by Nicole Tieu, staff writer
After being first denied the opportunity to go to Japan her freshman year, Ariana Isbell (’16) tried again to become a foreign ambassador with the Sister City Association in Huntington Beach. Her application was successfully accepted and her journey to experience a new culture started.
“Before I went, a lot of people told me I would come back a different person and I don’t think that’s true, but I do think that I learned a lot about human beings in general,” explained Isbell.
After having a Japanese girl named Kurumi stay with her family, Isbell was able to live with Kurumi and her family in Japan. She lived in a rural area where the rain gutters were a three foot drop and contained live fish and frogs.
Isbell packed her two week stay with visits to amusement parks, temples, festivals, and parades. Three other students from the Huntington Beach School District accompanied her on top of a car for the parade.
Through these adventures, Isbell learned that Japan and the United States are more similar than different.
“Everyone usually tells you some weird things about Japan and I didn’t expect it to be like that because it was just another country,” said Isbell. “I went there and it was even more normal than I expected and it gave more meaning to the expression everyone lives under the same moon.”
Isbell first showed her interest in the Japanese culture with the game, The Legend of Zelda. She became interested in graphic design and was determined to create her own variation of her favorite game and meet creator, Shigeru Miyamoto. Although Nintendo was the beginning of a new culture for her, Isbell was able to learn more about Japan over the years and found it to be a wonderful place.
Isbell stated, “I started learning how to do graphic design and taking Japanese. When the opportunity arose I just jumped on it. It became more than just Nintendo as I learned about Japan over the years.”
