GREENFIELD – Yu Takeda was all smiles as he pressed the ink-soaked screen down onto the green fabric, creating his own T-shirt as well as priceless memories from his trip to the U.S.
The 14-year-old was among the seven Japanese teens who visited Organic Robot screenprinting shop Thursday afternoon as part of this year’s Sister Cities of Greenfield cultural exchange trip.
The teens and their two chaperones have had a whirlwind adventure ever since touching down at the Indianapolis International Airport Friday night.
After spending the weekend on fun outings with their individual host families, the international guests spent the week visiting a number of sites in Greenfield, including many of the Greenfield-Central schools as well as the local Hitachi Astemo plant, local shops and Greenfield’s city hall, parks and police and fire stations.
“It’s been a good week with good kids,” said Jim McWhinney, a longtime volunteer with Sister Cities of Greenfield.
The nonprofit was created in 1990 as part of the Sister Cities International program founded by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1956 to promote peace and mutual respect and understanding, one community at a time.
Sister cities of Greenfield president Lyndi Grubb said it’s been amazing to have Japanese guests back in Greenfield after a five-year hiatus due to COVID.
“Our host families have really done a fantastic job of seeing that they get to do things they’re interested in,” she said during Thursday’s shirt production process.
“Several (visiting students) went to the Colts game on Sunday, so that was a bucket list for some of them,” she said.
Some teens shared they were surprised at how big some things are in America, from the high school football field to the pizza served at local restaurants.
Takeda was amazed by his visit to the Greenfield Walmart, which he said is much different from stores in Japan, where food, clothing and other items are sold in separate stores rather than all in one.
Fourteen-year-old Ayuna Endo said it was an adjustment to staying in a house where taking off shoes before entering wasn’t the norm.
“Seeing it first hand was really shocking for me. It felt really weird,” she shared through a translator, Naomi Ito.
“She has just tried to mimic her host family and and has tried to kind of adjust to their culture as much as possible,” said Ito, who has spent the week with the group.
While she’s enjoyed her entire week in the U.S., Endo said her favorite part of Thursday afternoon was attending the Colts game with her host family.
The teen said she plans to stay in touch with her host family after returning to Japan, where she plans to communicate with them through a messaging app.
The Japanese visitors week-long tour concludes with visiting the Statehouse and the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis on Friday, followed by taking part in the annual Sister Cities of Greenfield 5K on Saturday before flying home the next day.
Grubb has said the 5K is designed to raise funds and awareness to continue the cultural exchange program with Kakuda.
The nonprofit is already planning for when a group of Greenfield students will travel to the sister city to explore the local culture while staying with host families for approximately 10 days.
Students must be in grades 8-11 in Greenfield-Central schools to be eligible for the trip, which involves an interview process.
Adults must either be an employee of Greenfield-Central schools, Hitachi Astemo or the City of Greenfield, be a Sister Cities of Greenfield board member or be the member of a former host family, age 22 and up.
While many expenses are paid through donations by local business and civic organizations, all participants must pay a fee of approximately $850.
Student and chaperone applications are available at SisterCitiesofGreenfield.org, and are due Dec. 31.
