Four lucky Year 9 students were sponsored by the Hakuho Foundation to take part in a rigorous two-week program in Tokyo, Japan, in April. Fourteen schools from around the world were selected from a staggering 84 applicants – we were thrilled to be one of the schools chosen to take part.
By Ava Bartusch, Emma Di Paolo, Connor Taylor and Stephanie Martinez
In this experience, we met many students from multiple countries such as Japan, Russia, Indonesia, Vietnam and many others.
By conversing and learning from these students, we gained so much knowledge about the Japanese language and different cultures from around the world. We went for two weeks and on many occasions went out to travel through Tokyo and discovered lots about the city.
Throughout the trip, we did several presentations on MLMC and the Yarra Valley. We also had Japanese classes, which prepared us for our two school visits and homestay. The visits involved participating in classes and meeting the students. During homestay, we all went to separate families, various temples and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. We were able to learn so much about the Japanese culture and traditions, and are very appreciative towards our homestay families for this opportunity.
We are very grateful to have been able to travel to Japan, as we were able to have many wonderful experiences. We made many friends from around the world and learned lots about Japan. We’d like to extend our thanks to Miss Natasha McKenzie, for organising the trip and giving us this extraordinary opportunity. It was amazing in Japan and we all hope to go again.
