From Okinawa to Kaua‘i Dennis Fujimoto – The Garden Island LIHU‘E — When 16 visiting students from the Okinawa Christian University arrived at the mayor’s office, they had no idea they would be greeted not only by the mayor, but
From Okinawa to Kaua‘i
Dennis Fujimoto – The Garden Island
LIHU‘E — When 16 visiting students from the Okinawa Christian University arrived at the mayor’s office, they had no idea they would be greeted not only by the mayor, but also by Kaua‘i Film Commissioner Art Umezu, and Shanna Pena, Umezu’s intern.
Umezu, whose mastery of the Japanese language makes him an asset in greeting visitors from Japan, said that Pena, a Kaua‘i High School student from the Academy of Hospitality and Tourism, was assigned to him only recently, and since then, has proven herself to be an asset.
Drawing on her experience from working at Hilo Hattie between school, homework, and her intern-ship, Pena’s task was to present each student with a lei as well as a Kaua‘i goodie bag. She dove into this greet-ing with no hesitation, smartly pre-senting each student as well as escort Makoto Arakaki with a lei followed by a cheery “aloha.”
Aspiring to be a film maker, Pena was supposed to be behind a video camera for the visit of the Okinawa students, who are in the second week of their two-week visit here.
However, communication does break down, and Umezu instead in-vited the AOHT student to be part of the learning tour being presented to the Okinawa students.
Another group from Chiba is also attending classes at Kaua‘i Community College, as are the Okinawa students. The Chiba students will also tour county-government facilities as part of their curriculum here. Umezu is hopeful that when those students visit county offices, Pena will be manning a videocamera in addition to doing hostess duties.
Umezu said Pena is very reliable, arriving to work at his office religiously after school lets out.
When she graduates in June, Pena has already penned an agreement to enter the U.S. Army, where she is on track to further her education towards her goal of being a film-maker.
Umezu jokes about her going from high school right into boot camp. Meanwhile, the students from Okinawa Christian College visited county-government of-fices to get a better idea of the workings of the Kaua‘i government.
Their visit here allows the students an opportunity to hone their English-language skills, learn more about local customs both through classroom work as well as spending time with host families, and get a better under-standing of the cultural differences between themselves and Americans through a variety of field trips, including tours to the National Tropical Botanical Garden, the Kaua‘i Museum, and the county-government offices.
The visiting Okinawa stu-dents will be leaving Kaua‘i this Sunday following their participation at the Hui Alu Kenjinkai party at the Kauai Veterans Center. As Umezu offered explanations on the workings of the government in his fluent Japanese, Pena could not help but giggle, “I hope he’s not say-ing anything bad about me.”
Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, may be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@pulitzer.net.
