Sister city exchange still going, after almost 40 years

MOSES LAKE — As sister city relationships go, the tie between Moses Lake and Yonezawa, Japan, has been pretty long-lasting. Yonezawa’s mayor and other city and business officials were in Moses Lake last week, the latest visit in a relationship that stretches back almost 40 years.

“We’re into our second generation,” said Doug Sly, who was part of the original delegation to Yonezawa in 1979. Krystin Moore, the current president of the Moses Lake-Yonezawa Sister City student exchange, is herself an alumna of the program; she visited Yonezawa in 2002.

Moore said she applied in part because she had an interest in Japanese culture and history. “That experience, to me, was so meaningful and so impactful.” It piqued her interest in travel, still other cultures and other lands, she said, and led to experiences she might not have had otherwise. “It was a huge learning experience.”

The Moses Lake kids usually know very little Japanese, and the Japanese kids don’t always know much English. But in a lot of ways that doesn’t matter, she said. “They kind of develop their own way to communicate. It’s really surprising how deep a bond they form without the use of language.”

The Moses Lake students spend about 10 days in Yonezawa, living with Japanese families. The Yonezawa students return the favor, spending about 10 days in Moses Lake, staying with local families.

The cost of travel has whittled the program down slightly – when it started five students from each city visited the other city, and now that’s down to three students. The original two chaperones have been reduced to one.

Students raise their own money to pay airfare and expenses.

The student exchange program was (and is) part of the extensive business and educational relationship between Japanese companies and Moses Lake. Big Bend Community College hosts the Japanese Agricultural Training Program, more than half a century old. Moses Lake was a base for Japan Air Lines, which helped sponsor the student exchange.

But time goes on, business relationships change, most of the people who founded the program retired or passed away. Japan Air Lines no longer has a facility in Moses Lake.

Still, on the Moses Lake side, a new generation is working on keeping it going. In Japan a local newspaper, the Yonezawa Press, helps sponsor it, and Japan Air Lines has continued its sponsorship,

Applications are being accepted for 2018; the program is open to high school juniors in the Moses Lake area. More information is available at the program website, Moses Lake-Yonezawa Sister City Exchange, or the group’s Facebook page.

Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at education@columbiabasinherald.com.