We have ‘people’ in Japan. People who have lived with us, vacationed with us, and treated us to tours of their home cities. We have people who mothered me during my pregnancy and attended my wedding. People who were foreign exchangees and are now family. We met our people, Miyu, Naoko, Kaoko, Kristiina and more, through the Ohio 4-H International Program. Ohio 4-H has been arranging exchanges between Ohio families and a Japanese English language [...]

When I was twelve, my family hosted a Japanese girl named Megumi for one month during the summer through the Ohio 4-H International Program.  Hosting challenged us all to communicate differently, show off our community, and open our hearts to new relationships.  We learned so much about ourselves and had so much fun that the next year, my parents agreed to host a high school girl, Miyuki, for the whole year. Miyuki became a lifelong [...]