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ENLARGE
Photo op
Shobu, Japan, delegate Hideko Ban, left, and Ryeutsu Komatsu take photographs of ‘A Mother and Colt’ statue, which was a gift from Shobu, in front of Roseburg City Hall Friday afternoon.
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ENLARGE
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Delegate
Shobu delegate Takayuki Arai thanks Roseburg Interim City Manager Dan Huff after exchanging business cards during a visit Friday.
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Language barriers don't exist between friends -- at least not friends sharing a sister city.
That was clear Friday morning as a group of locals stood with visitors from Shobu, Japan, under the tree in front of the Douglas County Courthouse.
Communication broke down trying to relate the tree's species.
H.D. Honscheid of Roseburg was peering through his English-to-Japanese dictionary while Toshiko Sato stood next to him looking at her electronic Japanese-to-English dictionary.
Tsutomu Sato came up behind them with the answer. He used his cellular phone, which also functions as a camera and translator.
"Nire," he exclaimed, which translates to "elm" in English and sounds more like "knee-day."
The courthouse, tree and all, was just part of a weekend-long adventure through Douglas County for a delegation from Shobu, Roseburg's sister city.
The official sister city relationship is 11 years old, but began several years earlier. Shobu's Yuri Ono is proof.
Ono, 29, first came to Roseburg 15 years ago. Last week was her first trip back.
She studied under Harold Winfield, who died in 2000, and a seventh-grade Shobu teacher who, together, created a student exchange program between the two similarly sized cities.
"She's sort of grown up with the program," said Marliene Winfield, Harold's wife and president of Roseburg Sister Cities.
Ono captured gigabytes worth of photos on her digital camera Friday, from a meeting between Roseburg Mayor Larry Rich and Shobu Mayor Toshio Nakayama to an empty office as part of a tour through the Douglas County Library.
"I'm glad to come back," she said.
That was clear Friday morning as a group of locals stood with visitors from Shobu, Japan, under the tree in front of the Douglas County Courthouse.
Communication broke down trying to relate the tree's species.
H.D. Honscheid of Roseburg was peering through his English-to-Japanese dictionary while Toshiko Sato stood next to him looking at her electronic Japanese-to-English dictionary.
Tsutomu Sato came up behind them with the answer. He used his cellular phone, which also functions as a camera and translator.
"Nire," he exclaimed, which translates to "elm" in English and sounds more like "knee-day."
The courthouse, tree and all, was just part of a weekend-long adventure through Douglas County for a delegation from Shobu, Roseburg's sister city.
The official sister city relationship is 11 years old, but began several years earlier. Shobu's Yuri Ono is proof.
Ono, 29, first came to Roseburg 15 years ago. Last week was her first trip back.
She studied under Harold Winfield, who died in 2000, and a seventh-grade Shobu teacher who, together, created a student exchange program between the two similarly sized cities.
"She's sort of grown up with the program," said Marliene Winfield, Harold's wife and president of Roseburg Sister Cities.
Ono captured gigabytes worth of photos on her digital camera Friday, from a meeting between Roseburg Mayor Larry Rich and Shobu Mayor Toshio Nakayama to an empty office as part of a tour through the Douglas County Library.
"I'm glad to come back," she said.
Even though the library wasn't standing during her previous visit, Ono said the city hadn't changed.
"Not so much, I think," she said, adding that she considered it a "good thing."
Several translators were touring with the 17-person Shobu contingency. When Ono couldn't understand a cross-cultural conversation, her right-hand woman was usually Hiromi Kurita.
After coming to Roseburg around four years ago, Kurita said she had two reasons for coming back. The first is to enjoy the scenery, calling the area "beautiful," the second is to see friends.
"When the delegation from Roseburg comes to Japan, there's so many people to see, so many friends," she said.
It's a sentiment shared by Jon Burpee of Roseburg. Burpee's been a Shobu host and guest twice each.
Burpee said his family hosts their sister city friends to pay back the hospitality they receive when they go overseas.
It's also nice to have help when visiting a foreign land.
"How do you visit Japan?" Burpee said. "There are no street signs and if there are, you can't read them."
Books exchanged between Nakayama and Douglas County commissioners Joyce Morgan and Dan Van Slyke were also unreadable for their recipients.
The county commissioners offered the delegates books about the area, but Akiyo Riggs, who did the bulk of the translating during the day, asked Van Slyke about them being in English.
"There's lots of pictures," Van Slyke said.
The groups planned to see a lot of the photographs in person during the weekend. Trips were planned to the Rogue River, Crater Lake and Steamboat Inn.
In town, however, the Shobu contingency was captivated with flashing sirens on emergency vehicles.
Honscheid, originally from Germany, is playing host to Japanese guests, but sees the same reaction to the squad cars when he has visitors from his homeland.
"There's a mythos around it," he said.
The real photo opportunity came when Roseburg Police Sgt. Aaron Dunbar pulled a riot shield out from his trunk.
Motorcycles had a similar effect. Toshihide Kamura stopped to pose for pictures, with his new University of Oregon hat turned backward, next to a motorcycle parked near the courthouse.
His green-and-gold hat was a gift from his hosts, though he didn't actually know it represented a college. He said it did have a "nice design" to it.
Kamura kept a record of all the day's events, both in writing on a notepad and with his Canon camera.
"My first time is enjoyable," he said.
* You can reach reporter Paul Craig at 957-4211 or by e-mail at pcraig@newsreview.info.
"Not so much, I think," she said, adding that she considered it a "good thing."
Several translators were touring with the 17-person Shobu contingency. When Ono couldn't understand a cross-cultural conversation, her right-hand woman was usually Hiromi Kurita.
After coming to Roseburg around four years ago, Kurita said she had two reasons for coming back. The first is to enjoy the scenery, calling the area "beautiful," the second is to see friends.
"When the delegation from Roseburg comes to Japan, there's so many people to see, so many friends," she said.
It's a sentiment shared by Jon Burpee of Roseburg. Burpee's been a Shobu host and guest twice each.
Burpee said his family hosts their sister city friends to pay back the hospitality they receive when they go overseas.
It's also nice to have help when visiting a foreign land.
"How do you visit Japan?" Burpee said. "There are no street signs and if there are, you can't read them."
Books exchanged between Nakayama and Douglas County commissioners Joyce Morgan and Dan Van Slyke were also unreadable for their recipients.
The county commissioners offered the delegates books about the area, but Akiyo Riggs, who did the bulk of the translating during the day, asked Van Slyke about them being in English.
"There's lots of pictures," Van Slyke said.
The groups planned to see a lot of the photographs in person during the weekend. Trips were planned to the Rogue River, Crater Lake and Steamboat Inn.
In town, however, the Shobu contingency was captivated with flashing sirens on emergency vehicles.
Honscheid, originally from Germany, is playing host to Japanese guests, but sees the same reaction to the squad cars when he has visitors from his homeland.
"There's a mythos around it," he said.
The real photo opportunity came when Roseburg Police Sgt. Aaron Dunbar pulled a riot shield out from his trunk.
Motorcycles had a similar effect. Toshihide Kamura stopped to pose for pictures, with his new University of Oregon hat turned backward, next to a motorcycle parked near the courthouse.
His green-and-gold hat was a gift from his hosts, though he didn't actually know it represented a college. He said it did have a "nice design" to it.
Kamura kept a record of all the day's events, both in writing on a notepad and with his Canon camera.
"My first time is enjoyable," he said.
* You can reach reporter Paul Craig at 957-4211 or by e-mail at pcraig@newsreview.info.
