Kurando Sato, sophomore, is a foreign exchange student from Nagoya, Japan. He will be taking classes at Arroyo for a year. 

Sato, like many foreign exchange students came to the United States to study English. He came on his own and is staying with a host family in El Monte. The family has two boys aged eight and ten. Sato has no siblings at home in Japan and loves his host brothers. 

Sato feels “comfortable” at Arroyo. He plays on the soccer team and his teammates “are really good people” and welcoming. Sato explained that he is having fun and is often tired after practice. 

When asked what he felt was the biggest difference between Japan and California, Sato replied the “good weather.” 

As far as school goes, Sato explained that  “in Japan we have to wear uniform… teachers are more strict,” and he would spend around 2 hours doing homework every night. So far, he is enjoying his classes, “I’m looking forward to being here,” said Sato. 

“As his counselor I would tell all the students to just say hello and learn a little bit of  Japanese,” said Mrs. Patricia Filamaua. Sato explained that hello in Japanese is ‘konnichiwa’ and goodbye is ‘sayonara’.