By Debbie Adams
In just about 100 days, the Vinton Worldtrekkers will be leaving on their long-anticipated trip to
Japan, scheduled for July 10-20. They have been preparing for their journey with language and
culture classes for almost two years.
The group is led by William Byrd teachers Cherry Bell Damasco-Farrington, Dionne Nichols,
and Ashley Satterfield.
Their international adventures started with a group of Byrd students asking their instructor,
Damasco-Farrington, to take them to Spain on a field trip to learn more about Spanish culture. “It
turned into an adventure that 16 travelers will most likely never forget.”
The “trekkers” describe themselves as “a group from Vinton who love to travel the world
together. We have always enjoyed experiencing new places because the world is our largest
classroom.”
Since Vinton Worldtrekkers was established, they have visited the British Isles, Germany and the
Swiss Alps. Plans for future trips include Austria/Germany/Switzerland in 2025, Scotland in
2026, and South Korea in 2027.
Damasco-Farrington taught Spanish at WBHS from 2004 to 2016, then became the school’s
Instructional Technology Resource teacher. Nichols and Satterfield teach English at Byrd. All
have traveled extensively.
The upcoming trip to Japan includes a group of adults, family members, and former and current
students from William Byrd, Botetourt County, Cave Spring, Patrick Henry, and Franklin
County. They will spend nine days in Japan, plus two days of travel, and visit the cities of Tokyo,
Hakone, Nara, Kyoto, Osaka, and Hiroshima.
Once the trip was arranged through Education First tours, Damasco-Farrington wanted to find a
way “to keep excitement for the travelers who had signed up; I wanted to prepare them for the
culture and language of Japan.”
She recruited WBHS and Virginia Tech graduate Michael Cisneros to teach a class for the
travelers. He has taught in six public elementary and junior high schools in the city of Onomichi,
Japan, through the Japanese Exchange and Teaching (JET) program.
“Cherry Bell started Vinton WorldTrekkers on a whim with her first tour to the Mediterranean,
and I joined her in working to interest members of the community in additional trips,” Dionne
Nichols says. “Because the Far East cultural norms vary from America, we wanted the
opportunity to build base knowledge of the land, its history, and its culture for our Japan: Land of
the Rising Sun tour. Additionally, lessons on the language can help travelers feel prepared for
everyday interactions.”
So far, the classes have discussed the history and geography of Japan, the language, common
words and phrases, the different alphabets, holidays, foods, etiquette, greetings, goodbyes,
numbers, transportation, religions, cities on the travel itinerary, colors, origami, sacred spaces,
and family.
At their most recent class on March 18, Kelly Prim, who is making her first trip to Japan, spoke
about the cultural importance of the kimono. She and her daughter Rose were dressed in kimonos
and brought along a display of different styles of the traditional Japanese garments. The kimono
is a front-wrapped garment with square sleeves and a rectangular body, traditionally worn with a
broad sash called an obi. Accessories include sandals and socks.
model their kimonos during a Vinton Worldtrekkers language and culture class on Japan. (photos by Debbie Adams)
There are lined and unlined kimonos with one collar or two, made from a variety of fabrics of
different weights for different seasons and occasions– formal and informal. They can be quite
expensive with intricate designs for events such as weddings.
Prim says she first became a kimono enthusiast when she watched the “Memoirs of a Geisha”
movie. She says there is a misconception that only geishas wear kimonos. In fact, in the 1600s
every Japanese person wore a kimono.
beautiful obi (sashes) and sandals for her presentation on kimonos to the Vinton Worldtrekkers
class.
Damasco-Farrington ended the recent class with a recap of travel advice– spending money (the
Japanese prefer cash to cards), budgeting, allowable prescription medications, preparing for the
weather (hot and humid in July), dining out, using chopsticks correctly, tipping, the relative size
of hotel rooms to those in America (they are smaller in Japan), dealing with food allergies,
minimizing luggage, using cell phones and Wi-Fi, and jet lag when traveling west.
Check out their tours at https://www.facebook.com/VintonWorldTrekkers/.
