AMICUS is a member of Round Square, an international network of schools. As part of this year’s exchange program, we welcomed three short-term exchange students—two from Germany and one from Singapore.

As the first exchange of the Round Square program, two AMICUS junior high school students became host families and welcomed two students from Germany into their homes here in Okinawa. By sharing everyday life together, they quickly built warm friendships that crossed borders.

This special encounter later led to a joyful, two-way exchange. With roles reversed, the two AMICUS students traveled to Germany to stay with their host families, making the experience an exciting and deeply meaningful international exchange for everyone involved.

As the opening feature of this wonderful program, we interviewed the two exchange students from Germany. They shared their first impressions, along with the fresh surprises and memorable moments they experienced while learning at AMICUS and discovering Okinawan culture.

The German students spoke highly of the warm, welcoming atmosphere in the classroom and the high quality of lesson design by our teachers. They described the school climate as energetic and positive, saying,

“Everyone was kind and highly motivated, and it felt great to learn together.”

Among their most memorable experiences were playing soccer during recess—bonding with classmates beyond grade levels—and discovering Japanese food culture, especially the surprise of rice being eaten as a daily staple.

At the end of their stay, the students reflected with bright smiles, sharing that experiencing Okinawa’s unique culture and meeting such warm, welcoming people made their visit an incredibly meaningful experience. They also added, “We would highly recommend this program to many others.”

Visiting each other’s homes and building deep connections that become lifelong treasures—this is the heart of Round Square and what true international exchange is all about.

In our next post, we’ll be sharing the Singapore Edition, so please stay tuned!

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