Andy McDonald
HOKUTO CITY, JAPAN — Jennifer Rose Escobar has embarked on a teaching assignment that would be daunting enough here at home, much less across the Pacific.
As part of an artist exchange program between Madison County and Hokuto City, Japan, Escobar began teaching elementary and middle school students in Japan about the finer points of Appalachian music and dance.
Though cultural and language barriers may seem challenging at first, Escobar plans to transcend any differences with a language almost everyone can understand: music. She hopes that connection will inspire some of the students to participate in a program that brings middle school students to America and Madison County students to Japan — a program inspired by the sister region relationship.
“The activities I am bringing are fun and I want them to see us as a happy people,” Rose Escobar said. “I would consider it successful if even one of the students decided to partake in the exchange program based on the experience they had in one of my classes.”
As the author of arts curriculum, teaching Appalachian dance is nothing new for Escobar. But teaching Japanese students may seem like a daunting idea at times. “I think I feel a huge sense of responsibility,” Escobar said. “At home, I’m just an ambassador for our shared culture. Here, I may be the only person they ever see who will tell them about the Appalachian culture. So I want to do it right.”
Escobar’s cultural exchange experience will last for approximately two weeks, with a performance at a local middle school, a formal reception at city hall, culminating with her one-week stint in the classroom. At school, she’ll teach traditional Appalachian dance, show a 10-minute DVD that will include scenes from the Mountain Folk Festival, as well as snapshots of her life in Kentucky. She’ll also play the dulcimer and engage her students in a singing game. She’s scheduled to return to Kentucky on Saturday.
The visit to Japan is not Escobar’s first journey to the Land of the Rising Sun. In 1988, Escobar went to Japan as a member of the first exchange delegation and as a performer in the Berea College Dancers, dancing at the Paul Rusch Festival Yatsugatake County Fair.
Back then, the Madison County International Committee had just formed what was a sister-city agreement that has since grown to one of the only relationships of its kind in the world.
The sister region arrangement was established to help honor Kentuckian Paul Rusch, a citizen of Louisville, who helped rebuild rural Japan in the post-war era, grounded in concepts of providing poor people with food, faith, health and hope. Because of that, the people of the region revere Rusch and treat his fellow Kentuckians as honored guests.
The flag of the Commonwealth of Kentucky flies at the event, and the proceedings contain trappings of Rusch’s beloved home state: barbecue, Bluegrass music, football and farming implements.
Just as the fair gives Japanese people a small glimpse of American life through the experience of a county fair, Escobar hopes she can play a part in helping the people of a Yatsugatake region gain an appreciation for a uniquely distinct facet of America’s diverse culture.
“I always hope people gain a better understanding of Appalachian history and culture,” Escobar said.
