Hello! I would like you to introduce my friend Shota Kishimoto. Shota is a foreign exchange student studying in Independence Community College. He is from Okinawa, Japan. Shota arrived in the United States on March 2004 in Los Angeles, California. He came to Kansas on August 12, 2004. My friend has told me a lot about his culture.

He tells me that the differences between his country and the United States are the language, food, culture, and people’s personality. I have learned that one thing that is different about Shota’s culture is that his country is very small compared to the United States.

The food is very different in America. The Japanese people eat a lot of rice, but Shota says; the rice in the United States doesn’t have any taste. Shota’s favorite food in the United States is hamburgers, and the food he likes at home is tempura. I find his music very interesting. The music which they have in Japan is Okinawa music. Okinawa music involves drums; it is one big drum with a Japanese design. The music is very different and unique, it has a particular sound that most people have never heard. It includes slow- time songs and fast-time song.

The holidays in Japan are really different from the United States. My friend tells me that they have festivals and they have parties every weekend. In Japan, they play Baseball, Volleyball, Soccer, and the Martial Arts are very popular. Shota likes to play Soccer. Shota tells me that the weather in his country is like the United States. He says, Usually, The North is really cold, and the South is really hot. He misses home a lot, and the thing he really misses a lot is the food.