Pizza, places, and things: Nanae students savor visit to Acton
Even as rising travel costs make exchanges harder to afford, the Acton Nanae sister-city program appears stronger than ever.
Fresh off a flight from the other side of the world, eight students from Nanae, Japan, woke up to tour some of Acton’s most iconic sights.
Even as rising travel costs make exchanges harder to afford, the sister-city program appears stronger than ever, said Jack McCarthy, a Acton-Carlisle High School graduate who now serves as a teacher, cultural liaison, and town office worker in Nanae.
Amongst the golden leaves and the graying clouds, just barely threatening rain, one student marveled at how fast a cyclist sped by. Kiyoka Ogawa, still tired from the long trip, said everything around her seemed fascinating. The group had already visited the Orchard House and the Acton Museum and was en route to the Old North Bridge.
But the students had something else on their minds: American food.
“They want to eat a lot of it,” said Etsuko Okayama, an English teacher from Nanae who helped interpret answers for The Acton Bridge. She was translating for Hinata Nihonyanagi and Soa Waki.
They got their wish.
Nearing the trip’s end, The Bridge caught up with the students again on November 4 as they visited The Ellen Garrison Building at Acton Middle School.
Hinata said his favorite meal was in Quincy Market in Boston, where he had a “very big hot dog.” A trip to Boston was just one of many planned activities the students got to experience, such as tours of schools, visiting the State House, and attending a Halloween party.
Daiki Iriyama said he probably had 10 slices of pizza in one sitting, along with other chances to sample hamburgers, fries, soups, fruits, and vegetables. He was delighted with everything he tried.
The food here has a different flavor profile, according to Daiki: “Even the salty foods have a sweet quality,” he said with help from Okayama.
Daiki said that more people should visit Nanae, the way he got to visit Acton, enticing potential travelers with the Japanese town’s signature apple cider and beautiful views of the Hokkaido Komagatake volcano.
Reo Sato, the William Wheeler exchange student who will stay for the entire month, opined through translator Bobby Kargula that Tokyo isn’t that great, though, so one might as well stay close to Nanae if they do visit.
Maintaining relationships
While the students savored the cuisine of the United States, McCarthy’s mind was elsewhere.
He is in his last year as coordinator for international relations in Nanae and will soon return to Acton to help on the local side. He said his favorite memory of this year’s trip was when the students were relaxing in the Acton Free Public Library and he got to speak with members of the Acton Nanae Network.
“We had an impromptu meeting there, and it was almost all new faces at the meeting of staff,” he said. “That was incredibly rewarding for me, because something that we really struggle with at CNN is keeping a constant flow of volunteers to help out.”
He said the turnout showed there is renewed interest in the program, but he also said more help would be appreciated: “I would encourage people here, whether they’re part of community organizations or they’re part of local businesses, if you have something that you feel you can add to this relationship, you should find a way to reach out.”
He stressed that the relationship between Acton and Nanae is special, a bond to be cultivated.
“My dad said, as you get older, the world gets smaller. Friends go; your children leave home,” he said.
“It’s our responsibility to push on those walls and keep our world big. This program is similar. As things change and people go, we need more people to push and keep us connected.”
