BATH

As Mid-coast travelers prepare to explore Japan this summer during a 10-day home-stay exchange experience, Anne Hershberger, the program coordinator of the Bath-Tsugaru Sister City Exchange Program, has been organizing orientation sessions geared toward helping travelers learn more about Japanese culture, customs, language and other communication skills that may be helpful during their stay.

Every summer, the organization oversees a traveling and host program, where students and adults from Midcoast Maine and Tsugaru, Japan, participate in an exchange program that offers travelers a chance to immerse themselves in American or Japanese culture.

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the organization and the friendship that was established between the city of Bath and Tsugaru, Japan in 1990.

With the help of Bowdoin College student Mitsuki Nishimoto, and in collaboration with the college’s Japan Studies Center, two out of four sessions have already taken place to help prepare travelers and host families for the experience.

During the second orientation that was hosted in early May, Nishimoto gave participants a visual tour of her grandparents’ home in Japan, identifying specific parts of the home, such as “genkan,” the foyer, or the paper sliding doors common in Japanese homes — “shoji.”

Participants were also taught etiquette regarding the different phrases that are said when entering and leaving a home. Other activities during the session involved cultural games, demonstrations and language lessons.

The next orientation session, which is mandatory for travelers, is scheduled to take place Saturday at the Patten Free Library conference room from 1-4 p.m.

Tiffany Tanner, a student traveler, said her interest in Japanese culture began in the seventh grade, which she satisfied through personal research and studying the language.

“I really like learning foreign languages, and I like practicing them in real settings,” said Tanner, who is currently enrolled in Spanish and Latin at Brunswick High School. “I think it will be really good practice to communicate even though I don’t know the language that well.”

She also hopes the trip will open up more opportunities for future visits to Japan.

For Andy Bailes, the current president of the organization, this will be his second year traveling to Tsugaru through the exchange program.

Bailes, who has traveled to Japan many times before, said he learned more about the country while studying karate as a teen. He jumped at the chance to visit Japan for three months when he was 18-yearsold, where he traveled the country, and even visited the Tsugaru region during his visit.

Through this year’s trip, Bailes hopes to learn how to better the exchange program.

“I want to learn what our student travelers are interested in about Japan; I want to see what they are drawn to,” he said. “This will help (the organization) build on the program for the future … and in turn will help us make an even better program.”

Another significant component of the exchange program is the host program, where families can volunteer their homes and time to accommodate Tsugaru travelers from Aug. 10-17.

Woolwich residents Linda Wood and her husband Dan hosted an adult chaperone from Tsugaru last year, and will be hosting other travelers again this year.

The couple also traveled to Tsugaru through the exchange program last year.

“It was just a very different experience and I highly recommend it. The people couldn’t have been more accommodating, friendly and welcoming,” she said. “We would like to see Japanese travelers to have a reciprocal welcome here.”

The organization is still need of host families this summer and interested community members should email [email protected].

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