CAMDEN — It's been a busy week for 10 Japanese students and two teachers who arrived at Camden Rockport Middle School on Jan. 4. The exchange program between students is in its 18th year. In February, students from C-RMS and two chaperones will travel to Japan, living with host families, just as the Japanese students are doing here.

The students have already toured Camden Hills Regional High School and been part of a school dance. They will go rock climbing at Penobscot Bay YMCA, skating at Mid-Coast Recreation Center, work in art classes, practice calligraphy, have a dance class with Kea Tesseyman and a farewell dinner before making the long journey back to Japan.

Their departure is always a tear-filled event. Matt Smith, assistant principal at C-RMS, said the language barrier is the toughest thing to overcome.

"Because the language barrier is challenging, it's almost awkward at the beginning of the week," said Smith. "By the end of the week, like every year, they're hugging each other and crying. That's the fascinating thing to me is that you can connect two cultures without the use of language. Connecting Cultures is the name of the program and you build incredible bonds over the course of a week."