Samantha Baumann is ready to live in Japan.
Oh, there’s a few pesky details to get out of the way first, like graduating high school and going to college. But after spending a month in Hokkaido on a 4-H trip, the 16-year-old Emporia High School junior wants to return as soon as possible.
“If I had the money, I would go back and live there,” said Samantha, who lives on a farm near Osage City. “It was really different and I like the difference.”
Samantha had only been overseas once before, a trip with her family to visit friends in Germany when she was 10. Her parents, though, had traveled the world a number of times while her Dad served in the Navy. She wanted some of that experience, too.
The opportunity came through a 4-H program called the International Four-H Youth Exchange. Founded in 1948, the program gives 4-H kids the chance to spend time with a host family in another country.
That sounded great to Samantha. But she wasn’t sure she should go in cold.
So she signed up to have a “host sister” from Japan live with her in the United States first.
Kana Hashimoto, a girl about a year younger than Samantha, arrived on July 11, 2004. The next month would be an experience and a half for both of them.
“It was exciting,” Samantha said. “She lived in a city and I lived on a farm. We went to the pond to swim and I don’t think she had ever been in a pond. I taught her how to dive.”
Samantha picked up a few things herself, such as how to eat with chopsticks or fold origami. But watching Kana take in America was just as much fun.
“She tried some apple pie and said ‘Too sweet! Too sweet!’” Samantha said, grinning.
Two years later, it would be Samantha’s turn.
Armed with high expectations and some conversational Japanese, she took off in July — first to Tokyo and then to her ultimate destination of Sapporo, the second-largest city in Japan.
Between excitement and jet lag, she didn’t get much sleep her first night.
On the flight over to the island of Hokkaido, she kept practicing over and over what she would say to her host family.
That went out the window as soon as she saw the Hashimotos waving their “Welcome Samantha” sign at the airport.
“All the Japanese went out of my head,” she said. “I ran over to them, jumping up and down. I was screaming, I was so excited.”
Back home, Samantha was an only child. Now she was one of six people in the house. It was good practice for Japan as a whole, a much more crowded area than Kansas.
But for Samantha, it was crowded with possibilities. Every day seemed to bring something new.
“It was totally different for me,” she said. “I can’t even explain it. If you’re not open to anything, you won’t last over there.”
Sometimes it was the plumbing. In one bathroom, the sink was connected to the toilet to conserve water. The layout and differences in the controls took some getting used to.
“You’re going ‘O ... K ... how do I do this?’” Samantha said.
Sometimes it was getting used to a Japanese school schedule. Samantha didn’t have to attend classes herself, but she often came to some of Kana’s. During the school year, Kana’s schedule would be full from 8 a.m. until 10 p.m. with classes, sports and tutoring. Then would come homework, often lasting until 2 a.m.
When Samantha did come to school, it didn’t take long for the other kids to notice the new girl in the room.
“It was odd,” she said. “They’re all in school uniforms, black hair and short. And here I am talking to Kana, white and standing there in street clothes.
“When the bell would ring, we’d walk down the hallway and everyone would stand back and stare at me.”
The same would happen at a 4-H camp she attended later in a hotel, where she was one of only three Americans involved.
Before long, though, she was part of the group. By the time Samantha left Japan, she estimated she had made 20 friends — including two boyfriends.
Every day, she spent as much time as possible soaking everything in, from taking pictures of a Japanese wedding to traveling the trains to trying out the local food.
“I liked the food, some of it,” she said. “Some of the sushi, I ate it once and that was enough.”
Leaving came all too soon. Her host family really had become a second family.
“I was crying when I left the camp,” Samantha said. “And then I started to cry again because I was leaving Kana. And then I was crying a third time because I was leaving Tokyo.”
She still plans to go back.
“I haven’t found out what kind of job I want, but I know I’ll be traveling,” she said.