By GEORGIA WESTGARTH
JAPANESE high school students have landed in Noble Park to a warm welcome.
Students from Noble Park Secondary College’s Japanese sister school, Shinminato Senior High School, arrived on Monday 20 July to a special assembly.
Students showcased traditional cultural dance, song and music and host families met with their new guests for the first time.
Seven students and two staff members from the Japanese high school will be sightseeing and taking in the Australian education system for one week.
Noble Park Secondary College principal Pam Dyson said her students were already yearning to visit Japan.
“I hope that the host students, in particular, continue to communicate with their Japanese guest whether it is through Skype, email, Facebook or written letters.
“It would be really great for them to keep those lines of communication open after an experience like this,” Ms Dyson said.
Japanese has been taught at the school for many years and Ms Dyson said hosting the visitors has allowed the students to continue to master the language outside of the classroom.
“The cultural exchange has been a delight, they are very much embracing our Australian culture and we theirs,” she said.
Ms Dyson is hoping to send students to Japan next year.
“We haven’t gone over to Japan since 2009 because we were interrupted by the tragic events of the tsunami and especially after this experience the students are really keen to go,” she said.
A sayonara (goodbye) party will be held on Friday 24 July to say farewell to the Japanese friends.
“We had a fantastic welcoming assembly – we sung the Australian national anthem and they sung theirs, it’s been a fantastic cultural experience for everyone,” she said.
