Paulding County 4-H’er, Katie Oberlin, will be traveling to Japan this summer as part of the 4-H / Japanese Exchange Program. Katie, (11 years old), is the daughter of Gabe Oberlin and Melanie Oberlin. Katie will join youth from around the country for the exchange, July 8 to August 6.
While in Japan, Katie will be learning the local culture by living with a Japanese host family and participating in community life. Katie will be meeting her host family for the first time when she arrives in Japan. Some youth will be staying with the families of Japanese youth who have previously visited them in Ohio on this reciprocal exchange.
Katie is among 30 4-H’ers from the USA and five from Ohio who will be visiting Japan. She will begin her tour with orientation sessions on the west coast of the US and Tokyo. Later during the visit, Katie will attend a camp with Japanese and American youth. She decided to apply for the Japan experience because “I want to understand a different culture beyond the textbooks.”
Katie is a 6th grader at Antwerp Local School where she is active in National Junior Honor Society, sports, theater, choir, and band. Katie is currently in her 5th year of 4-H with the Doe-C-Doe 4-H Club. She has served as the club environmental officer, and this year she was elected club secretary. 4-H has given her the opportunity to complete projects on sewing, dairy science, robotics, sheep, chickens and horses. This year she decided to try a gardening project. Twice she has been selected to represent Paulding County at the Ohio State Fair.
The exchange program in Japan is coordinated by the Labo Foundation, an organization dedicated to teaching foreign languages and cultures to Japanese youth. Japanese young people learn about a country’s culture and do songs and stories in the language they are studying.
In 1972, Labo established the first exchange with 4-H clubs in the United States. The first year for Ohioans to make the journey to Japan was in 1981. Since then, a group of Ohio 4-H’ers has visited Japan nearly every summer, with a total of 244 youth and adult chaperones making the trip so far.
Youth interested in traveling overseas or families interested in hosting someone from another country should contact the regional county extension office at (419) 782-4771 or email: thalheimer.1@osu.edu. You can also visit www.ohio4h.org/youth/international.
Ohio 4-H is currently seeking families to host young people from Japan from July 23 – August 18 this summer. Youth and families do not need to be current 4-H members to apply. Join the fun and learn about your world!
