Placerville mom Chandra Schreck was late this year filling out paperwork to participate in the 4 H International Exchange Program that would bring a Japanese student to her home for a month this summer.
The program, in conjunction with Japan’s Labo progam, pairs students with families in both countries. The exchanges are on an alternating basis. In 2012, students from the United States can apply to visit Japan.
Schreck, the mother of two girls, Maddie, 11, and Calista, 7, was hoping to host a girl but they had all been placed much to her disappointment. But then Sana Kobayashi, 13, from Matsuyama in Southern Japan, who was originally slated to go to Texas, was relocated to California and the Schrecks’ home because there weren’t enough host families in Texas.
And to make the experience even more special, Sana belongs to a competitive swim team in Japan, which worked out well because both Maddie and Calista are members of AquaSol, a year-round USA swim team based at the Western Slope Aquatic Center.
“Her application said she was an advanced swimmer, but you never know how advanced,” Chandra said. “It was a coincidence that we got a swimmer.”
“She’s a faster swimmer than I am. She’s very good,” Maddie said.
AquaSol coach Steve Skidmore welcomed Sana to the program and the month not only included lots of fun excursions, Sana, Maddie and Calista didn’t miss a day of training together.
“She was awesome — a lot of fun,” Skidmore said. “We communicated surprisingly well. She’s a nice sweet girl and a hard worker. It’s been good for our team members to have her.”
Communication was difficult but not impossible.
“It was a challenge but Sana put in a lot of effort,” Chandra said. “She really started to express herself in English the last three or four days. It was tiring for her, but it was fun for us to learn to say some of the more common things around the house.”
Maddie, who will be eligible to visit Japan when she turns 16, thought the experience was “very fun.”
The month also included visits to Lake Tahoe, Sun Splash in Roseville, Six Flags Discovery Kingdom, Sacramento and the state capitol, a River Cats game, boating and tubing at Jenkinson Lake and Gold Bug Mine Park.
“We stayed pretty close to home and showed her the area around here,” Chandra said. “Sana also loved watching Looney Tunes cartoons.”
Sana, who leaves the Schreck home Thursday to return to UC Davis for a night and then home to Japan Friday, could not decide what was her favorite part of her visit.
“It was all good,” she said, also admitting she wasn’t homesick and hinting she would have liked to stay longer.
California hosted 18 students from Japan in the exchange. Five were based in El Dorado County.
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