next to one another at Animas High School. The two plan to go on an African adventure together in the near future. (Megan K. Olsen\/Durango Herald)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Aoi
Aoi Yamagishi sits next to his host brother, Tucker Owens, in an Animas High School classroom. (Megan K. Olsen\/Durango Herald)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Following the strict rules of the Lex-Hippo program, Aoi is not allowed to have any contact with his family in Japan during the duration of his stay in Durango. Though Owens believes such a policy to be too strict, Aoi understands Lex-Hippo\u2019s way of operating.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I am here, I have to be here fully,\u201d he said. \u201cI miss my family, but I have family here. I like just talking with them (host family). It\u2019s not special, but it\u2019s good for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aoi is just as fond of the U.S. as he is of his host family.<\/p>\n

\u201cI live in Tokyo my whole life,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s very different. America is a good country. It\u2019s very free.\u201d<\/p>\n

Owens then emphasized that more Durango parents, and more Americans, should consider the possibility of being a host family for an exchange student, even if there is no monetary incentive.<\/p>\n

\u201cOpen your home and open your heart,\u201d she said. \u201cDive in. Be open and accepting. I feel like I\u2019m making a difference in Aoi\u2019s life, and that makes it all worth it.\u201d<\/p>\n

molsen@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

An earlier version of this story misstated Tucker Owen\u2019s age. He is 14 years old, not 16.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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