Japanese exchange students get a slice of Newport Beach life

After arriving in Newport Beach last week, seven Japanese students were ready for some fall fun with pumpkin carving and a barbecue Monday at Private Road Park.

For more than 30 years, the Newport Beach Sister City Assn. and the Newport Balboa Rotary Club have sponsored a student exchange program, working with counterparts in Okazaki, Japan.

Each year, Newport Beach eighth-graders apply for the program to travel to Okazaki in June to stay with families there and attend school. In September, the Japanese host families send their eighth-graders to Newport Beach to do the same.

The Okazaki students are chosen by their school district to participate in the program.