1/15/2010
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Category: Activities  
School(s): Show / Hide Schools

               Des Moines East  
               Des Moines Hoover  
               Des Moines Lincoln  
               Des Moines North  
               Des Moines Roosevelt  
               Urbandale  
               West Des Moines Valley  

Des Moines celebrates the 26th Anniversary of the Des Moines/Kofu Student Exchange. Each year, 20-25 middle school students experience a life changing trip to Kofu Japan. Students apply in early fall and are selected based on an application, essay, and teacher/administrator recommendations.

Beginning in October, students attend biweekly classes to learn about Japanese culture, study basic customs and learn rudimentary Japanese. Each student becomes an expert on one aspect of Japanese life, prepares a presentation before leaving for Japan, and is the resident expert while overseas. When he/she returns, each is expected to share what they have learned with the home schools.

Leaving on June 5th, students will travel 24 hours to reach Kofu, Japan. For the ten days, they will stay with Japanese host families and truly experience the culture. Each weekday, the students travel as a group, learning about traditional Japanese activities and visiting cultural landmarks. This year students will visit Matsumoto castle, Tokyo, and Fujioshita. They will participate in a traditional tea ceremony and visit temples and shrines that are over one thousand years old.