![japanese eenie meenie miney mo japanese eenie meenie miney mo](https://cf.geekdo-images.com/USfQ2HNjV9G7gAerh8fhlA__opengraph/img/NjjZ1AQLwsHQFRHvG4DPcWWpECI=/fit-in/1200x630/filters:strip_icc()/pic49150.jpg)
I can’t begin to pretend I know all about the history and politics of Japan (let alone any of the language), but I do know Riko’s favorite food (donuts) and her dreams for the future (fusing Western and traditional architecture in Japan). But what truly makes the difference and bridges nations are the people-to-people connections made through exchange programs like these two. Any class can teach language, and culture can be learned through a textbook.
Japanese eenie meenie miney mo full#
Upon arriving at Princeton, the counselors promised that these would be the best ten days of our lives, and after days full of cheers, Halloween costumes, YOLO, s’mores, cowboy hats, tea ceremonies, calligraphy, diplomatic discussions, fancy dresses, Call Me Maybe, and scavenger hunts, I understood why. The experience was a brief déjà vu of this past summer, when I spent ten days getting to know forty Japanese high school students, and growing tighter than I would have ever thought possible with my roommate, Riko. Two hours later, I still knew next to nothing about France or French culture, and yet through this exchange program, I had discovered that we could communicate better in Spanish than English, and we could both get to know somebody who happened to live in another country. Though I had briefly met a few students in previous years, this was the first opportunity I had to hold an extended conversation with one of the annual exchange students. This past Monday, I walked into Music Theory to find a French student sitting at our table.