Exchange Students Japan

They made the usual tourist stops--Disneyland, Hollywood, the Queen Mary. But a group of junior high school students from Hanno, Japan, also got a firsthand look at the American educational system during their just-concluded Sister City visit. In addition to touring the UCLA campus, during their two-week visit the 18 students sat in on classes at Brea-Olinda High, Brea Junior High and Laurel Elementary schools.

Hiroyuki Tazaki doesn't have full command of the English language, but he didn't need an interpreter to translate his coach's body language after getting thrown out stealing in his first American high school baseball game. "[Tazaki] missed a sign and he took off, trying to steal a base with our No. 4 batter up," Montclair Prep Coach Marc Saraceno said. "He ran us right out of the inning. He obviously knew I was not too happy. Let's just say I was in a little state of unhappiness."

A teen-age Japanese girl on a cultural exchange visit was killed Friday, and another Japanese girl was badly hurt when a car driven by their host family's daughter crashed into a school bus. The young driver also was hurt when her car slammed underneath the back of the stopped school bus, officials said. In addition, 21 of the 52 junior high students on the bus received minor injuries.

For 24-year-old Yuko Terayama of Sendai, Japan, there was only one place in the world--literally--where she wanted to get married: in a small church in a residential Camarillo neighborhood. So, defying family traditions, the former exchange student persuaded her parents, fiance and future in-laws to fly 5,300 miles to Camarillo for the ceremony. On Tuesday afternoon, Terayama, now an advertising agent for Nissan, fulfilled her dream.

Hiroyuki Tazaki doesn't have full command of the English language, but he didn't need an interpreter to translate his coach's body language after getting thrown out stealing in his first American high school baseball game. "[Tazaki] missed a sign and he took off, trying to steal a base with our No. 4 batter up," Montclair Prep Coach Marc Saraceno said. "He ran us right out of the inning. He obviously knew I was not too happy. Let's just say I was in a little state of unhappiness."

Curt Yarrington remembers having his eyes locked on uniform No. 1 for some time. That particular jersey, he reasoned, might signify many things, especially the fact that he was numero uno as baseball coach at Verdugo Hills High. And, what the heck, it was also his first year. A few days before the 1987 season, players began to place their requests for jerseys. All the popular numbers went fast, those commonly tied to major league stars or ones that older brothers might have worn.

For 24-year-old Yuko Terayama of Sendai, Japan, there was only one place in the world--literally--where she wanted to get married: in a small church in a residential Camarillo neighborhood. So, defying family traditions, the former exchange student persuaded her parents, fiance and future in-laws to fly 5,300 miles to Camarillo for the ceremony. On Tuesday afternoon, Terayama, now an advertising agent for Nissan, fulfilled her dream.

A Moorpark man was arrested after two housemates learned he was videotaping them in their common bathroom, authorities said. Two Moorpark College foreign exchange students from Japan--a 23-year-old man and a 19-year-old woman--discovered that a decorative mask hanging in the bathroom of their rented four-bedroom house on Marymount Street contained a pinhole-sized hidden camera, allegedly placed there by one of two other tenants, authorities said.

Mutsuni Izutsu and Sean Sugihara absorbed each broadcast image of the devastation of Kobe last week with gut-wrenching dismay. The two Mission College exchange students from Japan wanted to help in the aftermath of the destructive Jan. 17 earthquake in their homeland, but did not know how. During a meeting with other exchange students at the college Tuesday, Izutsu and Sugihara found they were not alone in their desire to contribute.

Martha Barrett, a veteran bilingual teacher and mentor, was named Ventura County Teacher of the Year on Monday during a surprise visit by the county superintendent. "I'm really flabbergasted," Barrett said, shortly after Supt. Chuck Weis handed her flowers and told her the news. Barrett, 40, will represent more than 6,000 county teachers in the statewide competition.

They made the usual tourist stops--Disneyland, Hollywood, the Queen Mary. But a group of junior high school students from Hanno, Japan, also got a firsthand look at the American educational system during their just-concluded Sister City visit. In addition to touring the UCLA campus, during their two-week visit the 18 students sat in on classes at Brea-Olinda High, Brea Junior High and Laurel Elementary schools.

A teen-age Japanese girl on a cultural exchange visit was killed Friday, and another Japanese girl was badly hurt when a car driven by their host family's daughter crashed into a school bus. The young driver also was hurt when her car slammed underneath the back of the stopped school bus, officials said. In addition, 21 of the 52 junior high students on the bus received minor injuries.

Curt Yarrington remembers having his eyes locked on uniform No. 1 for some time. That particular jersey, he reasoned, might signify many things, especially the fact that he was numero uno as baseball coach at Verdugo Hills High. And, what the heck, it was also his first year. A few days before the 1987 season, players began to place their requests for jerseys. All the popular numbers went fast, those commonly tied to major league stars or ones that older brothers might have worn.

Martha Barrett, a veteran bilingual teacher and mentor, was named Ventura County Teacher of the Year on Monday during a surprise visit by the county superintendent. "I'm really flabbergasted," Barrett said, shortly after Supt. Chuck Weis handed her flowers and told her the news. Barrett, 40, will represent more than 6,000 county teachers in the statewide competition.

Chris Sheff was starting to think that he had played one too many baseball games in one too many countries. According to his itinerary, the U.S. team was in Canada, playing a team from Brazil. The uniforms said Brazil. But the players were Japanese. It's been a long season for Sheff, a graduate of Laguna Hills High School who is playing for the United States in the World Junior Baseball tournament in Trois-Rivieres, Canada, this week.