Eight hundred and forty hours. That is how long Marina Saito and Miyu Kondo have been living over 7,800 miles away from their home in Japan. As part of an exchange program with our sister school, Tamagawa Academy in Japan, the two students have been living with host families and attending our school.

Katie Liang (12) and Lorraine Wong (10) hosted Marina and Miyu, respectively, during their month-long stay and have learned many things about each other.

In fact, Katie and Miyu discovered that they both enjoy the same kind of music, such as Taylor Swift, Rihanna, Maroon 5, and South Korean pop boy band Big Bang.

One of the things Katie has noticed most about Marina is that “[she] is very organized. I feel really messy when I stand next to her. She always has her hair and make-up nicely done, and she always gives off this really fresh vibe.”

For the most part, the language barrier is not an issue for the hosts and the exchange students. Katie, who has been studying Japanese for six years and is currently taking AP Japanese, and Marina have developed their own system for dealing with any misunderstandings. Marina has an electronic Japanese dictionary where she can input the word she cannot translate into English.

Although Katie says that they can understand each other well, Marina disagrees. Covering her face in embarrassment, Marina said, “nooo…my English is bad. I [have trouble] listening; I want [to improve my] listening skill. [And] speak is [also] bad.”

Miyu’s expectations and preconceptions of America stemmed mainly from movies she watched back home.

“[Miyu] is actually getting used to real American culture, rather than what she’s seen in popular media in Japan,” Lorraine said.

Marina and Miyu agree that their favorite part of their trip has been interacting with their host families. The school lunch is a close second. They both exuberantly repeated how the food is “very delicious, very, very delicious” and “very, very nice.”

The exchange students are involved in both Orchestra and Jazz Band. A major difference between American and Japanese music they noticed was the difference in the tuning of pitch: in Japan the level is at 442 hertz and in the USA it is 440 hertz. Specific measure of hertz is used to tune instruments during a group performance. They both dedicate a lot of their time to their music; at Tamagawa they have club activity practice daily.

Miyu said that participating in the Winter Concert less than a week after their arrival was “choto hard,” or a little hard.

Other than participating in a Jazz Band for the first time, they are also experiencing many new things while in America, such as visiting San Francisco and going to their first dance.

A few hours before the Winter Ball on January 22, Miyu was dropped off at Katie’s house so the girls could get ready for the first dance together. Tamagawa hosts no school dances, and the girls were excited to go to the first dance ever with dresses picked up fresh from Macy’s.

Marina exclaimed that she was excited to wear her dress, but was a little worried. She exclaimed, her hands flying to her face, “But I can’t dance!”

Both Katie and Lorraine have come to see the exchange students as part of their families, and are not looking forward to having to say goodbye in a few weeks.

Katie said, “I’m definitely going to be lonelier at home. I’ll miss them [and] I’ll definitely feel the emptiness in the house when they leave.”

A dream that once seemed impossible has come true for Harry Potter-loving fans.

Heiresses and flappers and suffragettes, oh my! The changing fashions of the American Woman strike the eye of many visitors.

Hands gripping tightly around the racquet, eyes fixed on the small, neon green ball, and feet shuffling from side to side, the tennis player takes a swing. The unusual aspect of this game is that the court is made of grass and is in Rockefeller Center.

HEAVENLY HIGHWAY On the 52-mile journey to Hana, tourists can enjoy the vast landscape and luscious greenery as they drive. The high altitude allows for beautiful views like this all along the route, and visitors can stop at a number of small parking spaces to enjoy the scenery. Other sites worthy of visiting are the Halfway to Hana Cafe, Twin Falls waterfall, and Wainapanapa black sand beach.

ROAR! An enormous wave crashes against the hull of the America II, drenching the screaming passengers on one side of the boat.

Sailing the America II out from Lahaina’s harbor in West Maui offers a wide variety of possibilities. Depending on where passengers sit, they may step off the ship dry, soaked, or anything in between.

While the road to Hana (Maui, Hawaii) most notably conjures up images of narrow, winding roads surrounded by lush vegetation and picturesque ocean views, visitors may find that smaller attractions along the road are worthy of as much attention as the scenery itself.

He stood in the ocean, only three feet below and put his face in the water. To his surprise, a crab greeted him by waving back. At the age of seven, the love affair would begin, as Robert “Snorkel Bob” Wintner admired the marine life and would dedicate his life to protecting it.

While many Hawaiian beaches provide the paradise of glittering waves and pristine sand, the intimate, clean setting of Ulua (oo-LOO-ah) Beach in Wailea, Maui offers a unique location for tourists and locals of all ages to enjoy.

Imagine the perfect beach. Do warm, cerulean waves crawling across fine sands come to mind? Or maybe a low-key beach, aloof from the commotion of the typical tourist beach? Or how about verdant palms swaying in a balmy breeze? If so, South Maui’s Ulua Beach is the perfect place.