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Two students and a teacher from Hokkaido Chitose High School in Chitose, Japan  are visiting James River High School for the next few days. Takishi Onishi is staying with Mike Avery, a foreign language teacher who went  to Japan last month on the exchange to Japan. Each year for over a decade now, Dynax Corporation has sponsored the student exchange at both county high schools. This year Maggie Moniot and Caitlin Ward were the two students to travel to Chitose.

"it took 14 1/2 hours in the air alone to get there," said Ward. Moniot had taken her student,Minami Oda, to Green Bank West Virginia on a field trip to the National Radio Astronomy Observatory with Physics class so they were absent from the interview. The Japanese students had pocket electronic translators with them to help with the  English definitions. Chihiro Wada is staying with Ward.

"I liked the stromboli, today." said Wada of the lunch offering at the school. Over the weekend they plan to go to the JRHS football game on Friday night, Ward's soccer game on Saturday morning, shopping, walk around downtown Roanoke, visit a dance exhibition at the Taubman Art Museum, the Roanoke Star, the Safari Park in Rockbridge to name a few things they have on the agenda.

Onishi said one thing that surprised him is the size of the student parking lot. Students cannot drive to school in Chitose. He described the high school there as having 1,200 students.  All agreed that the cultures are so different. "People in Japan are extremely polite," said Avery.  Chitose is in northern Japan on the island of Hokkaido. When they left the city on Tuesday a light snow was falling and in the northern most part of the  island they had about  6 inches snow.

Ward noted that one place they stayed in Tokyo had a roller coaster in the hotel and Avery said they had a dolphin show like at Sea World as well. The Japanese like the American style cathedral, though primarily a Buddhist nation, the Japanese build cathedrals to get married in a western style ceremony. While there in Japan, Avery participated in a Tea Ceremony and drank form a tea cup valued at $11,000. He also visited a temple and shrine, a Bonsai tree show. Caitlin traveled with her host family and also got to do some shopping a teen age past ime no matter where in the world!

He will take Onishi to Montecello today and over the weekend to Williamsburg.

Onishi described Chitose as an industrial city with some local military bases both Army and Air Force. Wada said. "The steering wheel is on the wrong side of the car and so is the driving." A round of laughter accompanied that remark as the Americans felt the same in Japan. Japanese cars have the driver on the right and drive on the left side of the road.

It was a wonderful experience said Ward. Avery seconded the view. He said, "We thank Dynax for their continued support of the exchange even in a difficult economy." On Monday the students and teachers in the exchange will go to Dynax on US 220 alternate in the East Park Industrial park to meet with leaders of the company. Dynax America is headquartered in Botetourt County and the world head quarters is located in Chitose, Hokkaido, Japan.