Sister City Committee Searches for Student Youth Exchange Participants

The Culver City Sister City Committee (CCSCC) is looking for up to six current 8th, 9th, and 10th-grade students interested in a homestay exchange with families from Iksan, South Korea.

Students and their families would commit to a two-year program. Culver City families would host students from Iksan at their homes from July 21 to 30 this year, and the students from Culver City would travel to South Korea to stay with families there sometime in late July or early August 2026.

CCSCC President Lisa Saperston told Culver Crescent that homestay programs, which the Committee also conducts with Kaizuka, Japan, allow participants to explore another culture intimately while being able to share their own culture with those who are interested in how they live.

"The more we know about each other, the more we're curious to find out more, Saperston said. "That curiosity allows us to keep discovering."

In addition to being able to commit to the two homestay periods, students and their parents are expected to be involved in planning activities for visitors from Iksan to participate in while in Culver City. Students cannot turn 18 before the commitment is complete.

Participating families must also purchase a Lifetime Family Membership to the Culver City Sister City Committee, which costs $150. Founded in 1962, the non-profit Committee represents Culver City in relations with its Sister Cities.

It helps organize culture, art, and music exchanges, international dignitary recognitions, and other activities that cultivate Culver City's relationships with its five Sister Cities. These relationships also help improve the lives of Culver City residents.

"CCSCC Homestay programs like the youth exchanges with Iksan City, Korea, and Kaizuka, Japan, allow youth to explore another culture and make lifelong friendships," Saperston said.

Any two communities can enter a Sister City agreement, a formal social or legal agreement that creates a broad, long-term partnership. The concept was popularized in World War II when Coventry, a city in the United Kingdom, and Stalingrad, in Russia, came together to help each other recover during and after the conflict.

Culver City and Iksan became Sister Cities in 1983. The city lies in the southwestern part of South Korea, about 15 miles east of the port city of Gunsan. It is a center of jewelry manufacturing and a railway junction with trains to the port city of Gunsan and other major municipalities.

While the CCSCC organizes the program, the host families take on the costs that come with it. The estimated costs include:

• Any expenses for visiting students incurred during Host Family Time
• All expenses for activities & meals for your child when Iksan students visit
• Roundtrip Airfare to Incheon/Seoul ($1,700 + travel insurance + optional medical)
• Gifts for all Iksan host family members
• Spending money for students while in South Korea
• Join CCSCC as Lifetime Family Members ($150)

A partial scholarship with no set amount is also being offered to interested students with financial needs to offset the airfare costs. The scholarship requires a written petition to be sent to and considered by the Committee.

More information on this program will be given at an Informational Zoom Session for the general public on Tuesday from 7:30 to 8 p.m. RSVP to iksancity@culvercitysistercity.org to receive the Zoom link.

Applications are due Friday, March 7, 2025. Interested families can find application documents here.