Japanese school for families moving to the States / Can I keep this little boy?

We visited Michiko at her job today JOES (Japanese Overseas Educational Service) Her job is to teach families who are moving to the States about life in the US. She does the parents portion while the children are divided up into several age groups. I was fortunate to visit the different children groups with two interpreters (Eric and Monica). They had a visitor come in: a 20 year old Japanese girl who lived in Indiana for 6 years. The only word she knew when she went to the States was "hello". She has been back in Japan for about 6 months now.

Japan Overseas Educational Services (JOES) was established through the initiative of Japanese corporations as a non-profit, private organization aimed at promoting the education of Japanese children abroad in accordance with the government's policy of overseas education. Many corporations and organizations engaged in overseas business activities have come together to establish this foundation.

JOES was officially founded on January 29, 1971 as a non-profit foundation with the approval of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Education. Since then, it has made significant contributions in promoting the education of Japanese children overseas.

The little boy in this video was a first grader moving to New York/ New Jersey area. I loved watching this boy because he reminded me of my own son. He took the information in quickly and had a lot to say. The boy was telling stories about the fish he has caught and what he wants to do in the States is to see the different kinds of fish. I want one of him! I hope he gets lots of opportunities to see fish, go fishing and does really well in the states. He was so full of life!

The teachers showed a powerpoint presentation to all the children on things they would need to know. They showed what American schools were like and always asked what was different from the schools they attended in Japan. Some of the differences are: there are no janitors to clean the schools in Japan because it is part of the children's job to do that: to take care of their school. Some of the children were so surprised that American children dont have to clean and others were relieved that they didn't have to do it anymore. One of the things that I thought was excellent is that the teachers kept asking the children to compare what they know to what the differences will be. Some children didn't want to move, some were fine with it. Some children will have difficulty adjusting, some wont. But this class gave the basic knowledge of what they might expect.

I can't imagine going thru it and yet I have to admire not only the children but the parents who are making this move. I don't think that we Americans as a whole have any kind of understanding as to what it would be like to move to a culture different then our own, yet some Americans expect the "foreigners" to know all about American and to convert to American ways instantly. Instead, I believe everyone has to be more tolerant.