Leaving his family and friends behind, junior Daniel Lin embarked on a journey to Japan for six weeks over the summer.

Daniel went through a program called American Field Service (AFS), a program that sends students to a multitude of countries as ambassadors of the US. AFS deals with all aspects of travel and host families for students.

Daniel stayed with a host family for six weeks and studied over 80 hours of Japanese.

“I just had an interest in learning Japanese,” Daniel said.

After staying the summer, Daniel’s host brother, Kei Yoshimura, decided to travel to the US for his sophomore year, also through AFS. Yoshimura arrived to Piedmont on September 11.

“We are happy that we were able to fulfill his dream to study in the US for a year,” Daniel’s mother Michelle Lin said.

Now a current student a PHS, Yoshimura is adapting to the Piedmont environment by figuring out activities that he can participate in.

Yoshimura said he was glad to hear that Daniel plays tennis, because he wants to play as well.

“It takes a lot of planning for weekend and extracurricular activities,” Michelle said.

Michelle said that Yoshimura is one of the family members.

“I treat Kei as my own,” Michelle said. “He calls me mom and my husband dad.”

Yoshimura said that he has an interest in English.

“I want to study in Singapore for business school so I have to learn English,” Yoshimura said.