Sister Cities: Fort Wayne to Takaoka
Mikayla Havison
Indiana has always been a state that I have struggled to live in. Filled with what seems like endless corn and soybean fields, it is difficult to appreciate Indiana’s environment, and it is easy to crave a plane ride to a faraway place, where there are more people than chickens.
Sister Cities. Those were the two words that offered salvation from the bleak, suburban landscape of Fort Wayne, Indiana: the place I have called home for the last twelve years. Sister Cities International is a program that connects cities from around the world to promote world peace and diplomacy through international exchanges and communication. My city, Fort Wayne, has the sister cities of Gera, Germany, Plock, Poland, Takaoka, Japan, and Taizhou, China.
When my city, Fort Wayne, offered me the opportunity to travel across the world to its sister city of Takaoka, Japan, I could not refuse; however, what I did not realize was that my three-week trip would completely change my world view, as well as my perspective of my Indiana home.
After a thirteen-hour flight and layovers in Chicago and Toronto, I finally arrived in Tokyo with five other students from Fort Wayne who were also taking the journey. I was nervous, jet-lagged, a bit lost and most of all excited to exit the plane and see this new world. From the moment I stepped off the plane I realized that my time in Japan would be an experience, which differed from any I had ever had.
Rather than being screamed at by employees, as I was at the Chicago O’Hare International Airport, I was hit by a surreal calmness. Nobody was yelling. In fact, there were almost no sounds to be heard. The dead silence was eerie, nothing that I had prepared for. How could there be silence when I was surrounded by hundreds of people?
I assumed the airport’s silence was a fluke, but when I took my first step onto the streets of Tokyo, my bewilderment only grew. I had accumulated a bit of trash in flight, but I could not find a trash can or any trash littered on the street. The people of Japan have so much respect for their environment and one another that everyone makes an effort to make the cities beautiful.
During just a few days, I observed many of the cultural differences between the United States and Japan, including a more quiet and clean environment, which I was afraid of disturbing for my host family.
Upon arriving at my host family’s home, I was jittery with nerves, but my anxiousness was quickly soothed when my host family brought in two kittens. I learned that the kittens were strays and that my host parents let them stay in the hair salon, which is attached to their house. With the help of google translate, my host sister and I quickly got to discussing our own cats.
The connections I made with my host sister, however, were not limited to just cats. One day, she took me to a pier a few roads from her house and she showed me the ocean views whilst we discussed how our grandfathers would take us fishing in the summers. The conversation even led us to philosophical discussions of age and the ocean.
At the school in Takaoka, it surprised me how closely my host sister’s students and teachers mirrored my own. It was easy to make friends and integrate into the Japanese culture because it reflected that of my own home. Although there were similarities, the school was also different in the sense that students were given responsibility, such as cleaning their own school, which I was happy to participate in. At my own high school, there is a large janitorial staff, something Fushiki High School did not need.
As my trip progressed, I continued to observe the differences between Fort Wayne and Takaoka, but also the sisterhood. Art from Fort Wayne was present in the city hall, pictures from past exchanges were littered throughout my high school and magnets of my state were stuck to my host family’s fridge. All the small mementos of what to me, is an average Indiana city, revealed the definition of sisterhood, respect.
My trip to Takaoka was a wonderful experience. The culture and the landscapes were beautiful and the people were friendly. I felt at home; however, what I observed more than differences was the ways in which Takaoka reflected my Indiana home.
I see Takaoka in the faces of my Fort Wayne friends, in the kindness of my neighbors, in the fields of my state, and in the love of my family. My trip to Takaoka taught me that as cliché as it sounds, the world is actually in my backyard. Fort Wayne, like every city, is a reflection of not only itself but the world. After my journey, I realized that home is anywhere I want it to be, as long as I take time to understand the place’s role in the world as a whole, and how it compares to the places I have been.
In a way, I wish I could say that my trip to Japan was an exciting adventure full of griping moments, but in reality, it was tranquil, and that is what made it perfect. The people of Takaoka and Japan allowed me into their home and gave me a place to meditate, something I will be eternally grateful for. New respect for my own home and a stronger sense of self and culture are the real gifts that Fort Wayne Sister Cities gave to me.