On March 22, 15 students and 2 teachers from the Fujishima High School, located in Fukui Japan, came to Paint Branch High School to experience life in an American high school.

The Fujishima students became Panthers for a day, walking around the school with their hosts, attending various classes, and eating lunch. Many of the students both from Fujishima and Paint Branch enjoyed one another’s company and both learned a lot of new things from each other. After a fun day of going to classes, eating, and hanging out with their hosts, all of the students joined together to see all the clubs and after school activities of Paint Branch High School and celebrate together at a goodbye party before leaving to return home. During the party, the Japanese students and their hosts played games, learned how to make rice balls, and took a lot of funny and exciting pictures.

One particular academic highlight of the day took place during period 4 when the students participated in an AP Chemistry class where they watched their hosts present topics. One of the hosts, senior Khalel Robinson, had a great time hanging out with his guest. “For me, the best part of the Japanese students coming over is me getting thrown by one of the judo kids,” said Robinson. “One of the students wanted to show a judo demonstration and I volunteered to be thrown, so that was the best part of the whole day.”

Other students like senior Jacob Smith had a great time with the Japanese students as well. “My favorite part was one of the students joined me for 6th period physics and afterwards we had a cultural exchange,” commented Smith.

Japanese teacher Ms Korn, was very happy about the students coming to PB and having a great time. “This was a big success and I’m very happy about what happened. The Japanese students told me that their favorite part of the whole trip was visiting Paint Branch High School,” she said.