Whitecourt and Yubetsu, Japan celebrate 20 years as twinned communities

 

In 1972 the Alberta Government took part in an economic mission to the island of Hokkaido, Japan. In 1980, the two officially became sister provinces and share many similarities including topography, climate, and a resource-based economy. Alberta even played a key role in helping Hokkaido become the curling capital of Japan. Barrhead’s twin city, Kitami (formerly Tokoro), has produced most of Japan’s top curlers. There are eight Alberta municipalities that are twinned with counterparts in Hokkaido including Stony Plain, Wetaskiwin, and Rocky Mountain House.

Hokkaido is Japan’s second largest island and is a predominantly agricultural area with a much lower population density than other regions of the country. The communities of Whitecourt and Yubetsu officially twinned in 1998 and visitors from both have been travelling back and forth ever since. When the program first started, the exchanges took place in January and although the communities have similar climates, it was still a big shock.

“They get a lot of snow there, but the cold is something they aren’t used to. We switched to October in the early 2000s. The Japanese kids get to experience Halloween so that’s always a big highlight for them,” explained Wendy Grimstad-Davidson, current Development Officer at the Town of Whitecourt. She worked for the town when the exchanges first began and plays a big role in the program.

Over the years different community members have become heavily involved including Gord and Maryann Chouinard, Andrea Murray, and Linda Wigton. “Bill McAree has travelled to Yubetsu quite a few times as a representative for the town, but you probably don’t want to go there with Bill because it seems like every time he goes there’s an earthquake,” joked Wendy.

Another shining star of the program was the late Nancy Anderson. Her daughter Natillie Anderson-Quaife has fond memories of growing up with exchange students in the house. “Each of my three siblings hosted an exchange student and my mom hosted several adults.”

Both Wendy and Nancy grew very close with one of the program facilitators and interpreters, Miki Sato. “Every year, Miki would come over with the exchange group and she always spent one night with my mom, so they could catch up and visit.” Natillie and her mom took part in an exchange in 2006 and she said so many people were excited to meet her mom because they had heard so many great things about her from other exchanges. “She always made sure that anyone who stayed with us, or anyone she met in the program had a fabulous time and was treated with respect. She stayed involved with the program long after my brothers and sisters and I had graduated and kept up with it while I was a part of the program as a teacher. She looked forward to the group visit every year. Now that my mom has passed away, these are wonderful memories to have of her especially the time we spent together in Japan.”

Thanh Pham is a grade 11 student at Hilltop High School and, along with five other youth and two adult chaperones, will be travelling to Yubetsu on July 3. The group will be attending school with their host families and will be taking part in the culture. One of the things she noted was that the attire in Japanese schools is different than she is used to in Canada. “I know my host family personally because I hosted their daughter, Kaon Hata, two years ago so I’ll be going to school with her. I won’t be able to wear make up or earrings and it will be a little bit of an adjustment but I’m there to experience their culture and will 100 per cent willingly do it.”

Phanh said she is also looking forward to the different foods she will get to try. When Kaon was living with her she said she absolutely loved poutine so now it will be her turn to try local favourites in a new country. The first week of the trip will be spent in Yubetsu and the second will be spent travelling around Japan. Phanh said the experience will be second to none.

“Being able to make friends with people and overcome the language barrier is a really neat thing to do. Obviously, I don’t speak Japanese fluently and they don’t speak English fluently so to be able to laugh about things together and experience the same culture together and to be able to help each other adjust to what each culture is like, is neat,” explained Phanh. “I think that type of a relationship is hard to achieve outside of this type of program. It’s not like an everyday thing where you get to live with someone who isn’t from your culture and you are having to find creative ways to try and talk to them. It really opens your mind.”

Twenty years have passed since the communities twinned and the relationship between them is as strong as ever. “Through this program, my mom taught me to be open minded, to have an adventurous spirit, a love of travel, and to be kind,” said Natillie. “It was a wonderful experience for both adults and students. We had cultural experiences, tried new and totally weird food (like octopus tentacles!), visited a beautiful country, and made lasting friendships.”

Wendy has two children, Samia and Eric, taking part in this year’s trip and she is excited for them to finally get to experience it for themselves. “We personally have so many people who want to see our kids because they’ve known me for many years. We have hosted two long-term students for three months each, a couple of short-term students, and an adult so our children have grown up with this program.” She said the big awakening for her children will be getting to see how similar the cultures are. “What they know of the Japanese culture is that it’s so different than ours, and it is, but it also isn’t. At the core of it is the humanity and how we’re all just people looking for friendship and having fun together.”

To learn more about the program and to find out ways you can become involved as a student or as an adult, check out the Facebook page Whitecourt Yubetsu Exchange.