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Host Parents Visit Japan for
Wedding of Their “Daughter”
Sara Compton and Terry Peterman (far right) celebrate the March 2009 wedding of
Yoko Asakura ‘01 (front right) in Tokyo. Also pictured (back row, left to right) are Ayako
Okada ‘01,
Chika Nakazawa ‘01,
Sonya Nikolova ‘01, Sonja’s sister Nina, and Sonja’s boyfriend David.
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by Sara Compton, special to the Viewpoint
Since the early 1990s, my husband, Terry Peterman, and I have been host
parents to several international Cottey students. Sometimes this means serving
as their home-away-from-home when it comes time to do laundry, have a quiet
place to study, or enjoy a home-cooked meal on Sunday night when the dining room
is closed. Other times it means rides to the airport, or a place to stay during
breaks when the entire school is closed. We have enjoyed learning more about
each of these students and the lives they lead in their own countries, as well
as helping
them discover more about American culture and life in the Midwest. It is also
wonderful to witness their growth as intellectuals and individuals.
I like knowing that we now have “children” all over the world, especially
when we live in a community that is quite homogenous (but becoming more and more
diverse nearly every day). We have kept in touch with many of our ‘Cottey
daughters’ through phone calls, letters, and e-mail, and have come to treasure
these long-distance relationships.
In the spring of 2009, we were fortunate enough to attend the wedding of one
of our Japanese daughters, Yoko Asakura, Class of 2001. My job as a senior
programmer analyst in Information Technology for Leggett & Platt (a leader in
engineered components and products for homes, retail, and the automotives
industry) has taken me abroad before, but never to Japan. This trip was strictly
for pleasure, so I contacted some of the other Japanese alumnae when making our
travel plans. We also met up with Sonya Nikolova, Class of 2001, who was from
Bulgaria and is now in the final year of a doctoral program at Princeton. She
and her boyfriend also traveled to Tokyo to attend Yoko’s wedding.
While in Japan, we met up with several other Cottey alumnae, including Noriko
Furusawa ‘92, Ayako Shirasaka ‘95, Yoshiko Ikeda ‘97, Fuyuko Iimori ‘03, and
Maaya Ito ‘03. They and their families served as gracious hosts and our personal
guides in Tokyo, Utsunomiya, and Nikko. Seeing the sights, visiting with nine
former Cottey students, and attending the wedding made for an unforgettable
trip.
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