DENSO Manufacturing Athens Tennessee (DMAT)—The daughters of two DENSO Athens associates played host to a pair of Japanese teens this summer as part of DENSO’s Youth Cultural Exchange Program.

Chelsea Stephens and Kelsey Kent, of McMinn County High School, welcomed into their homes Tomoko Sasaki and Asumi Hamahara, respectively, from Nagoya, for a-once-in-a-lifetime cultural and educational experience.

During the two-week exchange, Kelsey’s family took Asumi to the Smokey Mountains and the Aquarium in Gatlinburg. They talked about the differences in their schools and learned words in each other’s language such as “kaimono,” which is shopping.

“Asumi and I both love to shop, and we got to do a lot of it,” said Kelsey, whose father Doug Kent works in DMAT facilities.

Kelsey and Chelsea were selected hosts for DMAT along with three other hosts from DENSO Maryville. Since 1993, children of DENSO associates around the world have had the opportunity to apply to host a Japanese teen during the summer. The following year, former hosts can apply to be an ambassador to Japan for two weeks.

Chelsea, daughter of Tammy Gentry of DMAT Human Resources, said the language barrier was frustrating at times.

“But I have definitely been able to see that a smile is the universal language – and love can be shown through any culture,” she said.

“It was so inspiring to me to see how my everyday life was such an excitement to Tomoko. We went to the mall, out on the farm, to my church camp, and even to cheerleading practice. Those are things I often take for granted.”

—Robert Tennyson

As part of their stay in America, Japanese teen ambassadors and their counterpart American hosts from Athens and Maryville, Tenn., were taken on a six-day educational trip that included stops in Jamestown, Colonial Williamsburg, Busch Gardens and Washington, DC. With the assistance of First Lady Laura Bush, the group was granted a rare opportunity to tour the White House. Here they strike a pose at a millinery shop in Williamsburg.