Intern from Japan at Newark school

St. Michael School in Newark has been hosting a Japanese intern since October. Shoko Saito comes from Iwaki, a city in Fukushima prefecture. Iwaki is north of Tokyo and is a two-and-a-half-hour drive by car. The city's population is about 365,000. Iwaki and Tokyo have similar climates, with many clear days and a few snow showers in the winter.

Shoko, 21, went to high school in Iwaki and just graduated from a two-year college in Tokyo, where she studied foreign languages and tourism. In her family is her father, Shinji, her mother, Keiko, and her older brother, Katsushi. Her father is a carpenter and her mother owns a small restaurant. Her brother is a bartender and recently became engaged.

Shoko's hobbies are movies, plays (she loves musicals), reading books, listening to music, playing sports and shopping in the malls. She especially loves to swim.

Leah and Ed Shanshala, who have a kindergartner at St. Michaels, are housing Shoko until the summer, when she will return to Japan. The intern is sharing the Japanese culture with all of the St. Michael School students.

Her school year began with her being hosted by Mrs. Colleen Spellecy's fourth-grade students until after Christmas. Shoko is now in a different classroom for at least a week, where she shares her Japanese culture by teaching origami, Japanese calligraphy, bringing in costumes, and cooking for the students.

When asked about differences between the American and Japanese cultures, Shoko admits the differences are small, but she finds some of the larger differences to be:

In Japan the school and business year begins in April and ends the following March.

'We don't need to pay tips anywhere. In the restaurant, at the hotel, we don't have a custom about tipping. So I was very confused when I went to New York City with my friend.'

When you enter a home, you must take off your shoes. They change our shoes when they go in to the school.

When you meet people for the first time, the custom is to bow to each other instead of a handshake.

Principal Kathy Peters says, 'Shoko is well liked by all of the students. Her quiet manner and smiling ways win all of our hearts. She loves learning about our American culture and enjoys traveling the area with some of our families. Students are excited when they know Shoko will be spending a week in their classrooms. We are very indebted to the Shanshala family, who are housing Shoko throughout the school year. Our students are fortunate to have Shoko stay the entire the school year. Getting to know other people from different cultures helps them to know, understand and accept diversity first hand.'

Any community organization that wishes to have Shoko as guest speaker, should contact Mrs. Peters at St. Michael School at 331.2297.

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