A grand exchange

Posted: Thursday, May 15, 2008 - 11:03:34 am PDT
Email this story Printer friendly version

 

International travel provides benefits

Is the grass always greener on the other side of the fence?

Unless you go over and take a look, you may never really know.

Grant County and Moses Lake both have wonderful opportunities to further educate our youth and even our adults. For the county, there is the sister-city program with Gunpo, Korea. For Moses Lake, we have Yonezawa, Japan.

Every year we exchange students to both countries. With Gunpo, we go a step further by sending a delegation every even year. In between, Gunpo sends a delegation of their own on odd years.

Parents pay for students to take part, just as the elected officials pay their own way to visit Gunpo.

Still, one of the first questions fielded is, "how does it benefit us?"

The exchange programs provide a level of education unattainable in any classroom. Sure, in class you can adopt a foreign language name, wear a silly hat and eat foreign food, but you will never learn much about the differences between the United States and Korea or Japan until you experience the country's culture firsthand.

When a person comes back to America after time in Asia, they immediately notice the differences. Some are good that we should be proud of, but others are areas where we might be able to improve. Without knowing, it is impossible to get better.

"So what? Why's culture important?"

American culture is a blend of every culture in the world. Immigrants bring their food, traditions and culture with them. When a person moves, they always like to take a little bit of home with them to make themselves feel comfortable. Sometimes it is bringing a recipe for a true Philly cheese steak or maybe bringing a small shrine to continue honoring your ancestors.

"Big deal. How is it worth the money?"

Good ideas are often hard to come by. Sometimes we can find great ideas by looking at how other people have resolved the same problem. As Washington state debates a tunnel along Puget Sound, they can refer to the decade and billions of dollars spent by Boston, or the state could look at how Japan safely constructed five eight-lane highways - all in one spot in Kyoto - above ground in the most earthquake-prone country in the world.

In the 1980s Japan dominated manufacturing electronics. They didn't stop doing it well. Nope. America paid attention and applied Japanese business ideas to improve our own methods for manufacturing.

"OK. But we're talking about Grant County."

Relocating a business or expanding by building a new plant overseas is a complicated process. Will it make money? How hard will government regulations be to open the new plant? How would this be a good business decision? It's easy to answer the questions to entice a business to Grant County, but before they ask you or believe your answers they need to trust you.

By visiting every other year, the Gunpo city staff and many businessmen in Gunpo have come to consider many Grant County delegates as trustworthy, even as friends. When a Gunpo company wants to expand to America, we hope Grant County comes to mind first. We do that by visiting and hosting their delegates and showing our respect for them and their culture.

"So, when are they going to build here or buy from us?"

Some companies already do. Others are asking about what we have to offer. Slag Callahan, of Royal City-based Agri-Pac, made a connection with a Korean dairy farmer who is paying a lot for low-grade alfalfa. Callahan thinks his company could deliver it for a good price and with higher quality. The first steps are meeting and talking, and developing trust.

Grant County Economic Development Group Manager of Communication and Research Jonathan Smith said it best.

"After we build relationships, trust - that (generates) business relationships," Smith said. "It takes time to build these relationships."

Friendships take time. The longer we know each other and the more time spent getting to know each other, the stronger the relationship. Just like the personal friends we have had for years, we trust them. We respect them. We take their advice to heart. The same can be done with people from Yonezawa or Gunpo.

When they look to expand in America or a Grant County business looks to expand in Asia, the trust, respect and friendship between the two communities is going to pay off. Not only do we hope Gunpo city can help our people, but we also want to be there to facilitate them.

We want any exchange - business or culture - to take place like one friend helping another.

- Editorial board

Name:

Email: (optional)

Comments:

Image Verification: (Case sensitive)