ZELIENOPLE — When different cultures collide, new things can be learned from one another.

Yurara Hirayama, 16, has been staying with Rotary Club family Tom and Marie Grant at their home on East New Castle Street since August as part of the club's Youth Exchange Program, about 7,900 miles away from her home in Tokyo.

She will be living with the Grants until Feb. 27, when she moves in with another host family.

“I think I will become more independent and maybe have a more open mind,” Yunara said on what she hopes to bring back from the experience.

The Grants have enjoyed having Yurara at their home and said being a host family and being involved in the Rotary Club's international program is “all about international understanding.”

“We both believe that if there is more understanding, there may be more likelihood of peace,” Marie Grant said.

Yurara is attending Seneca Valley Senior High School and said there are many differences between Japanese and American education culture.

“We don't move class to class. We stay in homeroom and the teacher moves each class,” she said. “We have different schedules each day. Here, everyday we have the same schedule for half a year.”

She attends an all-girls school in Tokyo.

Activities Yurara has done while in Zelienople include singing in the Circle of Friends and being a member of the school's Interact Club.

She recently gave a presentation about her home country to eight classes at Greenville High School in Greenville.

She and the Grants have also visited Taylor Swift's hometown of Reading and her schools. Yurara said she is a “huge fan” of Swift.

Yurara said while there are many cultural differences between downtown Tokyo and Western Pennsylvania, the most striking difference is the landscape.

“I can't see far from my house,” Yurara said. “I can't really see a mountain from my house.”

As for food, she said there “is not much difference” between Japanese and American cuisine, since there is a prevalence of American food in Japan.

However, she said she has noticed people here eat more meat than fish.

Yurara won an essay contest to be considered for and accepted into the exchange program.

She said she would like to have better English speaking and writing skills by the time she leaves for home.

The Grants have been involved with the Rotary Club for more than 10 years.

Tom Grant is the club's president.

This is the second time they have been a host family for an international exchange student. Last year, they hosted a student from Brazil.

“It's learning about another culture. It's welcoming a stranger to our country and acquainting him or her with our country,” Tom Grant said about being a host family. “I've found the exchange often leads to a lifelong connection.”

Their most recent endeavor was visiting the European countries of Kosovo and Albania last July as part of the Rotary Friendship Exchange program.

The Grants said they hope to visit Japan in May and Seoul, South Korea, soon after for the Rotary International Convention.

Their upcoming trip to Japan will not be their first time.

The Grants had their honeymoon there after marrying in 1993.