Although going to Japan had been on her bucket list for years, had it not been for the urging of two of her Japanese students for her to apply for an international educators program, Georgia Frisch might still be waiting to cross that item off her list.

Frisch, a seventh grade social studies teacher at J.C. Booth Middle, was encouraged to apply for the 2018 International Educators to Japan Program by students Kaito Satake and Anika Iida. The students did not tell her why they wanted her to apply, but to make them happy, Frisch submitted her application. After an interview last December with representatives from the Japanese Chamber of Commerce of Georgia, she received a call a few days later telling her she had been accepted, and was one of two teachers selected to participate from Georgia.

About the trip being on her bucket list, Frisch, who has been teaching world geography for several years, says visiting the countries that she teaches helps her be a better teacher.

“I just completed teaching seventh grade world geography for the fifth year in a row and Japan happens to be one of the Asian countries our standards concentrate on. I find that it is easier to connect with students about other countries when you have actually traveled to the country,” Frisch says.

While in Japan, Frisch visited schools in Tokyo and several other Japanese cities. At one of the schools, she and another teacher from Portland, Oregon taught a math lesson in English to a sixth grade class, which in Japan is still considered to be an elementary grade. She says she was impressed at how excited all of the students were at each level in every school her group visited. “The students were so excited to see us that I felt a little like a rock star.”

One of the most interesting and surprising educational facts Frisch learned was that Japanese students are further ahead in math than those in the United States.

“We heard over and over again that Japanese students run about two years ahead of U.S. schools in math. Japanese students who come to the states and then return to Japan struggle because they have fallen behind,” she says.

Frisch learned just as much about Japanese culture, customs and traditions as she did the educational system. During the duration of her trip, she stayed with a host family who showed her around Tokyo and the surrounding cities, as well as prepared authentic Japanese meals for her. She says that she and her host family have established a strong connection and that they plan to stay in contact with each other. She also told them that she would love to host them at her home if they ever come to visit  the states.

Frisch says her biggest takeaway from the experience is that she has come to realize people everywhere are more alike than they are different, and she plans to convey that message to her students.

“Building relationships with students no matter what the country they are from is important. After this trip, I will work to show all my students that we are more alike than different, she adds.

Frisch had such a great experience participating in the International Educators to Japan Program that she emailed five of her fellow teachers at J.C. Booth Middle before she left to come home stating that she would be discussing their applying for the program next year.

“This was a trip of a lifetime and I would like for everyone I know to be able to travel with this program to Japan. My words fail me when I try to express what all I learned from the trip. I was truly blessed to have been given this opportunity,” she says.