JULY 7, 2017, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE A5
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KEIZERTIMES.COM
Rotary exchange student will miss Keizer
By DEREK WILEY
Of the Keizertimes
Walking in McNary’s 2017
graduation was bittersweet for
Rotary exchange student Kanta
Ohyama.
He was happy to participate
in a ceremony like he would
never experience in Japan but
also sad that it meant his nine-
month stay in the United States
was coming to an end.
“There were so many emo-
tions,” said Ohyama in English
that has greatly improved since
he arrived in Oregon on Au-
gust 27.
Sharing his emotions and
opinions was something Ohya-
ma had to get used to as people
aren’t as expressive in Japan.
“I learned how to explain
myself to people and how to
make friendship,” Ohyama said.
“I think that’s so good for me.”
The friends Ohyama made is
what makes it so hard to leave.
“I made so many friends at
school,” he said. “They are so
funny.”
Ohyama stayed with three
host families, each for three
months, in Keizer while he at-
tended classes at McNary and
the Career and Technical Edu-
cation Center. Since two of
the families were Mormons,
Ohyama went to seminary ev-
eryday before school and then
to church on Sundays for sixth
months.
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Keizer Rotary exchange student Kanta Ohyama, of Japan, spent the last three months of his stay
in America with Chuck Fisher.
“I don’t have any religion so
that was good to experience,”
Ohyama said.
Ohyama took a wide range
of classes—German, Animal
Behavior, Weights, Construc-
tion Math and American Gov-
ernment.
“I didn’t have any knowl-
edge about American Govern-
ment,” Ohyama said. “I studied
with a group and my friends
helped me. That makes the sub-
ject easier for me. That was still
hard. I like American school
better than Japan. Japanese
school is too strict. We study so
much.”
Ohyama also got involved
in extracurricular activities af-
ter school, working his way up
from junior varsity to the var-
sity soccer team. In fi ve games,
he scored four goals.
“Everything is different
between American style soc-
cer and Japanese style soccer
so I was so confused when I
got here and started playing,”
Ohyama said. “I just tried to be
a member of the team and do
something for teammates.”
Ohyama gave golf a try as
well.
“I just want to have experi-
ence to play golf because when
I get older,” Ohyama said. “In
Japan, old people play golf. It’s
expensive to play golf in Japan
because land is small.”
With his host families,
Ohyama went camping, kayak-
ing and hiking. Even though his
grandparents own a fi sh com-
pany, Ohyama had never been
fi shing.
“There’s no sea around my
city (Gunma),” Ohyama said.
“My parents are busy and I’m
busy. I asked them in Rotary
and they helped me.”
Ohyama was surprised how
quickly he caught his fi rst
fi sh—a rainbow trout on a
camping trip.
Ohyama was one of 42 in-
ternational students from Ro-
tary District 2840 to come to
the Pacifi c Northwest.
They, along with 42 Ameri-
can students from Rotary Dis-
trict 5100, met for a two-week
orientation in California and
the district conference in Sea-
side. Ohyama also enjoyed go-
ing to the Keizer Rotary meet-
ings each Thursday.
“I love making connections
with people,” Ohyama said. “I
think that’s important for me
and will be so useful in my fu-
ture, if I can go to college in
America.”
The trip, which concludes
on July 19, was Ohyama’s sec-
ond to America. His older sister
is a student at Missouri State
University.
Ohyama has two more years
of high school to complete in
Japan. After college, he would
like to get a job with the Unit-
ed Nations.
“I just want to change the
environment and help people,”
Ohyama said. “That would be
good for me.”
Keizer Rotary seeks
host families
Each year, over 8,000 stu-
dents from over 80 countries
participate in the Rotary Youth
Exchange program. The pro-
gram promotes international
goodwill and provides a trans-
formative experience for the
youth and their host families.
Host families and students
often build friendships that last
a lifetime, including visiting
each other years after the ex-
change has ended.
Exchange students become
members, not guests, of the host
families and attend McNary
High School. Three host fami-
lies are needed for each student,
each year. The student changes
host families in conjunction
with school quarters.
Host families are unpaid vol-
unteers and provide room and
board for the student. Keizer
Rotary provides a monthly al-
lowance to cover phone service,
school lunches and miscella-
neous expenses. The host fam-
ily is not responsible for trans-
portation to Rotary events.
Two host families (win-
ter and spring terms) are still
needed to host the Austrian
inbound student for the 2017-
18 school year. Contact Chuck
Fisher chuckfi sher@comcast.
net 503.361.8730 or Pam Vo-
rachek pvorachek@msn.com
to fi nd out more information.
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