If you were to go to Japan, where’s the first place you’d visit? For the Burlington High School students, it was a convenience store. Unlike in the US, convenience stores in Japan offer fresh food and high-quality service.

“Out of all places, I didn’t even go to a restaurant,” Ernad Bolic ‘29 said. “Yeah, it [the convenience store] was super nice.”

The store was just the first stop in the two-week exchange program attended by BHS students in April. Every year, in partnership with Essex High School, BHS students go to Tottori, Japan, the sister state of Vermont. The goal of the exchange is for students to make new connections, build cross-cultural understanding, and improve environmental awareness, which is the mission statement of Green Across the World, which helps to organize the trips. 

During the trip, all of the students stayed with host families and even had an entire day dedicated to letting their host families take them around Japan. 

“We had a lot of great meals together, and we would just sit around the table and share stories,” Shayna Walker ‘28 said.

The students went on field trips for three days. They visited the Kyoto temples, a manga factory, and the Tottori dunes. 

“It’s a giant sand dune where in front of you, you’ve got the glimmering blue ocean, and then behind you, you’ve got the nice, foggy green mountains in the Totorri prefecture,” Bolic said.

The students also went to school with Japanese students at Yonago Nishi High School. The students said they were surprised by how different the school was compared to BHS.

“It was such a different vibe from what I’m used to,” Margaret Deforge ‘29 said.

Bolic was surprised at how clean it was in Japan.

“You’re not in your shoes a lot; often, you’re always with, even in restaurants and such, you take your shoes off, and it’s expected that you clean up after yourself in schools as well,” Bolic said. “The schools don’t hire janitors. The students clean up the school.”

The fundamentals of the learning experience were also different from those in the U.S.

“Yeah, honestly, the whole school structure. It’s a lot more lecture-based, like you’re honestly just kind of sitting and listening in the class, rather than interacting with peers and teachers,” Bolic said. 

Trip chaperone Bowen Stephens said it was ‘really cool” to be able to join some of the classes, but there were differences.

“I remember the bell rang at one point in time, and not a single student had picked anything up ahead of time, so I didn’t know the bell was about to ring,” Bowen said.

Still, some things were universal.

“The good-naturedness of students was very similar, right? The goofiness and the desire to connect were all the same and wonderful,” Stephens said.

Upcoming trips between the sister states will start to get organized next October, with students from Tottori visiting and staying in Burlington. Mr. Sheffy is currently looking for BHS families to host.

“We’re going to be looking for students who are interested in cultural exchange here at Burlington High School to host those students and offer them a similar experience and share with them what makes Burlington and what makes Vermont such a great place to live and go to school.”