The warm breeze drifts through the air, trees rustling. People walk through Kyoto, taking in the beautiful temples and admiring Mt. Fuji in the distance. In Tokyo, people are looking up, in awe, at the towering skyscrapers. Although the sun has set now, the city lights illuminate the night. If all goes according to plan, these are the scenes students may experience during CHS’s trip to Japan in the summer of 2025.
Math and robotics teacher Michael Yeung and Assistant Principal of Safety, Facilities, and Athletics Tyler Lee, plan to host a school trip to Japan during the summertime. In previous school years, there have been other international trips, with students learning about new cultures through these trips, experiencing the unique food and learning about countries’ histories.
“It was a great opportunity for students to experience different cultures and have the opportunity to travel. It’s a cultural and educational experience; going to places students have never been and experiencing the culture and history,” said Lee.
These international school trips first started in 2017. The trip planners, Yeung and Lee, saw Japan as a great first trip because of Japan’s technology and history. Students got to see the Hiroshima Memorial, to heighten the educational portion of this excursion.
“The history aspect of our Japan trip was going to the Hiroshima Memorial. It was a daunting experience for the students to experience something they had never seen before; it was very eye-opening,” said Yeung.
Yeung and Lee are choosing to return to Japan for an upcoming trip to give the new students that same opportunity.
“We think it’s good to go to the same place every few years so new students can go. It’s a very unique destination compared to where students often travel with their families, like Mexico or Europe,” said Lee.
For the next trip to Japan in 2025, Yeung and Lee are considering a visit toy South Korea, to broaden student understanding of Korean history.
“We’ve been talking to the agent and we’re choosing between going to Hiroshima or also flying to South Korea to see the demilitarized zone,” explained Yeung.
In recent years, there haven’t been international school trips. These trips ended up being canceled in 2019 when the pandemic hit.
“Now that traveling is open again, I’d love to go to Japan, Australia, and the Great Barrier Reefs…We’re hoping to have the Japan trip in the summer of 2025,” said Yeung.
Any student is eligible to go on the trip, no matter what grade the student is in.
“Any student can go. It’s not a school sponsored trip, it’s an outside organization. This has nothing to do with the school, but teachers from CHS are chaperones for the trip,” said Lee.
Ideally, they would like to announce the Japan trip during the 2024 school registration, as the trip will be the following year.
“We’re planning the trip for summer 2025 instead of 2024 because the trip takes time to plan, advertise, and market,” explained Lee.
Although the trip is in talks, it’s not yet confirmed. Yeung and Lee are currently discussing the trip with an agent.
“Japan is a popular destination because it’s very exotic. The shrines, technology, and bullet trains…it’s a great experience and a lot of fun,” said Yeung.
