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Tag: overseas trips

Upper school students take summer trip to Japan as Silicon Valley Youth Ambassadors

Over the summer, senior Liana Wang and sophomore Mohan Awasthi visited Okayama, Japan (a sister city of San Jose) as Silicon Valley Youth Ambassadors. They and other ambassadors headed to Gakugeikan High School and Kyokuto Junior High to meet with teachers and students and teach English. Wang, a prolific dancer and the designated leader of the ambassadors, gave a special dance performance to the students, while Awasthi gave a speech about what schools are like in the United States. “Overall, the public schools themselves are extremely well run and maintained, and there are many extra-curricular activities for any type of student,” he said.

On a visit to Okayama’s city hall, the group met with the Okayama mayor Maso Omori and received a tour of the building. As the leader of the ambassadors, Wang gave a speech to the mayor on behalf of the City of San Jose. “Also, similar to the school speech, we spoke to the mayor about how we came to keep a good relationship between San Jose and Okayama,” Awasthi noted. “Overall, it was an extremely fun and rare experience.”

During a homestay with the family of a local high school student, Awasthi got a firsthand look into the everyday lives of Okayama citizens. “I got to try more authentic Japanese food, play sports, visit their school, and see many landmarks in Okayama: Kojima Jean street, the Stone Windmills, Okayama Castle, and the Makido stone cave,” he said. Forging bonds with his host family, he added, was one of the most memorable parts of his trip. Wang also visited Okayama Castle with her homestay, as well as the Bikan Chiku area in Okayama’s historic Kurashiki district.

Other highlights of the trip included visiting various famous locales around Tokyo, and taking a trip to Onagawa, a city that experienced massive destruction during the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, where they planted trees, and Wang gave a message of support to the disaster victims.  

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Senior heads to Europe for series of tennis tournaments

In June and July, rising senior Lizzy Schick went on a 25-day European tennis trip with 12 other high school students from across the United States and three coaches from around the world. The 13 high schoolers were scheduled to play in five tournaments in three cities (Amsterdam, Barcelona and Prague) and train for two to six hours each day on clay courts.  

The group started its journey just outside of Amsterdam in a small town called Hilversum, where they learned to play on clay courts (a first for most of the players). In the Tulip Open, the team’s first tournament, Schick competed in both singles and doubles, and won the doubles tournament with her partner, Katie Wolber, a senior from Michigan. While in Amsterdam, the team was fortunate to view the beautiful canals, and visit both the Rijksmuseum art and history museum and Anne Frank’s house.

After the first week in Amsterdam, the team traveled to Barcelona, where Schick competed in her first professional tournament, held at a Spanish national training center. While in Barcelona the players visited the famous market and La Sagrada Familia, a large church that has been under construction since 1882.

During the last week and a half of the trip, the team traveled from Barcelona to Prague where it competed in three tournaments in eight days. Schick was a doubles finalist in the first tournament, and both a singles and doubles finalist in the last tournament. The castle in Prague, John Lennon’s wall, the Charles Bridge, and the Jewish Quarter were among the sights the players toured before leaving the city.

This trip was an exceptional training and learning experience both on and off the court, and helped teach Schick many life skills necessary for her not-so-distant college life. An added bonus of the trip was the special insight Schick received about Amsterdam and Prague, prior to starting her senior year elective history and literature courses.

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