Japan quake won’t affect annual Streamwood High visit

When Ryoko Manabe first heard about the earthquake off the eastern coast of Japan, she wasn’t too worried.

“Since they’re so used to having earthquakes, I thought, ‘Oh, they had another one,’” said Manabe, a native of Japan who teaches Japanese at Streamwood High School.

Later, Manabe saw reports detailing the severity of the quake and the resulting tsunami that reportedly has killed hundreds of people in an area more than 200 miles northeast of Tokyo.

“Now, I’m really concerned,” she said.

Manabe’s family lives in Kyoto; she has friends in Tokyo. She sent a text message to her sister when she realized how bad the earthquake was.

“She told me that even though they live far away, they felt it a little bit but didn’t know it was big until later,” Manabe said.

Each summer, Manabe leads a group of incoming seniors from Streamwood’s World Languages and International Studies Academy on a three-week trip to Japan. During their trip, students stay with a host family in Shimane (north of Hiroshima), attend a Japanese high school and visit Tokyo, Kyoto and Hiroshima.

The trip immerses students in the Japanese language and culture and helps them prepare for the Advanced Placement exam, which tests speaking and listening skills.

Manabe, who has chaperoned the trips for the past seven years, said this year’s visit should not be affected by the tsunami because the stops on the trip are not close to the epicenter.

“We’re not really thinking about canceling the trip at all,” she said.

Still, some former students e-mailed Manabe to ask if their host families are OK. She hasn’t heard back from the host families yet, but Manabe thinks they were not affected by the quake because of their distance from where it hit.